When a recipe for soup, sauce or stew calls for a bunch of different herbs, this is a quick and easy way handle the job.  Simply bundle your choice of fresh or dried herbs and spices into a piece of cheesecloth, tie with a string and add to your recipe.

bouquet garni

Once your dish is done, pull out the bundle and discard. No need to carefully strain the ingredients to make sure every last twig and leaf is out and no worries that a stray coriander seeds or peppercorn will cause an emergency trip to the dentist.

The French term for this handy kitchen technique is ‘bouquet garni’, literally a ‘ garnished bouquet’ – a fancy name for a bundle of herbs. As the recipes here use Greek herbs and spices, ours is a Bouquet Garni a la Grecque.

Tools

• Kitchen twine, scissors and cheesecloth

Instructions
Step 1 – unroll approximately 1 foot of cheesecloth

1 foot of chessecloth

Step 2 – fold top left corner down to bottom right edge

top left to right edge

Step 3 – cut along right edge of triangle to create 8″ square

8" square

Step 4 – Choose herbs and spices

herbs and spices

Step 5 – Chop and crush, bundle and tie tightly with enough string to easily pull out of pot

bouquet garni a la grecque

Voila! or in our case – Etsi, bravo!