Our Weekly CSA Bounty: What Do YOU Do With Rosemary?
Fennel, Swiss chard, white and purple cauliflower, purple scallions, puntarelle, escarole, brocoletti, spinach, bay leaves and flowering rosemary. And it's all organic thanks to our CSA, Parco dei Buoi.The weekly shipments usually send me into a flurry of vegetable prep: wash spinach and chard well and sautee, steam cauliflower and brocoletti, refrigerate (or freeze if still eating last week's shipment), hang rosemary and bay to dry.
Last week the cauliflower went into Indian cauliflower pakoras, (a disaster! I won't blog that one!) and we eat spinach and chard in myriad ways, including cooked and chilled from the fridge with a little tataki sauce on top.
This week, the scallions are going into my St. Patrick's Day Champ with Smoked Salmon and the escarole is reserved for "scarola e fagioli", my entry into Marie of Proud Italian Cook's "Festa italiana" event.
But, so far, I have not used one sprig of the rosemary that's arrived on my doorstep week after week. It's gorgeous stuff; see it there on the right under the purple cauliflower with its little lavender flowers on the stalk? I feel bad not using it, so I need ideas and inspiration from you. My question to you all is: What do YOU do with rosemary?
posted by Susan in Italy @ 4:30 PM
10 Comments:
I admit I've never want a rosemary shrub because I would want to use it, and its easy to use it TOO much, so I'm cautious with it.
Of course it pairs nicely with chicken and lamb, and I occasionally toss in some when roasting potatoes with olive oil and balsamic, but I leave the leaves in the stems so I can extract it from the dish before serving. I enjoy a light rosemary flavor, but I really dislike bitting into it.
Lots and lots of ideas. I have a rosemary hedge.
1. Use it with braised pork.
2. Add a sprig to pickles.
3. Add a sprig to olives if you cure them.
4. Add it minced in meatballs or sausage.
5. Or, to wow your friends, make a rosemary and sweet wine sorbet. Trust me. It's weird, but really good. Bracing when the weather gets hot.
I love roasting vegetables with it. Also, it is great in a lamb stew. I can use it a myriad of ways--throw it in the fire of the grill for scented smoke, mince it and use it with a carpaccio, oh it is so good.
Lots of people worry that rosemary overpowers other flavors, but I haven't found that to be true.
You're a great cook: you can't go wrong if you experiment a little with it. Have fun!
Its delicious with grilled meats, chicken, pork, beef.
grilled and roasted veggies
foccacia breads
Try it infused in some fresh lemonade!! Mmmmm!! lemon and rosemary is fantastic. Oh and btw, can't wait for your entry for the Festa!!
- roast chicken with butter and rosemary sprigs slipped under the skin
- roast lamb or pork studded with garlic and rosemary
- cooked white beans -- puree them with garlic, rosemary, and salt for a great dip for veggies or Arabic bread
- short-cut pasta tossed with cooked, cubed pumpkin or butternut squash, garlic, butter, and rosemary.
- Roasted or broiled pumpkin/ butternut squash sprinked with rosemary before cooking
Yay rosemary!
Oh, you guys are awesome! Thanks to all of you for getting my rosemary mojo in gear. I used to have BBQ possibilities and would grill salmon on a bed of rosemary sprigs, which would char completely but leave the fish tender, juicy and infused with herbiness. (Now I'm too afraid of the community banging down my door with torches and pitchforks if I ever dared to contaminate their air with the smells of barbecue).
I also love the Italo-hummous idea, Beth. The thing that's used up all my rosemary this weekend was the rosemary-in-desserts idea from Marie and Hunter. I made a rosemary simple syrup and have so far added it to lemonade, but the possibilities are endless. Who knew it could be so versatile?
Popcorn! Either chopped fine as a topping, or I sometimes throw a sprig into the oil as it's heating on the stove.
If you have some sturdy branches, they can make some cool skewers for rosemary friendly meats. A rosemary kebab on the grill tastes and smells great.
Rosemary is perhaps my favorite herb. Most recently, I used it to make roasted fingerling potatoes. Delicious!
My favorite rosemary dish is gnocci with a lamb ragu. The recipe is here: http://jellyjules.com/?p=857
I LOVE IT.
Also nice under the skin, or in the cavity, of your chicken. If you ever get a TON, I once saw a chef on TV soak the rosemary in water for awhile, and then wrap it all around a leg of lamb, and put the whole thing on the grill. Mmmm, yummy. I suspect the rosemary was charred, but the lamb looked heavenly.
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