CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I have had a bay tree for years that I put outside in the summer, haul in for the winter. This past winter, the leaves dried up. I thought it was a goner--now it has some side shoots (these appeared after I spent $10 on a replacement one). I cut the other branches back (it is only 2 ft tall) and stripped the dried leaves (I have enough to last my lifetime and then some). Rachel Ray always uses fresh bay leaves--as have I until leaves dried up. The bay leaves one buys in the store smell nothing like the ones that I pulled off the branches of my bay tree. Totally different scent. Knowing this, I would never buy bay leaves--a waste of money. There isn't enough flavour in them to make it worthwhile adding them to a dish. As for the fresh ones, you don't have to worry about leaving them in a soup or stew. They are soft, no rough edges.