About Me

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Herb showcase: Rosemary

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to use when cooking. Do you have a favorite herb you like to use? I thought I would do a series of posts about different herbs that are commonly used for cooking, with a little information and maybe a recipe that uses each specific herb. :)

Rosemary in flower. Photo from Wikipedia.

A little about Rosemary

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves. It is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which also includes many other herbs. Since it is attractive and tolerates some degree of drought, it is also used in landscaping, especially in areas having a Mediterranean climate. It is considered easy to grow for beginner gardeners, and is pest-resistant.
When grown in pots, it is best kept trimmed to stop it getting too straggly and unsightly, when grown in the garden, rosemary can grow quite large and still be attractive. It can be propagated from an existing plant by clipping a shoot 10-15 cm long, stripping a few leaves from the bottom, and planting it directly into soil. -From Wikipedia

I don't have any potted rosemary at present but hope to get some soon, we mainly just use dried rosemary from the store. One of my family's favorite things to do when we make baked chicken is to sprinkle rosemary, and Parmesan cheese on the chicken, with a little butter, before putting it in the oven. It gives the chicken a wonderful flavor! Do you have a favorite recipe that uses this herb? :)

5 comments:

Tori Leslie said...

Hi, I enjoyed this post because for a house warming gift I just received 3 potted herbs, actually one Rosemary, Sage and then Lavender. When I received the Rosemary is didn't have any flowers but now it's covered with little purple blooms. Looks great in the window.

Oh yea I found your blog through Grace's Blog.
Hi!

Anonymous said...

That sounds so delicious! Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs oo. :)

LEMONS TO LEMONADE said...

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. Basil is another. This sounds odd, but rosemary is also very good in blonde brownies, no chocolate. The first time someone gave me one I was thinking " are you sure", but they were the very best. Cinnamon is great on chicken, that is not an herb, but it is good.I put herbs on everything. Today I put about 8 different herbs in my pea soup.:)
I had thought about doing this very same thing. Great minds think alike. Thanks for the post.:)

Maria Pauline said...

I have used rosemary a few times but I haven't been cooking much lately. I like reading about herbs though.

Maria

Sarah said...

I look forward to the coming posts on herbs! This one on Rosemary was quite interesting. :) Thank you for sharing.

The herbs I use the most would probably be oregano, basil and parsley, though I have used rosemary on occasion.