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Miss Thrifty5 April 3, 2011
I get my bouquet garni (or bouquets garnis) for free: I make them the traditional way, using herbs from my garden. They may look like faddy, fiddly little bundles to make, but they really aren’t. I like them better than those dried up old teabag things you buy in the shops, and they save money. Why people still buy those teabags, I don’t know.
Right now I seem to be tossing bouquet garni bundles around left, right and centre: bechamel sauces, stews in the slow cooker, soups, you name it…
As you can see, this bouquet garni includes thyme, rosemary, parsley and bay leaf. I’ve seen bouquet garni recipes online that include squashing the sprigs of herbs into the hollow of a celery stalk or feeding them into a piece of leek, but life’s too short. I used to tie the bouquet garni herbs into a little muslin bag, but now I don’t do that either. Instead I put a bay leaf on the top, a bay leaf on the bottom, knot the bundle tightly and chuck it into the pot.
One cheat: my little bay tree is NOT happy at the moment, so I’m using bay leaves that I keep in an airtight container in the freezer. If anyone has any bay tree resuscitation tips, I am all ears! I know they don’t like lots of water; sadly, North Yorkshire isn’t known for its Mediterranean climate.
5 Responses to “Bouquet garni from my garden”
Katherine Crowther says:
I haven’t bought bouquet garni for years but your post has made me realise that I’m growing all the ingredients in my little herby plot! So, off I go to try out your idea (mental note not to do the Bridget Jones blue string thing though)! Thank you for a great tip! 🙂
April 7, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Johnny Debt says:
We have a little herb garden at the front of the house. As well as looking pretty, it smells nice and also tastes great when added to our food.
I just love your site for the wonderful snippets of information.
April 7, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Energy Efficiency Advice says:
Great article Miss Thrifty,
Maybe not the place surrounded by all these herbs although my thing is energy saving so worth a mention that the UK Government has announced that Grants For Loft Insulation will now continue through until 2012, therefore if any of your readers would like to save money on their heating bills now is the time to take advantage of these in some cases FREE loft grants and save energy and the environment.
April 8, 2011 at 12:00 am
Debra says:
Not only can you make a bouquet garni from your backyard herb garden for cooking, all your firends and family will love you if you pass them on fresh in a little gift basket. I’m definately going to try your dill pesto recipe as I have plenty of dill growing and never thought to make a pesto with it. Great info and post.
October 13, 2011 at 12:19 am