What am I doing wrong with Rosemary ??

[CHRIST1NE]

I've made several recipes recently that call for various measurements of Rosemary. The only Rosemary I have seen is the little sprig things. Are you supposed to use them whole, grind them, chop them ?? It just seems odd to measure out 1/8 of a tsp. of little twig things.

[Beth Y]

Hmmm. Can you not find it in a jar with the rest of the jarred spices? It is pretty standard where I live.
The twig kind is fresh rosemary (a wonderful thing) but when using it, you need to make sure that your recipe measurement is for fresh. If it is, you need to take off the little leaves to measure. The best way to do that is to run your fingers backwards along the twig and, assuming it is somewhat dry, most the leaves should snap off.
If the recipe does not call for fresh rosemary, then you need to use less of the fresh, as fresh has a stronger flavor. I am not sure how much less, but maybe another poster will.
Good luck!

[valchemist]

usually, if the rosemary is fresh, you have to pull the needles off in bunches. (They don't just fall off if you run your finger backwards over the stem. At least that doesn't work for me - I have tried it. I guess it would work if it was dry.)

Once you pull off the needles, you chop them up finely with a knife. Then you can measure them using measuring spoons.

The flavor is very wonderful and strong. Fresh is so much better than dried.

[This message has been edited by valchemist (edited 06-04-2001).]

[lindrusso]

I think maybe you are referring to the dried kind, but that you balk (as I sometimes do) that they are large. You feel like you're measuring out pine needles or something!

If I'm using dried, I often crush the "twigs" with my fingers. You could chop them too. It is nice to have smaller pieces since it's pretty strong tasting. When using fresh, I chop it.

[Jewel]

I thought I was the only one that was fresh-rosemary challenged! I watch Emeril or Alton Brown run his fingers backward across a sprig and all the little leaves just come right off...doesn't work for me. I end up pulling those little legs off one-by-one and chopping them fine.

The ratio I remember is fresh herbs 1 TBS equals 1 tsp dried. Measure after chopping fresh. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Colleen]

I think that fresh rosemary is just wonderful. I usually have a pot of it growing somewhere. It is really tasty chopped and mixed with some olive oil and pepper. Use this as a dipping sauce for fresh bread.
They also say that you can use the stem-"twig" for scent. After the leaves have been harvested throw the twig into your firepace (some people say that you can place them into your oven as well) and it produces a great smell. I don't have a fireplace so I've never tried it, but I may try the oven thing, maybe on some aluminum foil,

[Anne]

I like to use scissors to 'chop' my fresh rosemary. I don't strip the leaves off the stem. Just snip, snip, snip them while they are still attached to the stem.

[JennieL]

Originally posted by Anne:
I like to use scissors to 'chop' my fresh rosemary. I don't strip the leaves off the stem. Just snip, snip, snip them while they are still attached to the stem.

I like your idea Ann. My neighbor has a huge rosemary bush, so I have an endless supply of fresh rosemary. I also try and use the newer, young branches, which are easier to chop.

[JJ40]

Christine, if you're referring to dried rosemary, you can just grind it a little with a mortar and pestle.

Julie

[CHRIST1NE]

Thanks for all the replies. I was referring to dried rosemary twigs - fresh rosemary never even entered into my mind. And yes, lindrusso, I do feel like I'm measuring out pine needles. Thanks for the tip about themortar and pestle. I currently don't own them, but that's an easy enough fix http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[karenv]

Julie and Ann - I am with you. I grow a lot of my own herbs and harvest them then put them in the freezer so I always have "fresh herbs". Sometimes I do used the dried though if the harvesting was not good. Fresh - I use a scissor and snip them, dried I use a mortal and petal - gets them really ground up and more of the oils out.

Karen

[SusanL]

Speaking of fresh rosemary, I love to make grilled potatoes in which I poke a hole through the unbaked potato lenghthwise and insert the long twig of fresh rosemary. Insert thin slices of garlic into the sides of the potato, rub a little oil and salt. Cover with foil and bake on the grille. Very good way to use fresh rosemary!