Why you need to plant bay leaves – Of all the herbs I tend to use in the fall, I can’t live without is bay leaf.

Of all the herbs I tend to use in the fall, I can’t live without is bay leaf. Lately, I’ve been going through leaf after leaf as cooler temperatures begin to (sorta) appear. This herb grows year-round in Louisiana, and if you get a plant started, you can look forward to serious use, not to mention beauty, for years to come.

A member of the laurel family, bay leaf infuses both sweet and savory flavors and can be used in a wide range of dishes. It works especially well in soups, stocks, stews, braises, roasts, gumbos, pasta sauces, beans of any kind and jambalaya.

Last weekend, I stopped at Tony’s Seafood to grab fresh crab fingers, claw meat, shrimp and oysters for seafood gumbo.

The seafood supply right now in Louisiana is superb — with white shrimp beginning to peak, oyster season underway and the crab supply strong. I routinely use about six bay leaves per 10-cup batch of gumbo. I can’t imagine cooking it without it.

If you have access to a bay tree, harvest foot long branches and let them dry for about a week. You can use the leaves fresh, but drying concentrates the flavor. I know you’re supposed to dry them in a cool, dark place to preserve as much flavor as possible, but I like to toss the branch in my kitchen window so I can look at it.

Once it’s dry and crispy, I snap off as many leaves as I need, and throw them into bubbling pots on the stove. There’s never any waste.