Use Bay Leaves
If you have a bay tree (also known as Laurus nobilis, laurel tree, sweet bay or a bay laurel) growing in your garden, you have a fabulous bounty to use whenever you wish. And even if you have just purchased your bay leaves from the local store, you have entered a realm of many possibilities for improving your food. Here are some suggestions for using bay leaves.
Steps
- Dry Edible Seeds. If you have picked your own, let them dry, to strengthen their flavor. Place them in a warm and dark cupboard until dry. Dried bay leaves will keep for ages in the pantry.
- Add to Make Slow Cooker Fried Chicken meals. Bay leaves release their flavor during slow cooking, so the longer the better. Consider adding bay leaves to casseroles, stews, soups, marinades, pasta sauces. Bay leaves also impart a great flavor to white, cream/cheese sauces (for example, béchamel sauce).
- Steam with bay leaves. The flavor of bay comes out nicely with steaming. Try with vegetables, fish, seafood, or chicken in a steamer.
- Always remove after cooking and prior to serving. Although bay leaves impart a lovely flavor to the food with which they are cooked, they are not appetizing in themselves. Anyone who has bitten into the forgotten bay leaf will quickly attest to this! Fish it out before serving the dish on plates. This is also why it's important to put the whole bay leaf into the dish, so it can be removed easily later. Don't break it up into small pieces.
- Use for decorative effect. Bay leaves can be used in potpourri, wreaths and other decorations, such as the dried orange and bay leaf hanger pictured here. They provide a "Provençal" touch.
Tips
- Bay leaves are staple in some dishes, such as white sauces and some pasta sauces.
- Generally, you should use a single leaf. The flavor imparted by bay leaves is strong, so you only need to use one leaf for a dish, unless the bay leaves are especially small.
- Bay leaves in kitchen cabinets keep away ants and small bugs.
- Bay leaves make pleasant additions to floral and wreath arrangements.
- Bay leaves discourage mice. Leave a few near mice holes if you have a mouse problem. Bruise a little to release the odor.
- Put a couple of bay leaves into your stored flour or grains to stop weevils (nasty bugs that produce cobwebs in your stored grains and cereals)
- Bay leaves can be used in milk puddings; this is a very captivating flavor.
Warnings
- Laurel Prunus rotundifolia, a variation of Laurel, is a hedge that is also common, though toxic. Be careful to avoid those leaves.
- Bay leaves are not poisonous but they are as tough as old boots to a human palate, so avoid consuming them as part of the meal!
Things You'll Need
- Bay leaves
- Recipes for using bay leaves
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
- Wikipedia on the bay leaf.
