Rosemary, The Herb
The herb rosemary I feel is always used in the title of a recipe to let you know the aromatic herb is going to smell up the item and that’s all that is important. It wasn’t until late that I really started to cook with herb and actually enjoy it. I always felt that the rosemary was more like pine needles than anything else. When I would break down and buy fresh I did feel like it did much more because of the texture. In all the cooking shows they use the whole stem. How are you supposed to enjoy eating that? Plus the taste didn’t infuse into the food and make a difference. The kitchen smelt great but the dish sucked. So here are my small suggestions to making rosemary actually appetizing.
Suggestion one:
When using dried rosemary think of one pinch of needles for each person. The needles are dry so if you are putting the rosemary on say pork chops that you are frying the needles will gain little moisture and will not give much flavor. Use a mortar and pestle and grind the needles into a rough grainy powder. The grinding will help release more aroma and break the seal to allow more moisture to activate to rosemary.
Suggestion two:
When using fresh rosemary ditch the stick. Fresh rosemary should be pulled from the branch and you should only use the petals or needles. To help release the aromas chop up the needles. The chopping not only release the aroma but also when the dish is ready to serve, the rosemary will not leave this large needle left to eat. The rosemary becomes more a spice and less of a nuisance.