Bay Leaf Sauce Recipes

BAY LEAF SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine ingredients and cook slowly for 15 minutes.
• Strain.

SIMPLE TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
• Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

FRIED FRUIT WITH BAY LEAF SAUCE

Steps:

• Sauce (can be prepared in advance): mix all ingredients in a small pot. Heat on medium high heat and stir all the time. The mixture will thicken during heating to a temperature of about 175 F (80 C). It is important that during heating the mixture will constantly be stirred. Do not let the sauce boil. The sauce has the right conistency, if it builds a thick film on the backside of a tablespoon.
• Remove sauce from heat and stir for 2 minutes. Set aside and let cool down completely.
• Prepare berries: Wash small panicles of red currant and pat dry with paper towels. Wash grapes and cut into clusters of 3-5 berries.
• In a suited pot or deep fryer heat about 2 inches high oil for frying.
• Combine flour, sugar, ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon.
• Mix egg, milk and 1 tablespoon oil. Add to flour mixture and beat until smooth.
• Dip berries and sage leaves into batter.
• Fry berries in hot oil for about 1 minute or until batter is light golden brown. Fry sage leaves until batter is light golden brown and puffed up.
• Remove with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
• While still warm sprinkle the fired red currant berries and the sage leaves slightly with some sugar.
• Serve berries and sage leaves still warm with the cold bay leaf sauce.
• NOTE: You can replace the berries in this recipe against others of your choice, but use fresh ones. They should not be to sweet. Or choose a sweet and a more tart one.
• NOTE: I used fresh bay leaves. If you have no fresh leaves, you can use dried ones, but you may have to use more leaves. Try the sauce during heating and add more leaves to your taste. The sauce should have a delicate vanilla taste and additional notes.

BAY LEAF BEET SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Wrap beets in foil.
• Bake the beets until tender, about 1 hour; allow to cool, then peel the beets. Cut them into bite-size chunks.
• Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, and cook the red onion, leek, and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in the vegetable broth, and mix in the beets, bay leaves, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, cinnamon, cumin, and tarragon. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the flavors of the bay leaves and spices are blended, 20 to 25 minutes. Pick out bay leaves.
• Ladle about 1/4 of the beets into a blender, and add soup liquid as needed to fill the blender about 1/4 full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the beets and broth moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree the beets until smooth, and pour back into the soup.

SAVORY SPAGHETTI SAUCE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook ground beef and onion until meat is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Add the next eight ingredients; bring to a boil. , Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf. Serve with spaghetti. Garnish with oregano if desired.