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Spice Up Your Cooking With Rosemary

When you're looking for a way to add flavor and spice to your next dish, the rosemary herb may be just what you need. This herb originated in the Mediterranean region, cultivated by the Spanish, and is commonly grown along the coastline.

Rosemary: A Brief History

Many herbs have been used for centuries as part of folklore and tradition to signify or celebrate certain events. Prior to the 1500s, this fragrant herb was often used as part of wedding symbolism, worn as a wreath by brides to symbolize fidelity, love, friendship, and remembrance of the premarital life.

It was also often used for medicinal purposes, to cure gout and protect teeth, enhance memory and stimulate the mind, as well as provide protection from the plague in the 1600s. In addition, it has been used to spice up dishes in the kitchen for hundreds of years.

Health Benefits

This herb is packed with vitamins and minerals, whether it's dried or fresh. Many use it because it's an excellent source of Vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and manganese.

Rosemary is often used to relieve or cure a variety of other maladies, including:

• Protect against cancer with anti-oxidant properties

• Having anti-fungal and anti-bacterial characteristics

• Stimulate blood circulation

• Lower blood pressure

• Relieve headaches, depression, and nervousness

A Rosemary Kitchen

As mentioned, rosemary herbs have long been used in cooking. A member of the mint family, its leaves look more like pine needles than herbs, but its pungency makes it highly compatible with stewed and roasted meats, vegetables, and more.

It can be used in its fresh form, but also dries very well (one of the only herbs that will dry well). That means you can harvest it for now or later without losing any of the flavor.

Rosemary Recipes

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Rosemary

Ingredients

• ¼ cup honey

• 2 Tablespoons Dijon-style mustard

• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 5 pounds of whole leg of lamb

• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine the honey, mustard, rosemary, pepper, lemon zest, and garlic in a small bowl. Mix well and apply to the lamb. Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Preheat oven to 450° F

3. Place lamb on a rack in a roasting pan, sprinkle with salt.

4. Bake at 450° F for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 400° F and roast for 55-60 minutes longer (meat will be medium rare). Check that the internal temperature is at least 145° F with a meat thermometer.

5. Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Rosemary and Red Potatoes

Ingredients

• 6 red potatoes, cleaned and cut into wedges

• 3 Tablespoons melted butter

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F

2. Mix melted butter and oil, pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

3. Place potatoes in the dish, stir until coated.

4. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt, and pepper, and cover with aluminum foil.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Easy Garlic and Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped or minced

• 2 Tablespoons dried rosemary

• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F

2. Cover chicken breasts with garlic, sprinkle with rosemary, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

3. Place in 9x13 inch baking dish, bake for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

4. Add sprigs of fresh rosemary and lemon slices for garnish, if desired.

Next time you need to add more flavor and spice to your dishes, consider cooking with rosemary. Its delicious taste and versatility make it the perfect herb to have in your kitchen.

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Rosmarinus officianalis, commonly known as rosemary, is a woody perennial herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves, native to the Mediterranean. Its highly aromatic leaves compliment a wide variety of foods and it can be used both fresh or dried. High summer when fresh shoots are emerging is the perfect time to take semi-ripe cuttings and create lots of new rosemary plants. Snip off non-flowering shoots early in the morning and keep them in a sealed plastic bag until you are ready to root them. Here is a short guide to how.

Snip off new shoots to about 10cm long. Remove most of the lower leaves to give you a clear length of stem. Next, use a sharp gardeners knife to cut off the base of the stem to just below a leaf node (this is the point from which new leaves grow). Dip each prepared stem into hormone rooting powder. This will speed up the process by encouraging root growth in each cutting. Fill 10cm pots with gritty compost. You should be able to get about five or six cuttings to each pot. Insert the rosemary cuttings around the edge of the pot. This is better than inserting a single cutting into the centre of a pot as it helps encourage the cutting to put out roots and lessens the risk of rotting off. Water each pot well and place either in a cold frame, sheltered spot, on a shelf indoors, or a propagator. Alternatively, place a clear plastic bag over each pot to help retain moisture.

After a few weeks gently tip out the cuttings and check for root growth. Make sure you keep the compost moist at this point. Once your cuttings have developed a good root system, empty the pot and tease the cuttings apart. Plant each one up separately in its own pot using potting-on compost. It is also a good idea at this point to feed the young plants with a diluted fertiliser, as cuttings compost tends not to contains very many nutrients. Keep the young plants well watered and repot once they start to outgrow their first pot. By the following spring your young rosemary plants should be ready to plant out either in the ground or in garden planters. Place rosemary in containers near to your kitchen door to ensure a ready supply whenever you need it. Rosemary should be harvested often to prevent the plant from getting woody. Use the harvested shoots fresh or hang bunches up to dry for use in the winter.

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