The Nation Has An Appetite

Bootsy’s Hungover Kale

22 Comments

BOOTSY'S HUNGOVER KALE

I stumbled upon this "recipe" while trying to recreate/interpret a wonderful dish called Hungover Kale from Mucci’s Restaurant on W. Lake Street in Minneapolis. Theirs includes pancetta, pine nuts and Chardonnay. As I had none of the above items, I decided to wing it with ingredients that I had on hand. After all, that's half the fun of cooking, IMO. And while I won’t claim that my dish is tastier than the offering from Mucci (it isn’t), I can attest that it's pretty damn good in its own right (it is.) Serve it as a main course with an egg or two on top, or in combination with a side of buttered noodles, rice, or macaroni and gravy.*

*hat tip to Paulie Walnuts

Ingredients:

-6 cups kale chopped and washed

-1 medium to large yellow onion chopped

-6 cloves garlic chopped (more or less to your tastes)

-8oz ground pork sausage (could sub turkey sausage or skip entirely, but it becomes a different dish--still good, I bet)

-2  jalapeño peppers sliced (more or less depending on your tastes)

-3 tablespoons olive oil

-3 oz. dry vermouth (a good glug from the bottle.)

-1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed

-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (you could cut that in half if you lack fortitude)

-sea salt

-black pepper

-farm fresh eggs (optional)

-green onions (optional)

-quarter cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts (optional)

Now first an admission, I rarely ever follow a recipe. (It's why I don't bake. lol) In fact, I take a perverse pride in winging it in the kitchen. I once made dinner for a group of co-workers from the restaurant at the Hilton,  including the executive chef and his wife. Yes, I was nervous. Very nervous, as a matter of fact. Turns out,  I shouldn't have been--everybody loved it. (It was my Hot and Spicy Pork.) Afterwards, Chef J.G. asked if he might have the recipe. I told him there wasn't one, I just threw it together by feel. He smirked and said, "I wasn't aware that you played Jazz." With that in mind, these measurements are all approximations.

In a large skillet add 3 tablespoons olive oil and bring to medium heat. Add onion, jalapeños, and a couple pinches of sea salt. Cook until onions are semi-translucent. Add garlic and brown for a few minutes. Add ground pork sausage and raise heat to med high. Add the crushed red pepper and brown the sausage while gently mixing the contents with a spatula. Once the meat is cooked somewhat (med-rare-ish), raise heat to high and add the cannellini beans. After a minute or so, add 3 ounces of dry white vermouth (cooking sherry or the Chardonnay that the recipe actually calls for could be substituted.) Promptly add the chopped kale on top of ingredients and cover. After a minute or so on high, reduce heat all the way down to low. Check dish after 12-15 minutes and stir your mixture of ingredients all together. Re-cover the skillet and continue on low heat for 5 more minutes. The beauty of this recipe is that while it's ready to serve at this point, you can continue to keep the dish on low heat for another 15 minutes or more. Kale retains its integrity far longer than most greens, so it won't turn to mush. It affords you the time to tend to other items you might be preparing, or simply give you an opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine before dinner. First rule of the kitchen? Marinate the chef. Top with the pine nuts or walnuts if you have them. (I did not this outting.) Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Once plated, a sprinkling of sliced green onion will add even more color, flavor and texture thus assuring your dish is ready for its close-up, Mr. DeMille. Bootsy's Hungover Kale: a versatile and tasty dish that works for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Serves 3-4 as an entree, 6-8 as a side dish.

22 thoughts on “Bootsy’s Hungover Kale”

  1. Oh, Bootsy, I’ll have a second helping, please. This ensemble of ingredients is very close to the basic structure of the Portuguese-style soup I like to make, but without the stock it’s playing a totally different tune. I love that kind of culinary jazz.

    I’d be tempted to swap the pork sausage for chorizo fresco...the oil from the sausage coating the greens & beans...and then add some grace notes of Aleppo pepper. A couple pieces of crusty bread with some olive oil, salt, & pepper seem like a suitable sidecar here, no matter what proteins are used.

    1. Now that's what I'm talking about! Subbing chorizo and Aleppo peppers would work wonderfully. It's still the same song, you're just using a few different instruments. And yes, it goes without saying that a nice crusty bread would be perfect accompaniment. An early draft actually had that, but in the spirit of the Mucci Menu that lists this as a side, I thought I'd add the pasta choices instead.

      Your soup sounds great, btw. I once took the leftovers from this, added some chicken stock and a couple of small sliced potatoes, and then added about 2 ounces of half-and-half near the end. It was a winner.

      1. I didn’t expect the half-and-half addition, but that takes this in another great direction. If you’re going that route, I might add a soft-boiled egg to the soup bowl, sliced 2/3 of the way up so the yolk slowly mixes into the soup as you go in for a piece of white with your spoon. And maybe some frizzled shallot...

        Bootsy, this is a classic.

      2. another favorite is Boerenkool Stamppot. Basically, mashed potatoes with sauteed kale and onions and smoked sausage.

        I also do an Italian veg stew with root vegetables, chopped kale, lots of olive oil, crushed tomatoes, herbs and other goodies (plus a good scoop of crushed red pepper).

        lastly, greens gumbo!!!111one111!!!

  2. Additional pepper is always a good idea. 😉

    Seriously, though, this looks excellent. I suspect there are some varieties of vegetarian/vegan sausage that would work well in this too.

    1. I suspect this would be pretty good as a vegetarian dish, as well. Let me know how it is should you make it.

      Zooomy, did you make the decision to go vegan because of Covid-19, or was this made beforehand? I don't remember you mentioning it before. I'll hang up and listen.

  3. Well, you come on here and post something this delicious after I have committed to eating healthier! Looks great! Unfortunately, I will have to wait a while before trying it. Your aversion to set recipes sounds familiar. I have always believed in cooking with my senses, which also makes me a lousy baker.

    On another note, I am 2 weeks into trying the Noom app. I like that it helps me track the food I eat and there is some in your face psychology involved. I have been keeping to between 1500 and 1700 calories daily. I have switched to about a 90% vegan diet. Mostly vegetables. I do eat a small amount of seafood, egg and dairy, but not much. I cheated yesterday and had a small slice of New York Strip Roast with our Easter meal. I am finding that, after 2 weeks, my red meat cravings are pretty much gone. What I have found is that I need to saute my veggies before I put on a salad, and that little bit of oil, plus usually hot sauce of some sort, adds the savory aspects I need to stay on this diet. I am going to make your recipe above and without the sausage. Going to experiment with more beans/veggies.

  4. excellent stuff, Bootsy. I'm glad you finally decided to be a contributing member of society instead of just a food porn photographer on Bookface.

    1. Thanks, Doc. When I was self-employed ('00-'06) I did a lot of cooking and got pretty good at it. I got into the habit of having friends over once or twice a month for a nice meal and lashings of wine. They were always highly enjoyable evenings. When I was forced back into the restaurant biz those little dinner parties became more of an annual thing, and that always bummed me out.

      One other realization is how much money I saved by eating one (or two) meals at work 4 or 5 times a week. As I worked the early AM shifts, I'd always have breakfast, anything from granola yogurt and berries to Eggs Benedict, if I was feeling naughty. If I worked through lunch I'd have something that was made by mistake or some soup. And nearly everyday I'd grab a banana or an apple before I left. I'd also eat out at least 2-3 times a week at various joints in the neighborhood.

      These days, if I want something good to eat, I have to make it myself.

  5. took a run at this.

    i also improvised a little:
    -was going to use some grill cooked jalapenos from a couple nights ago, but the missus apparently got rid of them. went without.
    -no vermouth, went with sake.
    -most beans are gross. was going to substitute edamame, but found out we didn't have any. cooked up and added frozen green beans instead. close enough...
    -wanted to add soft boiled egg, but time didn't allow.
    -finished with soy sauce instead of salt.
    -added walnuts, but i probably should have toasted them first.

    the kids would never go near something like this, but jane really liked it, so i'll still count it as a win.

      2. For someone who seems to generally have good taste, I don't understand how he can be so wrong about beans.

        Jobu, you got some bean-related childhood trauma you need to get over?

          1. i... i don't like to talk about it...

            heh, nah, i've just never liked the taste or the texture. can't really say why. i'm fine with your non-bean "beans" (edamame, green, string, etc.), but just have never liked the rest. half of mexican food is ruined because of all the refried beans.

    2. the kids would never go near something like this, but jane really liked it, so i'll still count it as a win.

      I will fully admit that my family has had it pretty easy with the Covid-19 thing, but my little first world problem is this. We have one that doesn't eat gluten. One that won't eat red meat. They're teenagers so in my old life we'd just have pizza or pasta or something when gluten girl wasn't going to be home. Or burgers or steak or something when red meat girl was out. Now, they are never out! They're always here!

      I know this is nothing compared to others but meal planning is like jumping through hoops to find that one meal that will check boxes for everyone.

      1. I made a lot of Indian food and Thai food when vegan girl was around. Easy to avoid red meat and gluten, if that's their jam.

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