Lemon Pepper Garlic Salt

I am participating in a year long Food In Jars Mastery Challenge hosted by Marisa from Food in Jars, and the February challenge was Salt Preserving! There were a host of ways to use salt. I have several ways that I used it, but this recipe is the quickie recipe that only takes an hour or so to complete, start to finish. I decided to infuse salt with citrus and herbs. 

1. 1 lemon
2. 2-4 cloves garlic*
3. 1/4 tsp course black pepper, or more to taste
4. 1 cup kosher salt

1. Zest lemon in a shallow oven-proof dish.** Mix salt in with the lemon.
2. Juice the lemon and add to the salt. Run the garlic through a garlic press and add it to the salt also. Mix the salt, lemon zest, lemon juice and garlic. Use a fork or your fingers to work the salt as much as possible.

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Place the lemon salt in the oven for about an hour to dry out the salt. (When it's done, it will be rock hard with no moisture left.) Prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon to provide ventilation for proper drying.
2. Wait for the salt to cool and use a fork, wooden spoon or your fingers to break up salt.
3. Package up the salt in small jars.

*I use 2 large cloves or 4 small, depending on their size and the strength of garlic you desire. Add or subtract the amount you want.

**Next time, I will use parchment paper to line the dish, since the salt and liquids harden to the bottom of the dish and can be hard to remove.