How to chop fresh herbs

Fresh Rosemary….We all know that fresh herbs are great to cook with and really ramp up the flavor in foods but how do you chop fresh herbs?

For the beginning cook, or someone who has never used fresh herbs before, these bundles of wonderful flavor can be a little daunting.  What do you do with this???  How do you use it in cooking???

 

Want to know how to chop fresh rosemary properly?  

Read on!  Here is my success secret for chopping fresh rosemary:

Rinse the rosemary and pat it dry with a paper towel.

If you have a bundle of fresh rosemary, take it one stalk at a time.  

Place your index finger and thumb at the tip of a stalk of rosemary.  

Squeeze these two fingers tightly around the stalk.

Keep the hand holding the stalk stationary and with your other hand, slide your fingertips down the stalk and the leaves of the rosemary will release from the stalk.

Discard the stalk.

Then use kitchen scissors and snip the rosemary leaves to the desired size.

You can then crush the herb slightly with your fingers to release more flavor.

I’ve just planted my herb garden and rosemary is one of the stars.  I love the scent of rosemary and the flavor it adds to a dish.  It is so rewarding to grow your own herbs and then enjoy them in recipes.  Rosemary will not live during our cold winters so I usually dig it up and put it in a pot and take it inside for the winter.  A rosemary plant will live several years when wintered over this way.   

 

Try my “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” Roasted Chicken Breasts for dinner or for easy entertaining.