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Cooking with young bay leaves

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
edited May 2023 in The potting shed
Has anyone got a recipe using soft bay tree prunings? It seems a shame to throw them all away.
P.S. I've tried Nigella's roast lamb with bay leaves. Yum.
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I put 3 or 4 leaves in when I boil a gammon joint.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Thanks @Lyn I do that kind of thing with the mature leaves but I wondered if there's anything you can do with the soft leaves that involves eating them😊
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • coccinellacoccinella Posts: 1,428
    Plonge a couple of leaves in boiling water for 5 minutes. It makes a nice tea. 
    Excellent in all meat stews.

    Luxembourg
  • EustaceEustace Posts: 2,290
    You can dry them and they keep a while. You can also wash and bag them and store in the freezer. I use them in curries and fragrant rice preparations. 
    Oxford. The City of Dreaming Spires.
    And then my heart with pleasure fills,
    And dances with the daffodils (roses). Taking a bit of liberty with Wordsworth :)

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited May 2023
    Thanks @Eustace but I don't need to dry them. I have a huge bush and a smaller one. I just go out and pick a few leaves. In the case of inclement weather, I send my husband out😊
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Rice pudding flavoured with bay leaves is good and if you use young, tender leaves you can probably eat rather than discard them.   

    You could try tossing them in with some stir-fried shredded greens with bacon bits and hazelnuts.    If you like herby salads, throw a few young bay leaves in there.  You'll soon find out if they're too tough to chew.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I like the stir fry idea.  As there are no recipes that I could find on the net, I suspect they won't be suitable for eating. @Obelixx
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    @B3 Maybe that's because not too many people have a bay tree in their garden and just buy dried leaves.   Worth experimenting I think.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I can't believe the price of them😳
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Yes!  I got out of the habit of using them as the shop specimenns were poor and expensive and, in Belgium, I could never get a plant thru winter.   

    Here we have inherited 2 enormous specimens and I'm getting better at putting a couple of leaves in a stock or sauce but I need to find more imaginative uses.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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