Rosemary is our featured herb today. I love the smell of fresh rosemary and wish I could grow it inside, but always seem to kill them. One of my favorite things to do is brush a little garlic infused olive oil on a steak during grilling using a rosemary sprig for a brush. Lends a wonderful flavor to the meat.
Popular for its rich pine like fragrance, rosemary is an excellent accompaniment to pork and chicken. In Mediteranean cuisine, rosemary is most often associated with vegetables sautéed in olive oil such as zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant. Sprinkle dried rosemary on charcoal when grilling for a delicious, aromatic treat.
A perennial evergreen shrub, it resembles a thick needled small pine to a first look and even has a piney smell. The leaves resemble pine needles which are thick and leathery about 3/4 inch long. The upper surface is a dark green and undersides can be white and hairy. The flowers are small blue or pale blue flowers growing in clusters along the branch. The shrub can reach a height of 6 ft outdoors. Although, I can never get them to grow this high!
Rosemary has a wide variety of uses outside of the kitchen. History reveals users from using rosemary for depression, headaches, muscle spasms, rheumatism, skin ailments and wounds. It was also burned in early hospitals along with juniper berries to "cleanse the air" as it does have some antibacterial effects.
Rosemary oil should be used sparingly since over-use can produce poisoning symptoms. Always follow the directions on the containers that you purchase.
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White Bean Soup with Rosemary
6 servings
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. Olive oil
1 cup Diced onion
1 Carrot, peeled and sliced
1 Celery stalk, sliced
2 tbsp. Minced garlic
1/2 cup Diced country ham
3/4 lb. Dried cannellini or navy bea
2 tbsp. Fresh chopped rosemary (2 t
8 cups Chicken stock
1/2 tsp. Pepper
Salt
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ham and sauté, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
Add the beans, rosemary, chicken stock and pepper and bring to a boil.
Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Taste the cooking liquid, and add enough salt so that it becomes slightly salty (the amount needed will vary depending on the type of ham used for seasoning).
Cover the pot and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes, or until the beans are soft.
Purée the mixture in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in a blender. Serve hot. The soup can be made up to three days in advance and refrigerated, covered.
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Rosemary Pork Roast
6 servings
Ingredients:
3 lb. Pork loin roast
2 tbsp. Fresh rosemary
4 Cloves garlic
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
2 tbsp. Butter
1 Small onion, chopped
1/4 cup Olive oil
Instructions:
Trim fat from pork roast. Finely chop rosemary and garlic together. Make 8 to 10 deep cuts, about 2 inches apart, in pork with sharp knife.
Insert small amounts of garlic mixture in cuts.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat butter in shallow roasting pan in oven. Sprinkle with onion. Place pork in pan. Drizzle with oil.
Roast, uncovered, at 350F for 1 3/4 to 2 hours or until a meat thermometer registers 170F. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing.
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Rosemary and Blue Cheese Potatoes
Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients:
1-1/2 lb. red potatoes; cut in 1/2" cubes
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. blue cheese
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
2 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 Dash salt; pepper, and cayenne
Instructions:
Cook the potatoes 10 minutes in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter and blue cheese and add the rosemary. Combine the partially cooked potatoes and the butter mixture and place on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the parsley, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Mix well.
