An odd ball microwave idea -- bay leaf tea for a quick tomato sauce.

A friend sent me this idea last week, inspired by on our discussion of how to use microwave ovens. Conceptually this looks interesting. What do folks here think?

My recipe for sauce was nothing special, just plum tomatoes from a can, the usual Italian herbs and spices and Bay leaves. I cook it for six hours on low in my crock pot. The long cooking time is designed to extract flavor from the spices, particularly the bay leaves. [My mother told me never to serve food with the Bay leaves left in the dish -- they are poison, she said.]

Anyway, it occurred to me to boil the Bay leaves in the microwave on high for three minutes, then add the Bay leaf tea to the tomatoes and other ingredients.

The result is fantastic. The best tomato sauce I've ever made. And ready in 15 minutes while I make the pasta. Give it a try.

Regards, Bob

PS: My buddy later fessed up -- he got the idea from this site. B.

Bob, I just got around to reading this thread this morning, and I think it will appeal to my wife. She is in favor of any recipe that is fast for her, and if it tastes good that is a plus. I was thinking that instead of using water to thin the sauce, it might be even better if one used tomato juice. Might just have to try it myself if I can't talk her into it.

[Jenise]

Not to be a wet blanket, but though I can see where the fact that the bay leaf flavor develops quickly is a plus, you're also adding more liquid which may not be desirable, and the method doesn't address what is to me the greatest deficiency between a quick sauce and a well-cooked sauce, the caramelization of the tomatoes.

Jenise, is this a technique generally used to extract flavors from spices? I know that many cooks use pestles and mortars to grind spices very fine, which would accomplish the same general purpose.

PS: I agree on the tomato simmering issue -- my assumption would be this technique would only work where you wanted a very bright, fresh type of tomato sauce. B.

[Jenise]

Yes, it's a common technique. It's particularly effective when you're making what is otherwise a cold purpose, say a brine. I did that with fennel seed a few weeks ago when making a brine for chicken breasts in which I only had about four hours soak time. I needed the full benefit of fennel flavor NOW, which is just what your correspondent achieved with his or her bay leaf tea. And that's roughly the same thing we achieve when we saute spices briefly at the start of cooking along with (or even without) onions or garlic if either is being used in the sauce. Heating hastens the release of flavor. Though it adds fat, if you use an EVOO you also add a very attractive and beneficial Meditteranean flavor that enhances a quick marinara--if I were looking to make a 15 minute sauce, I'd bet on the saute over a tea. If I were afraid of not getting enough bay leaf flavor, I'd use two!

Thanks very much -- I understand.

When last in Singapore, a friend made me ginger tea for a raging flu I was struck down with. She cut slices of unpeeled ginger root and bruised them, put them with honey in a pyrex container, and poured boiling water over them. Then she heated the entire container in the microwave for a few minutes until it was blazing hot. The whole lot was then poured into a thermos (they have fantastic ones over there - really keep the heat), and it stayed hot for a good 18 hours. I would wake every few hours from fevered sleep, drink a piping hot cup, and by the next morning I was cured. I now swear by this as a cold remedy.