Fleur de Sel de Guérande “Le Guérandais”: A Favorite Sea Salt in the US
A fresh rosemary and thyme herb rub is a quick and easy flavorful rub that brings the taste and feel of a fresh herb garden to a chicken, lamb or turkey roast. We often use this herb rub for our classic Sunday roasted chicken (poulet rôti) but it also works great on turkey. We have “massage” our Thanksgiving turkey with it many times and we will do this again this year. But we have multiple variations on this basic herb rub. Depending on your mood and any dietary restriction of your company, you can have the fresh herbs macerate in olive oil (great for low-cholesterol diets), you can also either add some salted butter to the olive oil for a paste like rub or entirely replace the olive oil of the recipe below with creamed salted butter – so many delicious options for your Thanksgiving turkey!
Fresh Rosemary and Thyme Herb Rub
The fresh herb rub we are offering today is a very simple and quick one to make. It only uses a couple of fresh herbs which we always have in the kitchen: rosemary and thyme but you can certainly play with the fresh herbs based on what you have on hands (herbes de Provence, sage, bay leaves — choose whatever mix you want, you are the Chef after all!). So if you are looking for a natural, healthy, and tasty rub for your Thanksgiving turkey, check below the Art of the home detailed fresh rosemary and thyme herb rub recipe as well as Art of the Home suggestions. Our herb rub recipe is for a roasting chicken so for a turkey, just double up (or triple up depending on the size of your bird) and voilà! Enjoy and bon appétit!
Fresh Rosemary and Thyme Herb Rub
INGREDIENTS (for one roasting chicken, double up for a turkey or triple up for bigger birds)
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 2 Tbsp of Olive oil
- 2 good pinches of coarser salt (preferably Fleur de Sel sea salt) – about 1 tsp
- Pepper – 1-2 turns of pepper mill
DIRECTIONS
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, the leaves of your sprigs of thyme and rosemary, the fleur de sel, and pepper. If time allows, let it infuse for about 30 minutes. You can even do it the night before.
- Place your bird on the roasting rack in your roasting pan – breast up. Using a brush (or clean hands — a great free option too and very effective), start basting (don’t forget under the wings and thighs), then turn it over and rub the other side — your bird is then already in position to roast (you will turn it over, breast up, about half way during cooking).
A FEW SUGGESTIONS
- Flavorful basting juices: put water to barely cover the bottom of your roasting pan, add a couple carrots, onion, and garlic. The juice of your turkey (or chicken) with all of the aroma of your fresh herb rub will drip in the water making a tasty basting juice to use during cooking (turkey needs lots of basting TLC) and for your stock.
- Added flavor: insert the following inside your poultry — a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary, couple of bay leaves, a roughly chopped onion, a few cloves of unpeeled garlic cloves.