Pastry Crust Variations

by The Armchair Gourmet (TAG) Editor
 
This recipe can be made with unbleached flour, pastry flour, whole wheat flour or rye flour.


Savory Pastry Crust Ingredients:
1 cup flour (unbleached, pastry, whole, rye (mix in ground nuts/flax)
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and browned (Browned Butter Recipe)
About 5 tablespoons ice water

Combine flour and butter. Mix until pebble-y.  Add water until dough is formed. Knead for a minute or two.

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Sweet Pastry Crust Ingredients:

1 cup flour (unbleached, pastry, whole)
1/2 cup salted butter, melted and browned (Browned Butter Recipe)
1/8 cup fine sugar
1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla

About 5 tablespoons ice water

Combine flour and butter. Mix until pebble-y.  Add water until dough is formed. Knead for a minute or two.

Browned Butter

Use amount of butter called for in a recipe and place it in a saucepan on low heat until it changes color and give off a sweet and rich aroma, about 10 minutes.

Roasted Garlic, Variations

Recipe by Phuong Phan, Exclusive to The Armchair Gourmet

This is a great foundation ingredient for recipes.  It can be used directly on bread or steak as a condiment.  Just smear it on and enjoy.

Roasted Garlic (classic):

• 5 bulbs of garlic, top of cloves sliced off
• 2 tablespoons high thresh hold oil (grapeseed, peanut, canola)

take bulbs and arrange on a doubled piece of aluminum foil to cover all the bulbs. lay bulbs out on the aluminum foil tops up. drizzle oil on the sliced tops of the bulbs. wrap completely with the aluminum foil and put in a preheated oven at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes or until golden and soft.

Roasted Garlic (variation):

• 5 bulbs of garlic, top of cloves sliced off
• 2 tablespoons high thresh hold oil (grapeseed, peanut, canola)
• 1 sprig rosemary, oregano, sage, etc.

Take bulbs and arrange on a doubled piece of aluminum foil to cover all the bulbs. Lay bulbs out on the aluminum foil tops up. Add sprig of herb.  Drizzle oil on the sliced tops of the bulbs. Wrap completely with the aluminum foil and put in a preheated oven at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes or until golden and soft.

Herbes de Provence, Variations

Herbes de Provence (Provençal herbs) is a mixture of dried herbs fromProvence invented in the 1970s.^[1]

The mixture typically contains savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender flowers and other herbs. (Some cooks maintain that lavender is an essential ingredient of true herbes de provence.) The proportions vary by manufacturer. Thyme usually dominates the taste produced by the herb mixture.

Herbes de Provence are used to flavour grilled foods such as fish and meat, as well as vegetable stews. The mixture can be added to foods before or during cooking or mixed with cooking oil prior to cooking so as to infuse the flavour into the cooked food. They are rarely added after cooking is complete.

Herbes de Provence are often sold in larger bags than other herbs, and the price in Provence is considerably lower than other herbs. 

Provençal cuisine has traditionally used many herbs, which were often characterized collectively as "herbes de Provence", but not in standard combinations, and not sold as a mixture:

...the famous mixtures of herbes de Provence... were unknown to my Provençal grandmothers, who used, individually and with discernment, thyme, rosemary and savory gathered in the countryside.^[2]

It was in the 1970s that standard mixtures were formulated by spice wholesalers, including notably Ducros in France (now part ofMcCormick & Company).  Wikipedia

All dried herbs gathered into a tied satchel: 

Herbes de Provence (classic): 

• 3 tablespoons thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons savory
• 2 tablespoons lavender flower

Herbes de Provence, 2nd (variation): 

• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon savory
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon marjoram 
• 1 tablespoon rosemary

Herbes de Provence, 3rd (variation): 

• 1 teaspoon basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon sage leaf
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 3 tablespoons oregano leaves
• 3 tablespoons thyme leaves
• 3 tablespoons savory
• 2 tablespoons lavender flowers

Herbes de Provence, 4th (variation):  

• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
• 2 tablespoons dried fennel seed

Bouquet Garni, Variations

The Bouquet Garni is a bundle of herbs tied together with string or stem used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews. The bouquet is boiled with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption. Most Bouquet Garni recipes include parsley, thyme and bay leaf.

Variations will also may include basil, burnet, chervil, rosemary, savory and tarragon.

Sometimes vegetables such as carrot, celery (leaves or stem), celeriac, leek, onion and parsley root are also included in the bouquet, but in general those work best as mirepoix and are "sweated" with oil or butter beforehand and added along with the bouquet to the stock. Spices such as peppercorn are added in this manner, too.

Bunch together fresh herbs into a bouquet and tie together with twine or with a maleable herb stem:
 
Bouquet Garni, 1st variation:
2 bay leaf
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 sprigs parsley

A minimalist version, the 1st variation works well with light fish stocks.

Bouquet Garni, 2nd variation:
2 celery stalk greens or italian parsley
2 dried bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh parsley

The celery and/or italian parsley works well to bring out the flavors of chicken and fish.

Bouquet Garni , 3rd variation:
2 sprigs rosemary
3 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves

This third variation robust. It works well with beef, pork, game or chicken stock.

Bouquet Garni, 4th variation:

1 sprig sage
3 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves

The sage in this bouquet variation adds a nice touch.