How to Make a Cooking Herb Sachet

Herbs are traditional seasonings for cooking. Herbs add unique flavor to soups, stews and sauces. Their flavor can be strong and overpower a slow simmering recipe. An herbal cooking sachet is the perfect way to control flavor during cooking. Herbs are placed in a bag or ball and then immersed into the cooking pot. The sachet keeps herbs together for simple removal. It also keeps twigs, seeds and stems out of smooth sauces. Herbal sachets can be dropped into a cooking pot at any time during the cooking and can be removed as desired. Herbal sachets are fun to create. Choose your herbs and put them in a cooking sachet. This selection of sachets offers a variety of styles and materials.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Herbs, fresh or dried
• Cheesecloth
• Muslin bags
• Tea balls
• Herb infusion balls

1. Select cooking herbs. The most popular herbs for soups, stews and sauces are parsley, bay leaf and thyme. Other popular herbs include basil, marjoram, dill, rosemary and celery. Adjust the blend for your taste. Add peppercorns, garlic cloves and other spices to the herbs for special recipes. Use dry or fresh herbs depending on availability.

2. Make a cheesecloth bag for your herbal infusion. Cut a piece of cheesecloth 8 inches by 8 inches. Put about a half-cup of mixed herbs in the middle of the cheesecloth. Crush them slightly to release their flavors. Tie the cheesecloth shut with kitchen or cotton twine. Leave the tie long enough so that you can remove the cheesecloth.

3. Fill an herbal ball with fresh or dried herbs. These wire mesh balls hold a half-cup to 1 cup of herbs. They are about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and have a long handle or chain for easy removal from the pot. These handy utensils are usually found in kitchen specialty shops.

4. Use a tea ball for dried herbs. Tea balls are designed to hold loose tea leaves. and work very well for small amount of herbs. Fill the tea ball about halfway to allow room for dry herbs to swell up as they absorb water during cooking.

5. Select a cotton muslin bag or nylon strainer bag for herbal blends. These bags are used for tea and herbal infusions. They can be washed and reused. Strainer bags are often found at bulk tea and herbal shops. They are available in larger sizes for quantity cooking.

6. 
    
   Sage

   When you find the herbal sachet method that works, you will use herbs more often. This brings healthier eating as herbal flavors enhance meals allowing you to cut back on salt, sugars and fat for taste. Enjoy your herbal bouquet.

Tips & Warnings

• Use kitchen tongs to remove an herbal sachet bag from the pot.

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