Monday, December 1, 2008

Rosemary Salt



I love using fresh herbs from my garden when I cook. I get excited when the chives start to force their way up through the dirt in the early spring. Using fresh leaves of basil on a grilled tomato in the middle of summer tastes amazing. Having beautiful flat leaf parsley, thyme, and oregano late in the fall to use in soups is great. But after a couple of frosty nights our herbs start to die off. I have tried freezing them before they die, that does not work too well. I have tried drying them out in my oven, it was OK, not great. Nothing can replace fresh herbs from the garden, it's something I'll look forward to all winter.

One of the most hearty herbs is rosemary; it can survive into the winter. Yesterday I noticed our rosemary was in abundance, so I decided to harvest a bunch of it. I washed it and removed all the stems and sticks. I put the leaves into a food processor and pulsed a few times to get a rough chop. Then I added an equal amount of salt and processed until it all came together to a nice granulated texture.

I can guarantee there will be some grilled lamb in my very near future...

4 comments:

I QUE said...

That stuff would be great for curing some duck legs for duck confit

Lakeside Smoker said...

Great idea Chris! Know where I can get some quality duck?

I QUE said...

D'Artagnan has the best quality, you can find it at Whole Foods (or online) but it is pricey. Another option is to check out Asian markets, pretty sure the Super 88 carries duck legs.

gaga said...

Yum! I can't wait to see what you make with it!