Martha Stewart's One-Ingredient Upgrade For Soup Adds Instant Flavor

When it comes to soup, Martha Stewart has plenty of tips to offer, from topping minestrone with a flavorful sauce to adding an extra veggie to chicken soup. In an article on her official website, the bestselling author and lifestyle expert shared yet another technique for enhancing any soup — use a traditional bouquet garni. Literally translating to "garnished bouquet," this simple yet ingenious French practice entails combining fresh and dried herbs and spices together in a small bundle that can be simmered in soups, stocks, sauces, and casseroles to infuse flavor.

The difference between good soup and okay soup usually comes down to how flavorful the broth is. This little-fuss-or-muss hack not only effectively adds dimension to soup, but it's also both versatile and fun, to boot. "Fun" because with no single set of aromatics required, this is the place to let your creative juices really steep. While a traditional bouquet garni contains a tried-and-true trio of parsley, thyme, and bay leaves, it can be changed, expanded, and adapted to suit whatever soup or stew you're using it in.

For example, in one of her chicken soup recipes, Martha Stewart uses peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, and garlic, as well as parsley stems, to impart more flavor to her broth. But a bouquet garni can even include things you may not readily think of, such as lemon peel, cinnamon sticks, or fennel seeds. Combating cold and flu season? You might benefit from a few slivers of fresh garlic and ginger. It's really up to you and your tastes.

Bouquet garnis are incredibly simple to make, requiring only a collection of herbs, spices, and/or other aromatics and something to bundle them for easy removal. This is a great way to get the benefits of herbs and spices without leaving the floating remnants in your soup or having to fish them out late. The end result is flavorful soup with a smooth texture. Try tying together fresh-stemmed herbs like rosemary, thyme, tarragon, and parsley with a bit of kitchen twine. Cut the string about six inches long, laying it lengthwise on a clean surface, placing the herbs across it, and then securing with the string.

For dried spices like peppercorns and cumin seeds (and other small ingredients like garlic cloves or citrus peels), a square of cheesecloth or a small readily available muslin teabag works well. Simply trim a piece of cheesecloth and place your aromatics on top. Then, fold the corners up and in to form a small pouch, tying it closed with kitchen twine. Or get creative like Gordon Ramsay, who cleverly uses leek trimmings to bundle a traditional bouquet garni.

Once your little flavor bomb is ready, just pop it into its brothy bath or bubbling sauce during the early stages of cooking, allowing time to simmer. Tongs make bouquet garni retrieval simple. If using cheesecloth or a teabag, remember to squeeze out the residual liquid so you don't miss out on any of that lovely flavor.