Cooking with herbs at this time of year is easy because the range of herbs ready for harvesting is so wide, however one of my favourites is the evergreen herb rosemary.
Rosemary is an evergreen plant that has plenty of harvestable growth at this time of year and may also still have the small pretty blue flowers that the bees love. A good time to cut back rosemary is after it has flowered.
The leaves and flowers of rosemary can be used in many different dishes; here are just a few ideas to whet your appetite. However, remember that rosemary has quite a strong flavour so you don’t need to add very much even in dishes that are slow cooked.
I covered a few uses in the free ebook that you receive as a new ezine subscriber (not subscribed yet? - visit this page for more details or just pop your details into the boxes on the top left of this page) but I’ve found a few more uses since then!
The flowers can be used in desserts
eg sprinkled over ice cream or mousses.
Rosemary blends especially well with oranges but also other fruits. An orange fool flavoured with rosemary is lovely.
You could also make Rosemary Syrup (if you want to know how, please email and I’ll include it on the blog later on). I made this syrup to go with a lemon polenta cake earlier in the year; it didn’t last long!
One of the more traditional uses for rosemary is as an accompaniment to lamb dishes. If you blend rosemary leaves, garlic, lemon juice and seasoning and marinate your lamb before cooking it will taste delicious. This also works for chicken and pork dishes.
Another combination for lamb is to mix rosemary leaves with orange to create a glaze but some of you may find this a bit too sweet.
Onions roasted with rosemary and made into a sauce is also tasty.
You can make rosemary flavoured oil or vinegars (again, let me know by email if you would like a recipe)
Adding rosemary to roast potatoes is another popular use and is one of my favourite ways of using it.
Rosemary sprigs cooked with fried vegetables make a lovely combination (don’t forget to remove the sprigs before eating!)
Rosemary combines well with any of the following herbs: bay, chives, garlic, lovage, mint, oregano, parsley, sage, savory and thyme.
It goes well with the following foods: apricots, breads, cabbage family, eggs, fish, lamb, onions, oranges, parsnips, pasta, pork, potatoes, poultry, squash and tomatoes.
If you want to see a short (1minute 43seconds) video overview on making Rosemary Focaccia you can see it here.
There are a few cooking tips on this How to cook with fresh organic rosemary video too.
If you have any favourite uses for rosemary, feel free to leave a comment below.
Copyright 2008 Madeleine Giddens All rights reserved.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
A leg of Lamb with garlic and Rosemary sprigs inserted into the skin is hard to beat for lunch! I have several very large very unkempt rosemary plants, and another way I use them is to take longer stems from them, about the length of a wooden squewer, soak them in water for a while, and then put diced pieces of lamb onto them like a kebab, that have been marinated in greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper and some olove oil. Grill or BBQ til they are done. They are great with a rice or cous cous salad and roasted summer vegetables( peppers, courgettes, onions , mushrooms, corn etc)
Yum.
Zoë
Oooh, that kebab combination sounds lovely, I must try it. I also use the woodier rosemary branches as skewers; it’s good fun and gives a lovely flavour to whatever is on it.