Fresh Rosemary

• Fresh rosemary leaves remain tough, even if you cook them for hours. But you can transfer the flavor of rosemary to a soup or stew with whole sprigs; crush the leaves with your fingers, a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle first to release the aromatic oils. Or strip the leaves from the stem, chop them finely and leave them in the dish.

Dried Rosemary

• Dried rosemary leaves can feel like sharp needles. Use a spice mill or a coffee mill reserved for processing herbs and spices to pulverize dried rosemary into a powder. Or crush small amounts of dried rosemary in a mortar and pestle. If you don't have one of these on hand, place the dried rosemary leaves between two sheets of waxed paper or inside a heavy-duty food storage bag and run a rolling pin across them to crush them.