It's a French term meaning a handful of herbs and/or aromatics bundled with kitchen twine or tied up in cheesecloth sachets, and used to season stocks, soups and stews. Like a bouquet of flowers, the arrangement of a bouquet garni is limited only by assembler's imagination.
A common recipe may include bay leaves, sprigs of parsley and thyme. Whole peppercorns are often slipped in, and pasta sauces or Provençal lamb stew can be perfumed with fresh basil or rosemary-stem bouquet garnis, added at the very end of cooking, and allowed to steep.
The herbs are bound so they do not scatter in the liquid while it simmers and boils, and may be removed easily before serving.
Herbes de Provence are an aromatic mixture of commonly used herbs from the south of France. The mixture varies but always includes lots of thyme, plus rosemary, bay leaf, basil, savory, marjoram, fennel, sage and lavender. These fragrant herbs are dried and used during cooking to flavor Provençal dishes such as roast chicken, grilled meats, soups and vegetable-based stews.
While popular with Provençal grandmothers throughout the ages, commercial production of Herbes de Provence began in the 1970s. You can now find Herbes de Provence in supermarkets and farmer's markets throughout the world. In Provence, the herbs are stored in handy olive-wood grinders made especially to release the trapped scent of the herbs just before they go in the pot. You can also just crush them gently with your fingers before sprinkling on food or mixing with oil to season a dish.
The basis for most soups, many sauces and gravies is a good quality stock or broth. Vegetable broth is one of the most versatile components in a cook's repetoire and it's so easy to make at home!
Starting with the best ingredients will always make the best product. The freshest celery, carrots and onions will make the best mirepoix, which is the de rigeur starting point for a quality vegetable broth.
Sweating the vegetables in a little oil or butter will start the cooking process and allow them to release all of their flavor into the water. Roasting the vegetables in a hot oven is another good way to develop the rich, caramelized notes that are so appealing in soups. You can add in leeks, parsnips or tomato paste to alter the flavor to your taste. Classic additions like whole black peppercorns and bay leaves introduce aromatic layers of flavor.
The best advice for making a good vegetable broth is to take your time. Many recipes for stocks and broths claim that 45 minutes to 1 hour is adequate time to cook all the flavor out of the vegetables, but you may want to keep simmering your stock for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Start tasting it about 45 minutes in and continue every 20 minutes until it tastes full-bodied.
Here's a basic method:
Take equal parts of chopped carrots and celery and sauté them in the stockpot with a double portion of onions. Cut all the vegetables the same size so that the vegetables cook evenly. This is your mirepoix.
Sauté the mirepoix in a little butter or vegetable oil until soft. Use medium heat to just sweat the vegetables, not color them. If using tomato paste or chopped tomatoes, add them to the soft vegetables and cook for 5 minutes to eliminate the raw tomato taste.
Cover your sweated vegetables with enough cold water to cover the vegetables by a few inches.
Add in a bouquet garní made from bay leaves, peppercorns, parsley stems or other herbs.
Bring to a slow boil on medium-high heat; this may take 10-15 minutes. Lower the heat so that the broth is simmering and cover it to slow evaporation.
Start tasting the broth about 45 minutes in, keeping in mind that it will taste raw and watery until about 15 minutes before it's finished. Cool, strain and use in soups, stews or to poach meat, poultry or fish.
Biryani is a one-dish rice-based meal that consists of layering cooked rice and meat in a casserole, before baking it in the oven. Originating in Persia and popular in India and the Middle East, biryani can be made with chicken, seafood or meat, and can also be made as a vegetarian casserole.
Biryani is normally made with basmati rice and flavored with cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, bay leaf, coriander, mint, ginger, garlic and onions. Traditionally, orange saffron milk was sprinkled on the top of the dish before baking, so that the rice grains had a variated white and yellow-orange color and a subtle saffron flavor; today the high cost of saffron means that many restaurants unfortunately use yellow food coloring instead.
Biryani is often served with a yogurt-based condiment such as raita or a tomato, onion and cilantro relish. It is good for crowds and a favorite at Bangladeshi wedding receptions, Indian family dinners and Muslim dinner tables in Thailand.
