How to Use Fresh Bay Leaves

Bay leaves are herbs most prominently used in Greek cooking. Bay leaves offer a very intense but fresh flavor and aroma to your dishes, and using them is extraordinarily simple. Fresh bay leaves give off much stronger of a flavor and aroma than the dried bay leaves that most grocery stores sell in bags and jars. Fresh leaves still have the moisture and oil that are responsible for the essence of the bay leaf.

Instructions

- 1
  Place a fresh bay leaf in a pot of simmering soup or stew. Cook the soup or stew as usual and remove the bay leaf from the pot before serving.
- 2
  Slide a fresh bay leaf in between the skin and meat of a chicken breast before baking. Halfway through cooking, turn the chicken breast over so that the weight is resting on the bay leaf and the juices from the chicken run over it to help the flavors mesh even further.
- 3
  Stir a fresh bay leaf into spaghetti sauce and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes to effectively transfer the complementary flavor.
- 4
  Use a fresh bay leaf with your meat marinades. Simply place the leaf in the liquid and marinate your preferred meat overnight.
- 5
  Lay a fresh bay leaf on top of cooking fish, moving it to flip the fish over before replacing it back on top.

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