A bouquet garni is a little bundle made of fresh or dried herbs and sometimes includes celery, carrot, leek, onion or parsley root put inside a small piece of cheesecloth that has been tied together at the top with string or thick thread and looks like a small sack.
The assortment of fresh can include parsley, thyme, bay leaves, fennel, leek, marjoram, cloves, tarragon, rosemary, peppercorns or tarragon. The assortment depends on the recipe. It’s so easy to just make-up a bouquet garni that fits your recipe.
This little sack is dropped into the pot and easily removed and discarded after cooking. It’s excellent for stock, soups, stews and sauces. It’s so easy to season a dish and remove this bundle at the end.
I have cheesecloth on hand for a number of purposes, including this one. You can also purchase a pack of little sacks with a drawstring ... a pack of twelve for $9.99 (US) can be ordered online from Target... I find it much more economical to use the cheese cloth and make my own and I can vary the size depending on what I put into it.
There are also pre-made bouquet garnis made of dried herbs that you can purchase. Admittedly, when I first learned to use them, that's what I used.... but by now you know my thoughts on dried herbs... they're okay ... but I much prefer to use mostly fresh because of the distinct flavor of fresh herbs... and the purchased bouquets have a herbs that you may or may not want in your particular recipe...
Make your own bouquet garni... it's easy and once you start using these... you will never stop.
2 comments:
Spectacular idea. I usually just leave things in unless they're easy to fish out. Bay leaves are a good example.
For Thyme I would tie a little string around a couple of sprigs. This is an awesome tip. I love to cook, but because I'm self and over-the-phone taught (by my mom and sister) there are a lot of simple tools like this that have never ocurred to me.
Glad you liked it!... I can't take credit for inventing it tho.... the French have done this for centuries
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