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.

Lemon Fig Marmalade

I am participating in a year long Food In Jars Mastery Challenge hosted by Marisa from Food in Jars and the January challenge was marmalade! I have never made marmalade. I have made all kinds of jellies, jams and preserves. Marmalade is basically the same, but they have a citrus base of orange, lemon, lime or other citrus fruit. I chose lemon to pair with the figs I had in the freezer!

6 cups fresh figs
3 lemons (scrub well)
6 cups sugar*

Cut the stems off the figs and cut into quarters.
Cut the rind off the lemons and slice into small strips. Add the juice and a little water to a pan and simmer until the zest/rind is soft.
Pour the figs into a heavy based preserving pan. Add the lemon mixture and simmer until the figs are soft and break down a little.

Add the sugar and let it dissolve before bringing up to a rolling boil.
Boil for about 30 minutes or until it has reached the setting point (220 degrees).
Carefully ladle into sterilized jars and put on the lids. 

Place jars in a boiling water bath (this can be a large stock pot with a rack on the bottom) and cover completely with water to 2" over the top of the jars.

Cover stock pot with lid and bring water to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce heat some, but maintain a boil and process jars in the boiling water 10 minutes.

Remove jars from boiling water bath and allow to sit undisturbed on a kitchen towel on your counter-top 24 hours.

Store in a cool pantry for up to a year.

*The amount of sugar may vary according to the sweetness of your fruit. My figs were very ripe and very sweet when I froze them this summer.