Several thoughts run through one’s head when they think of French cooking. Visions of buttery goodness, heavy creams and fancy displays. There is much more to French cooking than that; France isn’t just Paris after all.

French food has several fundamentals, such as the mire poix, the bouquet garni or herb satchel and chicken stock.

The Fundamentals

A mire poix is 3 parts onion, 2 parts celery and one part carrot. You’ll find this in most French dishes with the exception of fish and a few other recipes.

The bouquet garni is a collection of herbs sometimes put into a cheesecloth. The typical ingredients are: Bay leaf, pepper corns, thyme and parsley stems.

The chicken stock: Never throw away your bones and vegetable trimmings again! This is a useful way of using parts you might ordinarily toss. Another thing is, with this fundamental ingredient, you get to use two other fundamental ingredients, yes’ the mire poix and the bouquet garni. Don’t add the liver, put that aside for a pate or something, livers are even good saut’ in butter. Check out the recipe below.

Chicken Stock
Ingredients
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Chicken Giblets (NO LIVER!)
Chicken Bones
Water
Bouquet Garni

Add all ingredients to a stockpot, cover with cold water.

Bring to a boil and let simmer. Stocks can simmer for over an hour. It depends on the strength you wish to have.

Drain and let liquid cool.

So how do I use these ingredients’ Check this next recipe out. We’re going to use all three fundamental ingredients! Soup, hey it’s the first thing I had to make in culinary school. With this basic recipe, you can substitute the main ingredient with just about any vegetable. For now we’ll keep it simple, Cream of Asparagus Soup.

Cream of Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
Asparagus (about a pound will do)
Mire poix (keep it simple, use 1 large onion, 3 celery stalks, and one medium sized carrot)
Bouquet Garni
2 russet potatoes
Chicken stock
Salt and Pepper
White Wine
Heavy cream

Sweat the mire poix (this means cooking on low heat until the vegetables are translucent). Toss in your bouquet garni and season a little being careful not to over salt it. De-glaze (this gets any caramelized yummy goodness off the bottom of the pan) with a little white wine and cook it down.

This next step is optional, but I think it adds a little flare. Cut the tops of the spears of asparagus off and set them aside. Blanch these in a bit of hot salted water until they turn bright green. Quickly remove them from the heat and run cold water over them. This is going to be your garnish.

Cut the stalks of the asparagus and the potatoes into manageable pieces and toss them on top of your mire poix. Pour in enough stock to cover your ingredients by at least an inch. Bring it to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the potato and asparagus are both tender. Remove the bouquet garni!

Next step: Puree. I find that it is easiest to do this in installments. Add a bunch of the vegetables into a blender or, even better, a food processor, and then add a bit of stock. Take your pureed soup and run it through a strainer into another pot, this takes out any of the overly fibrous material.

Return your pureed soup to the stove and bring it to a gentle simmer. Add a little cream and stir it in. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Don’t forget your garnish! Ladle some of the soup out and put a few of the spear tops on top of the soup.

Paul Rinehart is the Food Director at Online Cooking: http://www.onlinecooking.net

A blender is an essential kitchen appliance. It can do a variety of tasks from whipping cream, making smoothies, food processing, and crushing ice. Selecting a blender usually depends on what tasks you intend to do with the blender. Some blenders offer multiple features for a high price. Be wary then that you may not need some of these features. So go for a kitchen blender that does what you need it for.

Here are a few tips on what to consider before buying a blender.

* Capacity

The blenders capacity may vary from one to three liters. It may be advisable to get a bigger one if you have the space.

However, the first thing that you need to consider here is how much food you are going to blend at the same time. Some small blenders offer ease of storage due to its small capacity. Do not get these if you know you will be blending large amounts of ingredients.

* Material

The material, particularly, the footing has to be sturdy. Make sure that the footing is stable enough that the blender will not topple off the table while it is filled with contents and performing its tasks. Stainless steel is the best material for this.

The containers may be glass or plastic. The ones made in glass are heavier, and sturdier but are more expensive than the ones with plastic containers.

* Functions

Some blenders have multiple attachments for different functions. You might have to change an attachment to whip cream or chop herbs. Make sure that if you needed these functions, the attachments are easy to detach and replace. Evaluate the difficulty of fitting another attachment. Also check if the attachments have sensitive parts that may break if it is improperly attached.

Some blenders also have an ice button which will be perfect if you need to crush ice. Also, there are blenders that have a small opening at the top to allow you to add small amounts of ingredients while blending.

* Wattage

This can vary from 500 watts for the smaller food processors to 1200 watts for the larger blenders. One with high wattage can blend quickly and easily. The only concern is that these blenders cost more.

* Settings

Choosing a blender with a variety of settings (speeds and pulse actions) allow you mix a variety of ingredients at different textures.

* Safety

The blender has to be easily and safely cleaned and stored. Since many people leave their blenders on the countertop, it will be good if the blender has cord storage spaces with lids to prevent the cord from being wet.

Some models are also labeled as dishwasher safe. These are better particularly when using a dishwasher. These containers can usually be opened at the top and the bottom to facilitate the cleaning.

Many processors also have safety locks to prevent the machine from starting to process without the lid on.

* Countertop or immersion blenders

Countertop blenders are the most commonly known design of blenders. Kitchenaid blenders are highly rated. These have a base and a container in which the materials are blended. Since most people just leave these blenders on the countertops than store these in the closet, these blenders come in a variety of color and design. The price ranges from $10 to $400.

The immersion blender, on the other hand, is a stick-shaped handheld device that has a swirling blade at the bottom. These consume less power, about 200 watts; thus, it is limited to a few tasks and for blending some ingredients. These are usually used for pureeing, mixing soups and chopping vegetables. These blenders are now, also being paired with whisks, beaters and attachments for cleaning baby bottles.

Since these blenders are not to be left on the countertop, it has fewer options for color and design. The price for immersion blenders ranges from $10 to $100.

Now, that you know what you need to consider before buying a blender, when you go to a store, check also the warranty to protect your rights as a consumer. If possible, you may also want to try the blender first, as some blenders that claim to crush ice either fails to do so, or liquefies the ice instead. If you were not able to try the blender first, make sure you will be able to return it if it doesn’t function as promised.

For more great blender information and resources check out: http://www.bestblenders.info

Technorati Tags: kitchen blender, immersion blenders