The northern hemisphere is approaching fall, and over the next three weeks I'll be ending my series on Cooking with Fresh Herbs with rosemary, sage, and thyme, all of which are used a lot in fall and winter dishes. Today let's talk about rosemary, an herb that's definitely one of my favorites.

Rosemary is a woody perennial herb, and if you're lucky enough to live where the climate is temperate, you can probably grow it year round. If you live in a colder climate, your rosemary will probably go dormant in the winter, but come back when the weather gets warmer. The plant is distinguished by long, needle-like evergreen leaves, which are strongly flavored and very fragrant. The plant is so attractive that in warmer climates it's sometimes grown as a shrub just for looks.

Rosemary is one of the stronger-flavored herbs, and like tarragon, it's an herb where it doesn't take much to add a lot of flavor. Dried rosemary is actually pretty flavorful and it can be substituted for fresh in some dishes, although the dried rosemary leaves are sharp and need to be pounded with something heavy or ground in a mortar and pestle so you don't bite into a piece of rosemary in the finished dish. Rosemary is also easy to freeze, so if you live where the rosemary dies down in the winter, just chop it off and put it in the freezer!

Rosemary is used extensively in foods from the Mediterranean region, especially in Italian or Greek cooking. It combines well with white beans, chicken, lamb, artichokes, potatoes, tomatoes, and some fruits, and is also often used as a flavoring in bread or flatbread. Sometimes rosemary branches are used as skewers for grilled kabobs, and rosemary is often ground and used as a rub for grilled meat.

Here are some interesting recipes to try if you have a rosemary plant in your herb garden. If anyone has other good recipes using rosemary, please share the link or recipe in the comments.

Rosemary in Bread
Rosemary and Cheese Biscuits from Morsels and Musings (pictured above)
Crisp Rosemary Flatbread from Smitten Kitchen
Adeena's Rosemary-Teff Dinner Rolls (gluten-free) from Book of Yum
Rosemary-Scented Cornmeal Cake from Tasting Menu
Whole Wheat Rosemary Pizza Dough from Pinch My Salt
Italian Rosemary Holiday Bread from Susan at A Year in Bread
Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Biscuits with Rosemary from A Fridge Full of Food

Rosemary with Beef, Chicken, or Lamb
Rosemary Chicken Skewers with Berry Sauce from Simply Recipes
Grilled Garlic and Rosemary Ribeye Steak from Steamy Kitchen
Rosemary-Garlic Marinade for Lamb or Mushrooms from Live to Eat
Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Garlic from Daily Unadventures in Cooking
Rosemary Garlic Roasted Chicken from French Kitchen in America
Sout-Braised Maple and Rosemary Skirt Steak from Je Mange la Villa
Rotisseried Leg of Lamb with Rosemary-Garlic Paste Filling from Christine Cooks

Rosemary with Fruit
Mango and Cucumber Salsa with a Kiss of Rosemary from Dani Spies (pictured above)
Plum and Rosemary Sugar Tartlettes from Tartelette
Pear-Rosemary Creme Brulee from Chocolate and Zucchini
Rosemary and Lemon Cupcakes from Vanilla Garlic
Lemon and Fennel Tarts with Rosemary and Honey from Lucullian Delights
Apple-Rosemary Muffins from Dhangitt's Kitchen
Yellow Raspberry Crisp with Rosemary Topping from The Well-Seasoned Cook

Rosemary with Vegetables and Beans
Rosemary Cauliflower Soup from La Tartine Gourmande (pictured above)
Cannelini Rosemary Soup from Beyond Salmon
Carrots with Rosemary and Orange from Nami-Nami
Butternut Squash Stew with Rosemary and Tomatoes from Baking and Books
Rosemary Roast Potatoes from A Spoonful of Sugar
Cannelini Bean Dip with Lemon and Rosemary from Everybody Loves Sandwiches
Artichoke Rosemary Frittata from Kalyn's Kitchen
Rosemary, Lentil, and Tomato Soup from A Wee Bit of Cooking

Other Interesting Ideas with Rosemary
Rosemary-Garlic Pecans from Al Dente
Rosemary Salt from Kalyn's Kitchen
Rosemary Olives from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once
Vodka with Lemon and Rosemary from Well Fed
Rosemary-Infused Oil from Tasty Palettes

You can see all the earlier herb posts in this series by clicking the tag Cooking with Fresh Herbs on any of the posts.

Kalyn Denny writes about food and at BlogHer.com and shares her passion for cooking at Kalyn's Kitchen. She has a lot of recipes that use rosemary, but without a doubt her two most frequent uses of this herb are to make Rosemary Mustard Grilled Chicken or Butternut Squash with Rosemary and Balsamic Vinegar.