How Tuesday - Making Rosemary Oil

Rosemary is a symbol of friendship, loyalty, and remembrance, which makes it a very special gift for a friend, especially those close to your heart.  This is a great housewarming gift but it must be kept in the refrigerator.  Although there are those that say this can be kept for up to 3 months.  I recommend keeping it only for 3 weeks. I've given you some recipes so you will have not trouble using it up!

You'll need:

• 1 cup fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 cup or so of good quality olive oil or grape seed oil
• A sterilized wide mouth pint jar

How to make it:

1. Let the fresh rosemary leaves wilt slightly, then strip from the stems and crush them with a rolling pin.
   
2. Then crush them with a rolling pin.
   
3. Put the leaves in a saucepan with oil and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
   
4. Remove from heat and pour into a canning jar or other heat resistant glass container and let cool to room temperature. Top off with any extra olive oil if needed.
   
5. Taste the oil and if the flavor is not strong enough repeat the process with fresh herbs.
6. If the flavor is strong enough you can strain the oil though a paper or muslin filter and press the herbs to extract all the liquid.
   
7. Pour in a sterilized bottle, seal, label and decorate.
   

Keep refrigerated. 

Use your Oil

Serve with sliced baguette for dipping. or use in these great recipes. It is great in an Italian dressing and used with vinegar as a beef marinade.  Experiment to discover other uses of the tasty oil. Rosemary is a good treatment for arthritis too, so put a few Tablespoons in a bath and soak.

 

Rosemary Bread

2 eggs

½ cup walnuts

¾ cup white wine or apple juice

Vegetable cooking spray

1 Tbls. lemon zest

¾ cup sugar

2 ½ cups all purpose flour

½ cup rosemary oil

¼ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly coat a loaf pan with vegetable cooking spray. Stir together flour, sugar, walnuts, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in bowl. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, wine, and rosemary oil, then stir into dry ingredients. Transfer the batter into pan and smooth the surface. Bake 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

10 to 20 small red skin or yukon gold potatoes

10 cloves garlic minced (we love garlic so feel free to use less)

2 tablespoons rosemary oil

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

freshly ground black pepper

salt

Scrub potatoes well, and toss into a baking dish with the garlic and the oil. Roll them around so they are well coated. Season generously with salt and pepper and sprinkle on the rosemary and vinegar. Roast in oven 450 degrees F for at least one hour until potatoes are golden and cooked through.