Anybody cook with bay leaves?

Question

I remember growing up at home at eating meals cooked with bay leaves. Mostly pork chops or simmering steaks with gravy made on them but also a bay leave cooked with it and later removed. Does anybody have a recipe for this, i don't know when to add the leave, when to take it out and in general I don't know much about it other than it tasted good. Any help would be great.

Answer 1

Hmm...I've never used them that way. I use them in my homemade spaghetti sauce. I put it in right away and leave it till I'm through cooking and then remove it. I would assume you'd do that with anything else, because the leaves are dried when you get them at the store. Simmering kind of restores their freshness and then releases their flavor.

You could go to www.allrecipes.com and search for pork chops or steaks with bay leaf. You may find something there. They have tons of recipes.

Hi, I'm back. I had to go look. Here's what I found.

Beef in Bay Leaf Gravy

4 pounds rump roast
2 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
DIRECTIONS:
In a Dutch oven over medium high heat, sear roast until browned on all sides. Scatter chopped carrots, celery and onions over and around roast. Add vinegar and water, and season with bay leaf and salt.
Reduce heat to low, and cook for 2 to 3 hours. Remove roast to a cutting board, and slice thinly. Remove bay leaf, then stir sour cream into gravy until blended. Return sliced meat to Dutch oven, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Answer 2

Pork Chop Skillet with Cabbage and Sausages
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup flour
4 pork chops, about 1 pound, 1/2-inch thick
4 sweet Italian sausages
2 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1 can (16 ounces) whole potatoes, drained
4 cabbage wedges, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick






Combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, and flour in a food storage bag; add chops and toss to coat well.
In a large skillet, brown the sausages and bacon over medium-high heat. Remove from skillet with slotted spoon. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of pan drippings. Add onion and green pepper; cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add pork chops; brown on all sides. Return sausages and bacon to skillet. Add wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes. Add potatoes and cabbage. Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes longer.
Pork chop recipe serves 4.

Answer 3

All the time. I even have my own bay tree (its a small bush right now). You can use bay leaves in a lot of things, its really good in soup, spaghetti sauce, and stuff like that. You put it in early on so the flavor has time to mix with whatever you are cooking. You dont have to take it out. The saying goes "whoever gets the bay leaf has to kiss the cook" so take it out if youre having dinner with a bunch of annoying relatives.

Answer 4

In the Canary Islands, Spain we use a lot bay leaves, with all the stew: beef, chicken, pork, lentils and all the "refritos".
I give you one recipe

"CARNE COCHINO AL ESTILO CANARIO"
(Pork in sauce)

1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 small sliced green pepper (capsicum)
1 chopped tomato
pinch of thyme
1 bayleaf
pinch of paprika
saffron
1 cup of white wine
1k. pork (in cubes)
100 or 200 gr. mushrooms (sliced)
salt and black pepper

Fry onion, garlic, tomato and green pepper, when is nearly cooked add paprika, thyme and bayleaf, give a good stir and add saffron and the wine, cook for 2 minutes and add the pork, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is tender and add the mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes more or less. taste it just in case need more salt and pepper.
If the sauce dryes add a little bit of water.

ENJOY IT.

Answer 5

My Grandmother mad a great spaghetti recipe that was simmered for @8 hours that had bay leaves in it. Unfortunately, I've been sworn to keep it a family secret. Sorry.

Answer 6

I put a bay leaf in with roast beef in the crock pot when we have that. You can put it in with the cooking food while in the pan or pot or whatever and it will infuse flavor throughout.

Answer 7

Check a Greek cookbook for recipe ideas.

Answer 8

When you are making stew pork with pigeon peas you can use bayleaf. Also if you baking pork you can use bayleaf then later remove. I hope this helps.