Kitchen Wisdom: Grinding Bay Leaves
Ever get a bay leaf stuck in your throat? It can create a very suspenseful few minutes! In fact, it just happened to my brother a few days ago, when we attended a dinner party, and the hostess served soup (which was delicious, but she forgot to take out the offending leaf!) Boy, were we relieved when he finally coughed up the leaf – just in the nick of time!
Lesson learned: Grind your bay leaves! I always urge my students and everyone around me to PLEASE grind their bay leaves, unless you can find them already ground (try a Latin or Indian grocery store.) A spice grinder or food processor will do a great job in seconds: Go ahead and grind lots of it, and store in a bone-dry glass jar. Not only does the spice disperse much better in your dish, but you don’t have the pesky task of fishing out the leaves: It’s a little bit of kitchen wisdom!
There’s a simpler solution: put the bay leaves, along with the onion, bones, dill, etc. etc., in a mesh cooking bag.
I Dont know where it is but im alive and breathing….
I never thought of ground bay leaf. Great idea! Should i use the rule “a little bit goes a long way?”
Gring bay leaves in a small spice grinder of food processor xoxo
Hey levana! Oh my god! Theres a bayleaf stuck in my throat! I
Googled bay leaf stuck throat and found this :)
Im kinda nervous. It was a broken piece and it wont go down but nor will it come up. Yikes!!
Pessy Oh no! this is why I ALWAYS grind bay leaf! Please tell me asap if you were able to get rid of it. It’s a most unpleasant feeling! xoxoxoxo
I cannot believe someone would forget to take out the leaves!! Thank god your brother is okay =)