Kale question

[Cooking Goddess]

Originally Posted by caseydog

I couldn't sleep, so I got up and had a TastyKake Butterscotch Krimpet and milk... the milk just went in my mouth and out my nose. ..

I'm sorry, cd, I didn't plan on trying to drown you. Honest. Thankfully, you weren't drinking something that makes the nasal passage burn, like sody pop or alcohol.

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

It's got better marketing.

No kidding. You beat me to this.

larry, Himself swears that kale is really that plastic stuff some butchers use to separate the different types of meat in the butcher case. As far as how it got popular? My theory is it has to be the Smoothie Crowd. They were looking for something green and leafy to put into their smoothies to justify having a milkshake for breakfast. Kale was cheap because no one really wanted it, passing it up for spinach and Swiss chard and collard greens. Once the hipsters made it popular, the price went up - which is exactly what drives the sale of such things. "It's expensive? It must be good! I must have it!". And, thus, kale is now considered hip and trendy, showing up on menus all over. I know that you know your nutrition, so don't get hung up on one veggie that you think you should like. Instead, find the veggies that are good for you that you enjoy, and eat with joy!

Leafy Greens: Nutrition Rock Stars

The 14 Healthiest Leafy Green Vegetables

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Y'all, I must be in the minority with Larry!
I enjoy Kale, be it Dino, Redbor, Siberian, Black, Curly ... I don't care.
And I feel the reason why y'all like it in soups is, it's been boiled aka braised.
I make all kinds of dishes with Braised Kale in it and if my picky-10-year-old-husband will eat this willingly, the rest of you are beyond me...

[Cooking Goddess]

Just think of it as we're leaving more kale for you to eat, K-Girl. There are so MANY different veggies out there than no one should apologize for not liking one or two of them. Even Kayelle is allowed to hate Brussels sprouts. More for Himself (and me, when they're with bacon and mushrooms...).

[buckytom]

Again, fresh kale is delicious. I guess some people just haven't had it grown and harvested correctly,, because we used to pick, rinse, and eat it raw in the garden much like tomatoes, stringneans, and such.
Sauteeing it for a bit sould work just fine.

[caseydog]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

I'm sorry, cd, I didn't plan on trying to drown you. Honest. Thankfully, you weren't drinking something that makes the nasal passage burn, like sody pop or alcohol.


No kidding. You beat me to this.

larry, Himself swears that kale is really that plastic stuff some butchers use to separate the different types of meat in the butcher case. As far as how it got popular? My theory is it has to be the Smoothie Crowd. They were looking for something green and leafy to put into their smoothies to justify having a milkshake for breakfast. Kale was cheap because no one really wanted it, passing it up for spinach and Swiss chard and collard greens. Once the hipsters made it popular, the price went up - which is exactly what drives the sale of such things. "It's expensive? It must be good! I must have it!". And, thus, kale is now considered hip and trendy, showing up on menus all over. I know that you know your nutrition, so don't get hung up on one veggie that you think you should like. Instead, find the veggies that are good for you that you enjoy, and eat with joy!

Leafy Greens: Nutrition Rock Stars

The 14 Healthiest Leafy Green Vegetables

My biggest customer is a far right-wing, conservative, Christian Republican. But, if you looked at his diet, you would think he's a Birkenstock-wearing, SanFran hippie liberal.

He takes me to places that serve healthy stuff from a blender. It is all some shade of green. It tastes like lawn clippings (well, what I imagine lawn clippings would taste like).

CD

[caseydog]

Originally Posted by buckytom

Again, fresh kale is delicious. I guess some people just haven't had it grown and harvested correctly,, because we used to pick, rinse, and eat it raw in the garden much like tomatoes, stringneans, and such.
Sauteeing it for a bit sould work just fine.

Does kale taste good with that "taylor ham" stuff. I figure it would ruin a good Pork Roll sandwich.

CD

[Addie]

Originally Posted by taxlady

I have the same problem with bok choi. Well, sometimes it's too bitter for my taste in restos.


I thought everyone knew to blanch vegis that might have bitter flavours. I find that it doesn't always work well enough, like with dandelions and several wild greens.

Blanch more than once. I have had to do it sometimes as much as three times before I found it acceptable.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by caseydog

What we need in this thread is a deep South Soul Food cook. They have this mojo with things that you would think should never be eaten -- especially leafy greens.

They have these things called books where people can learn all kinds of things they didn't grow up with Plus internet and tee vee.

Greens are quite popular here in the upper south as well, although I have never liked them much, except in soup. The secret is to cook them for two hours with seasoning pork - any kind of American-style cured pork product such as Virginia country-style ham, ham hocks or air-dried sausage. I don't consider eastern North Carolina to be the "deep" south, either, but here's Vivian Howard's recipe from her grandmother. It sounds a lot like my great-aunt's recipe.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/recipe-...-in-potlikker/

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

No kidding. You beat me to this.

larry, Himself swears that kale is really that plastic stuff some butchers use to separate the different types of meat in the butcher case. As far as how it got popular? My theory is it has to be the Smoothie Crowd. They were looking for something green and leafy to put into their smoothies to justify having a milkshake for breakfast. Kale was cheap because no one really wanted it, passing it up for spinach and Swiss chard and collard greens. Once the hipsters made it popular, the price went up - which is exactly what drives the sale of such things. "It's expensive? It must be good! I must have it!". And, thus, kale is now considered hip and trendy, showing up on menus all over. I know that you know your nutrition, so don't get hung up on one veggie that you think you should like. Instead, find the veggies that are good for you that you enjoy, and eat with joy!

Leafy Greens: Nutrition Rock Stars

The 14 Healthiest Leafy Green Vegetables

It started with a book in the '90s about "superfoods," exploiting early medical discoveries about antioxidants. Of course, the alt-med people jumped on the bandwagon and hyped it to death. Turns out that eating antioxidants - or worse, taking them as dietary supplements - doesn't do much for your health and too much can cause problems.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...g-ploy/573583/

Just eat (in moderation), drink (in moderation) and be merry (in abundance)!

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

It started with a book in the '90s about "superfoods," exploiting early medical discoveries about antioxidants. Of course, the alt-med people jumped on the bandwagon and hyped it to death. Turns out that eating antioxidants - or worse, taking them as dietary supplements - doesn't do much for your health and too much can cause problems.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...g-ploy/573583/

Just eat (in moderation), drink (in moderation) and be merry (in abundance)!

I wanted to highlight this key paragraph (she also mentions kale in this article).

"I love blueberries, wild and cultivated, but they are a fruit like any other. Their antioxidants may counteract the damaging actions of oxidizing agents (free radicals) in the body, but studies of how well antioxidants protect against disease yield results that are annoyingly inconsistent. When tested, antioxidant supplements have not been shown to reduce disease risk and sometimes have been shown to cause harm. The USDA no longer publishes data on food antioxidant levels “due to mounting evidence that the values indicating antioxidant capacity have no relevance to the effects of specific bioactive compounds, including polyphenols on human health.” The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the NIH judges antioxidants as having no special benefits. People who eat more fruits and vegetables have less risk of chronic disease, but nobody really knows whether this is because of antioxidants, other food components, or other lifestyle choices."

[Rascal]

I dint care what anybody says, I hate kale, almost as much as tripe.

Russ

[Mad Cook]

Kale was always cattle feed when I was a girl. Vile stuff (and it's the only brassica I dislike!!).


Just another thing that chefs who want to make a name for themselves force on to the gullible.


I liked tripe when I was little (the white honey-comb variety with vinegar and pepper) but when I was a student I had a vacation job as cook in an old people's home and they loved it. The smell of a bucketful of enough tripe for 40 people sitting on the table in my kitchen was enough to make me heave and put me off tripe forever.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

I wanted to highlight this key paragraph (she also mentions kale in this article).

"I love blueberries, wild and cultivated, but they are a fruit like any other. Their antioxidants may counteract the damaging actions of oxidizing agents (free radicals) in the body, but studies of how well antioxidants protect against disease yield results that are annoyingly inconsistent. When tested, antioxidant supplements have not been shown to reduce disease risk and sometimes have been shown to cause harm. The USDA no longer publishes data on food antioxidant levels “due to mounting evidence that the values indicating antioxidant capacity have no relevance to the effects of specific bioactive compounds, including polyphenols on human health.” The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at the NIH judges antioxidants as having no special benefits. People who eat more fruits and vegetables have less risk of chronic disease, but nobody really knows whether this is because of antioxidants, other food components, or other lifestyle choices."

Another in a long history of "Eat this, it's good for you" followed later by evidence that it doesn't really do what you thought it did.

I continue trudging along eating what I like simply because it tastes good.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Another in a long history of "Eat this, it's good for you" followed later by evidence that it doesn't really do what you thought it did.

I continue trudging along eating what I like simply because it tastes good.

Exactly.

[taxlady]

I got interested in kale because it's traditional in some Danish recipes.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Rascal

I dint care what anybody says, I hate kale, almost as much as tripe.

Russ

I am with you on both of those items!

[larry_stewart]

Just tried baby kale and wasn't bitter at all. A little stemmy ( Which I dont mind), but at least I can make it edible at home, even though, the one i had in the restaurant didnt look like it was baby kale, had a lot of curl to it.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by larry_stewart

Every time I eat restaurant prepared kale it always tasted really good. When i try to do the same at home, it is always bitter.

over the past week + Ive had kale at 3 different restaurants and no bitterness at all. All were simply prepared ( Im guessing garlic, olive oil, a little soy sauce). Not sure of the kale was sautéed , pre boiled or steamed.
In all cases it was cut or almost copped to relatively small pieces.
In one case, shiitake mushrooms were added to the mix.

Is there a specific variety , or cooking technique that makes it less bitter?

I'm betting the bitterness is a combo of cooking technique and soy sauce.

I love kale and here's how I fix it:

In a skillet I use a little oil or butter and add the washed kale, and sizzle it just a little to reduce volume. Add chopped garlic near the end of this process if you desire but do nut allow garlic to brown. Next I add a little water and clap a lid on to steam for about 10 minutes - less time for younger kale. Not much water ... I want the kale to be mostly dry at the end.

Once kale is softened remove lid allowing water to steam off. Salt and pepper and add other seasoning and squeeze of lemon. serve immediately.

If you sear soy sauce it can become bitter - always add after cooking

[buckytom]

Don't sear soy sauce? Do you mean burn? Burning almost anything will make it bitter, but 1.3 billion Chinese folks who cook in woks over very high heat can't have been wrong for thousands of years.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by buckytom

Don't sear soy sauce? Do you mean burn? Burning almost anything will make it bitter, but 1.3 billion Chinese folks who cook in woks over very high heat can't have been wrong for thousands of years.

I really enjoy taking some cooked brown rice and adding tamari soy sauce and lots of sesame seeds and frying it up. I think it's much tastier when the soy goes on before it's fried.