White-flowered Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinus 'Alba'
This is an unusual rosemary with vivid white flowers,
which cover the upper part of the stems in the spring, really brightening up the garden.
It grows very successfully in containers, either as a specimen plant or in a mixed planting.
Remember that it will eventually reach up to 2m in height, so needs plenty of space to develop.
It is a native of Mediterranean regions so prefers plenty of sunshine and a light dry soil.
It is totally hardy as long as it is planted in a sheltered spot protected from cold winds.
As well as its popular culinary uses, rosemary is an important medicinal and cosmetic herb.
It is rich in volatile oils and many other beneficial chemicals
which have strongly antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
Rosemary is one of the most popular and well known of culinary herbs.
It can be used alone or as part of a mixture with other strong flavoured herbs such as thyme and bay,
and is an essential part of traditional herb mixes such as Fines Herbes and Herbes du Provence.
When sprigs are used whole in cooking they should be removed before serving,
or the foliage can be finely chopped and used in home baking, and also in jams, chutneys and fruit salads.
Rosemary is a fine ingredient to use in home baking, its strong aromatic flavours enhance
and infuse through bread, buns and cakes.
Buttery Rosemary and Sultana Rolls
The rosemary and fruit go especially well together, making bread rolls which can be used both for sweet and savoury purposes. Makes 10.
- 1 egg
- 150 ml milk
- 1 tbs sugar
- 30 g butter – chopped
- 1 tbs rosemary leaves – finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 280 g bread flour (A mix of white and wholemeal is nice)
- 1½ tsp quick action yeast
- 50 g sultanas
- 50 g softened butter
Mix the flour, sugar, salt, rosemary, yeast and 30 g of butter in a large bowl.
Make a well in the centre and add the egg and milk.
Incorporate into a dough and then turnout onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.
Add the sultanas to the dough and knead until they are evenly mixed in.
Return the dough to the bowl and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
You may of course use your breadmaker:
Simply add the ingredients in the order specified by your machine, adding the sultanas at the beep, and use the dough setting.
Whilst the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas Mark 4
and use a little of the softened butter to grease a muffin tin.
Roll the dough to make a rectangle roughly 8 mm thick and spread with the softened butter.
Cut the rectangle lengthways into 4 strips and stack these one on top of the other.
Cut the stack into 10 pieces with a sharp knife and carefully transfer each piece to the muffin tin.
Again leave to rise until the dough pieces have doubled in size and filled the muffin cups.
Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until just golden.
These make great dinner rolls to serve with soup and taste equally good spread with butter and jam for tea.