Country Kitchen Recipes: Cooking with Rosemary

Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs due to its versatility. Fresh Rosemary can be expensive when purchased at the grocery and the dried Rosemary at the grocery to me seems a little bland.

This past spring I was delighted to find Rosemary bushes at Lowes. I purchased one to include in my herb garden and the results were fantastic. It took root easily and has since tripled in size. And since Rosemary is an evergreen, it is available all year round.

This past fall, I snipped off a bunch of the new growth and dried it in my herb closet for several weeks. After the drying period I used a mortar and pestle to break up the leaves and filled two large herb containers. The difference in taste and fragrance is out of this world. Because Rosemary is an evergreen, it has the sticky pitch just like a pine tree (same family). And I think the difference between the store brand and homegrown is that I let the leaves mature a bit more and it had more of that pitch that really boosted the flavor.

Recently I made some dipping oil with the dried Rosemary to use with some french bread I purchased at Ingles bakery. It was so good my wife made me make it again the next night. Guess it was a good thing that Ingles had their buy one get one free bake sale! Other herbs that I grew and dried this past year include Tarragon, Thyme, Sweet Basil, Sage, Italian Parsley and Rose leaves.

I encourage everyone, even if you don't have a green thumb, to try growing and drying your own herbs. I was nervous at first, but it has proven to be worth the work.