Rosemary is great but you only have to use a little... otherwise the result is not good
http://www.spymac.com/details/?2312580

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Rosemary Lemonade is great! Just make up some lemonade and add a sprig of rosemary. It is delicious.

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Sounds tasty but not really ROASTED garlic is it.

This would probably taste even better with a whole bulb of minced roasted garlic added to the mix.

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You're really passionate about rosemary, so you may be able to answer this question-- when cooking with fresh rosemary, is it necessary to use just the leaves and discard the stem?

I used to use sprigs of fresh rosemary that grew around my house to scent potatoes or pasta. But they always created this nasty smell that stunk up the house and rendered the food inedible. Did I need to remove the stems, or was it just some weird pesticide or something that got on them? I've since quit using fresh...
Thanks!

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Rosemary is a truly wonderful herb. A recipe I made up myself...it's easy and delicious:

2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 medium or large onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1-4 dried red chile peppers, broken up
1/3 c. dry white wine
1/3 c. vegetable stock
1-2 sprigs rosemary, de-stemmed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Place all ingredients in a large, deep baking pan (e.g., one you would use to bake lasagna) and mix well. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Serve over pasta.

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I just made an insanely delicious Rosemary Lemon Cake with lemon curd and goat cheese frosting. The cake itself is a direct pickup of Martha Stewart's basic White Cake Recipe with 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh rosemary and the zest of 2 lemons. I always garnish the cake with sprigs of fresh rosemary and some homemade candied lemon peel.

It makes you wonder why there aren't more rosemary desserts out there!

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Wendy, would you care to share that cake recipe, or can I find it via Martha's Web site? I'm so tantalized by the combination of rosemary (it grows wild in my yard), lemon and goat cheese frosting that my keyboard threatens to gum up with drool!!

Best,
Spitz

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This is the white cake recipe and the lemon curd filling link is on the same page. Just add the 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh rosemary and the zest of 2 lemons to the butter mixture as you are adding the flour and milk before folding in the egg whites. The great thing about a white cake and a curd together is that the egg whites go to the cake and the egg yolks go to the curd. A warning though that this is not an easy cake to make if you aren't an experienced cake maker. You need to follow the directions carefully or it won't be so great. I can imagine trying to add the lemon zest and rosemary to a white cake mix and getting a nice alternative flavor (in the semi-homemade style).

The goat cheese frosting is from Martha's Baking Handbook, but I make it a little off her recipe to account for getting my ingredients at Trader Joe's.
Goat Chese frosting:
1 log of the Trader Joe's goat Cheese (the big log with the red label) softened
1 package softened cream cheese or neufchatel (lower fat cream cheese which I prefer since it makes a bit lighter frosting)
powdered sugar to taste
1 tsp very fine lemon zest (omit if you have a coarse zester)

Cream all the ingredients together in a mixer until smooth an fluffy about 4-5 min.
You can add softened butter to this and additional sugar if you want a smoother, creamier frosting. I have found that this amount of frosting is perfect for the outside of the cake only. Fill the layers with the lemon curd after piping (or spreading) a small wall of icing around the edges of each layer. This prevents the lemon curd from seeping out of the cake when you put the next layer on.

I garnish/ decorate the cake with candied lemon peel and clean sprigs of rosemary. It is nice to make sure the rosemary is in smaller pieces (not the whole sprig) so each person can have some fresh rosemary with their cake.
Martha's recipe for candied lemon peel: http://www.marthapedia.com/recipe/candied-lemon-peel?autonomy_kw=candied%20lemon%20peel&rsc=ns2006_m2

I use a less elaborate method where I just boil equal parts sugar and water together and then boil the lemon peel in the mixture until it goes a bit translucent. It takes around 5 mins or so to cook that way (I am sure it is the proper way to get perfect candied lemon peel, but it works for me!)

I have a photo of the most recent time I made the cake if you want me to email it to you.

I now want to try making variations on some other desserts thinking about using rosemary and other herbs. I have changed up flavors in other recipes, one of my favorite variations is an orange cranberry soda bread with chocolate chips.

As another note, I have also had rosemary gelato at Capogiro in Philly that was incredible.
http://capogirogelato.com/

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onne of my favorites too. Plan to buy a tree of it for the holidays.....smells so good.

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Hey, Wendy, thanks! Unfortunately, the link to the cake/curd recipes didn't come through; I'm an experienced baker, though, so I will either punt with stuff in my own files or negotiate through Martha's site. Love the candied lemon peel as garnish, and the contrasting rosemary sprigs.

My e-mail address is: collardini@yahoo.com if you'd care to send me the photo.

Again, thanks.

Spitz

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I used to use sprigs of fresh rosemary that grew around my house to scent potatoes or pasta. But they always created this nasty smell that stunk up the house and rendered the food inedible.

Watch the video rosemary
http://www.spymac.com/details/?2313307

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I made this last night.... The rosemary was not overpowering at all, I thought the flavor was very subtle, despite my doubling the garlic. We really enjoyed it.

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