Kale

[Dominique]

I hope you don't mind my asking a stupid question - again! -  but although I've searched for 'kale' I still don't understand what to do.... (Bit 't'ick, me!)
I ordered 'brassicas' and a lot of it was kale, which I've never grown, let alone eaten!  It's looking beautiful now, (planted end of August) with lots of big leaves and smaller curly ones in the middle. 
The thing is.... what part do you eat?  I're read in one of the posts  I think that you throw away the bigger leaves?  And is it too early to cut some of it?  ???
Thanks
D

[Dominique]

[djbrenton]

Personally I'm happy with the larger leaves, so I just keep taking the bottom leaves off to eat and more grow.

[agapanthus]

Use it as you would cabbage or spinach. It has a stronger taste than cabbage and you could take out the middle spine if it is too tough. I like mine gently boiled or steamed and served with butter and pepper.

[blight]

in my region you wait till the plants have got the first frosts. that makes them less cabbagy and sweeter flavoured. you pick them right through the winter. finally in early spring you can pick the new growth  that develops between stem and leaves.

[adrianhumph]

 Hi dominique,  :D
                          We grow redbor kale, which as the name implies is a red variety. We planted out ours in July & have been picking it for 3/4 weeks now. We like to use the fresh new leaves from the top of the plant ,the more you pick the more it seems to grow, the best way to eat it is to steam it for 5 minutes, it does seem to lose its heat very quickly so we often mix it with mashed potato to make a type of colcannan .
                       Adrian.

[Aussie Chick]

Thanks for asking, I was wondering as well :-\

[Obelixx]

There is a website called "fooddownunder.com" which has a whole host of Kale recipes.

[the_snail]

This sounds quite a productive veg. I will have to put it on the plot next year!

The_Snail

[gledhillbo]

Kale on its own is a bit too strong in flavour. I only grow three plants a year now. Where it works really well is with mixing with savoy cabbage. The white bits of a savoy are a bit colourless and bland but putting in finely shredded kale puts back a bit of kick and colour. And chopped grilled fat bacon, ground pepper and butter makes it classic.

Also, in Madeira they do a classic winter soup called caldo verde which is a simple winter soup with chopped chorizo and finely chopped kale.

My daughter finely chops it and does a Chinese-ish stir fry with it using shards of carrot, cashew nuts, shredded pork garlic, spring onion, ginger and the usual bits of Chinese flavourings. You can stew this for a few moments in some proper chicken stock or water and thicken if you want it a bit soupy for rice or noodles. It eats well for a simple supper.

But kale is never going to feature on a restaurant menu.

[Obelixx]

Kale - in the form of cavolo nero - features on top restaurant menus and is used at the River Café, amongst others.  A must have veggie for gourmets, in fact.

[Dirkdigger]

Took this photo Saturday of my curly Kale, quite a few of the older ones have said suprised youre growing it. Apparently not everyones taste, I for one love it.


DD

[Dominique]

I can't wait to taste it now!  I found it very easy to grow, looks lovely and best of all, the pigeons leave it alone!!!! 
Thanks for all your replies.
Now if only the rain could stop...  so I could go to the lottie....  :P
D

[redimp]

Kale - in the form of cavolo nero - features on top restaurant menus... A must have veggie for gourmets, in fact.

Thiss one tastes wonderful and is a definite must grow next year.

[sandersj89]

Kale - in the form of cavolo nero - features on top restaurant menus... A must have veggie for gourmets, in fact.

Thiss one tastes wonderful and is a definite must grow next year.

I have grown it for the first time this year, and ate it for the first time at the weekend. We also grow curly kale.

The black kale has a distinctly different flavour and we had to remove the ribs from the leaves as they would have been too woody.

But I do like it. We simply steamed it this time and served with a drop of vinegar.

Tempted to braise it in a thingy of butter too......

Jerry

[blight]

Kale - in the form of cavolo nero - features on top restaurant menus and is used at the River Café, amongst others.

the River Cafe have quite a lot to answer for... wasn´t it they who introduced the borlotti beans to England?
Curly kale, especially when it has got a bit of frost is more aromatic than the tuscan variety. As i wrote in another thread, the unripe kernels in runner beans are much more flavourful than the borlottis.
but "borlotti"and "cavolo nero"- is:farmhouse in tuscany, summer...
"kale","runner beans" - say no more...

[terrace max]

Very pleased that Kale is so popular: I love the stuff! I steam mine for a few minutes until nearly tender then stir fry it in a wok with sesame seeds and a touch of sweet soy sauce.

Even our 1 year old loves stir fried kale...

[gledhillbo]

Interesting to hear that the River Cafe have it on the menu. What do they charge for this most rustic and basic of brassica? From my experience of dining in River Cafe probably mucha lotta.

I strip all the lower leaves from the stalk of kale in late summer so it stands like a woody stalk with the newer leaves on top to pick off from now till late winter. But I still think it is one of the more bitter brassicas. A spoonful of sugar in the boiling water helps.

[Merry Tiller]

Blanch Cavolo Nero with some garlic cloves, whizz them up with some olive oil, mix it with some pasta & serve with parmesan  :P

[Obelixx]

River Café has three recipes for cavolo nero/kale in their second cookery book and two in their green one.  Given I live in central Belgium that's the nearest I'll get to eating their food.   When I do visit friends back in London we have to have a constitutional curry if we eat out.

Borlotti beans have been around for decades, especially amongst vegetarians. they've just been made fashionable by the likes of the River Café, as have pigs trotters by the likes of Gary Rhodes.

[scumpy]

Hi
Glad to here so many people speaking up for Kale. My Kids love it, particularly with a roast.
I've grown it this year (my first as a lotty owner) and found it very rewarding so far, already had two picks.

Give a go,