Rosemary

Rosemary.jpg

Mary Jo and I just returned from 8 days in Florida. My two previous visits were just quick, 2-day visits. We spent two days in St. Augustine, where my brother's sailboat is currently moored. What a beautiful city! We then drove to Hobe Sound (north of West Palm Beach) where my son, Andy and his wife, 2 golden retrievers and 8 cats live with the in-laws. They have a very large house with two patios in the back yard. One of these patios is surrounded by a 2 foot high hedge of Rosemary plants. The trunks are about an inch and a half in diameter. I never knew it could grow like that. I was allowed to trim them and filled a shopping bag with sprigs, which I brought home.
I plan on doing a Rosemary Chicken and roasted root vegetables with my stash, but what are some other dishes that feature Rosemary?
While there, we also went to a restaurant in nearby Stuart named Crawdaddy's, so I ordered the house specialty, crawdads. I had never had them and was half expecting something succulent, like a lobster. Not even close. I managed to get one down, gagged and passed the rest of my serving to the other end of the table where they were quickly consumed, and orders the garlic mussels, which were excellent.
The last two days of our trip were in Tavares to visit my cousin and his wife, who spend winters there and summers in Niagara Falls. That's a very nice area, about an hour northwest of Orlando.

Lucky man!

Lamb has a real affinity for rosemary - stud a leg with sprigs, or add plenty to pan fried shoulder chops. Any leftovers from the lamb you can turn into an excellent lamb and rosemary soup/stew (make a stock with the bone). If you pan baste, lay them on top of the protein as you baste and/or use the sprigs as a "mop" instead of a spoon.

My wife likes potatoes roasted with rosemary and garlic.

If you've got sturdy enough branches you can use them as skewers, like a shish kabob.

I've had fun using rosemary in non-savory dishes over the years also (it's one of my favorite herbs). I recall a very nice lemon and rosemary ice some summers ago, and varying it the next year with some lavender.

Also, try steeping some in the libation of your choice (I bet it would go well in gin, with the juniper). Or limoncello and rosemary liquor - something I fully intend to make this year now that I've thought of it!

[Robin Garr]

Mary and I brought some rosemary seeds home from a hardware store in Genoa (true story) in 1982, and managed to winter it over for about a decade before we moved to NYC. When we got back to Louisville, we re-started from some saved seeds and grew it into a "tree" much as you describe with a 1 1/2-inch trunk over the next 20 years. Louisville is pretty much on the border for it wintering over safely - in the protected location we chose, it's good to about 5 above, which happens here every few years. After it got big, we protected it on deep-freeze nights by draping it in a plastic tarp (a big one - the plant was about as big as one of those in your picture) and putting a birdbath bowl with an electric heater inside. It was a real project, and one winter night about five years ago, we were getting ready to go out in the cold, when it suddenly occurred to us that we don't use rosemary in anything anymore. We laughed, and shrugged. The plant froze, and we've never bothered to replace it.

[Jenise]

Howie, rosemary is indeed a delightful seasoning for food. Use it in an herb 'tea' to combine with salt and sugar for brining a chicken. Stuff it under chicken breasts with a pat of butter for roasting. Chop the leaves and add to dumpling batter for chicken and dumplings. Put chopped rosemary in your popovers or Yorkshire puddings. I can't imagine not having it in my garden (which is currently under a tarp for the reasons Robin names).

[Robin Garr]

Howie, rosemary is indeed a delightful seasoning for food.

I can't figure out what changed for us, but both Mary and I felt it. It just got to seeming way too powerful, overwhelming everything else in the dish. Your mileage clearly varies, and that's good. I wouldn't want to talk anyone out of it.

Here in Sonoma County, rosemary just grows. You don't have to water it or anything, just whack it back when it needs it, 3 or 4 times a year.
I mix chopped rosemary and fresh chopped chives and sprinkle over seared scallops.
Of course, rosemary and oregano go in my pasta sauce.

As you have branches of it: make a bed of rosemary branches and twigs and place your roast on top of it when it goes into the oven. The rosemary will perfume the meat rather delicately.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I've never put Rosemary in pasta sauce - usually lots of basil, but I will give that a try. I have to admit that I've never cooked lamb. I like lamb, and my mother made it for special occasions, so I will have to be adventurous.

[Jenise]

As you have branches of it: make a bed of rosemary branches and twigs and place your roast on top of it when it goes into the oven. The rosemary will perfume the meat rather delicately.

Yes! Also it's great for throwing a bit in the barbecue when doing steaks or lamb.

It grew abundantly in our backyard in Berkeley, so I used it often. Aside from what has been mentioned, I would add it towards the end of cooking stews (so it wasn't completely cooked down but still had time to cook and soften a bit) and often in my bread/pizza doughs.

Also it's great for throwing a bit in the barbecue when doing steaks or lamb.

And shove some up the next chicken you roast (you toss it out after the bird comes out of the oven).

I always have 2-3 plants going as while it is possible to find the perfect spot where it grows 3' high (I know of one in Point Roberts, Jenise) it is more hit and miss around here.

Plus one plant can be all but tasteless while the next one is pungent - big range.

[Jenise]

And there's more than one species of rosemary. Some are very low-growing--they don't work up here. Ask me how I know.

Yeah, and why the varieties that survive well don't ever seem to be the tastiest ones....

[Jenise]

I'm real happy with the bush we have now except for the fact that last year, inexplicably, half of it died. No idea what's happened yet this year--it's been under a tarp for almost two months now but that may not have helped with the length of this extreme cold.

It's all over the neighborhood around here. We use it but we use it carefully as the bush we tend to pull from (in front of our neighbor's house) is pretty potent. In addition to what others have mentioned, it's great in focaccia.

I have a very abundant plant in my yard. My favorite ways to use rosemary is as a marinade with lemons, olive oil and garlic over lamb, or as a rub chopped together with fennel seeds, cracked black pepper, garlic, olive oil and Dijon mustard, smeared over tenderloin of pork just prior to grilling. Of course, I sprinkle it over focaccia with flaky salt before baking. But, use judiciously. It can be overpowering if not balanced properly.

I adore rosemary. It's one of my favourite scents, so I grow it in the garden for the smell of it. Two houses ago, I had a rosemary hedge in front, about a metre high. (The variety was called Tuscan Blue - which grows with long straight branches.) In this house I have a single rosemary bush in the front garden, a variety called "chef's rosemary" by the garden centre I bought it from. It's a low dome-shaped plant, very dense, with a superb aroma and good flavour. Nice to walk past it and crush a bit in the hand, just to breathe it in.

I like rosemary with all sorts of grilled or roasted lamb dishes; it works chopped up with coarsely ground black pepper as a roll-in coating for roasted or barbecued whole fillet of beef. It's great with roast chicken - rosemary butter under the skin, or a handful of rosemary twigs shoved into the cavity before it goes into the oven. (For that method try a handful of rosemary, a couple of cloves of garlic, and the thinly-shaved peel of an orange - peel it off in a long continuous curl.)

And this is a recipe I like a lot, but you have to be an olive oil afficionado:

Egyptian Lemon Chicken

4 lb chicken pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 or two large cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (I like to use more)
A generous amount of chopped rosemary leaves - anywhere between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon - suit yourself
4 oz butter
Salt, pepper, chopped parsley

Combine oil, garlic, juice, rind, rosemary, salt & pepper
Marinate chicken at least 2 hours
Put chicken and marinade into ovenproof dish, dot with butter
Cook uncovered, 50 min in moderate oven
Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

This is fairly strongly flavoured of both rosemary and olive oil.