Working With Fresh Herbs

The Le Creuset's Chef's knife is the perfect tool for any task in the kitchen and we're using it to show you three ways to prepare fresh herbs for cooking. First a chiffonade. Remove the leaves of the herb plant and stack them on top of each other. Roll them into a tight log and thinly slice crosswise creating a thin ribbon. A chiffonade is typically used with basil, sage and mint. Next for a simple chop, cut and clean your herb of choice and remove any woody stalks if necessary. Bunch your herbs together and with your fingers curled, chop them finely. Gather them together on the cutting board and rock the knife using your hand on the spine of the blade to guide the knife as your chop the herbs as fine or as rough as your desire. Now for a bouquet garni, which is a pouch of herbs and aromatics used to flavour soups, stocks and stews without having to fish them out after they've done their work. Cut a square of cheesecloth and tear the herbs in the center. Parsley, thyme and bay leaf are common ingredients along with peppercorns. To close the bouquet, collect the corners of the cheesecloth and twist them together creating a pouch. Wrap the top of the pouch several times with the butcher's twine and knot it tightly. You can leave the excess string to tie the bouquet to a pot handle for easy removal.