Freddie Skettie

One of Fred's favorite things to brew up in the kitchen is spaghetti sauce. He never makes it the same twice and rarely if ever writes down the recipe. This time was no exception.

I do know that he put in tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic, onions, fresh tomatoes from our friend Robert's garden, a huge amount of fresh herbs from our herb garden. In a spicy twist he added some vegan chorizo.

While I have absolutely no idea what proportions went into it, I do know that is was full of rich tomato flavor. The sauce was so hearty from the chorizo, I was filled up with just a small serving. Just look at all that goodness!!!

I encourage all of you to play around in your own kitchens. Part of the thing I find most joyful about cooking is just throwing in a little of this and a little of that and coming up with something new and delicious. I'm glad Fred agrees on occasion!

Kale Three Ways

What do you do with an over abundance of kale?

I just can't do it yet. I just can't leave my old blogging home. Part of it is nostalgia and my gratitute for you guys! The other part is that I really don't have a good command of the new website and quite frankly it looks boring. So I will stay here a little longer. I hope you stay with me!

Kale is the new beef right? Well I thought I'd totally kale out. This is my kind of Trio! I had three different types of kale, so I thought I'd try three different cooking methods.

Salad

Lacinto Kale (recipe still in the works). This salad shows great promise, but I wasn't totally happy with the dressing flavor combo, so I will keep working on this and post it another time.

Saute

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

3 teaspoons olive oil separated

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 bunch Red Russian Kale, de-stemmed and ripped into bite sized pieces

2 teaspoon Braggs or low sodium soy or tamari

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

In an 8 or 10 inch non stick pan or iron skillet over medium low heat add 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Add onions and sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook for about 20 minutes until onions are beautifully caramelized. Set aside in a small bowl. In the same skillet add remaining oil and kale. Saute kale for 5-7 minutes tossing frequently until the volume decreases by about 1/2. Add Braggs or low sodium soy and lemon juice. Add caramalized onions back to the pan. Saute for about 5 more minutes, until kale is soft but not mushy. Salt and pepper to taste.

Chips

1 large bunch curly green kale
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons Penzey's Northwoods seasoning or use your favorite low salt seasoning
1 scant tablespoon olive oil

Heat oven to 350.

Wash kale. De-stem and dry leaves. Rip into good sized pieces as they will shrink down quite a bit when baking. In a very large bowl place kale. Drizzle with olive oil and stir until well coated. Toss in nutritional yeast and Penzey's Northwoods Seasoning. Toss well making sure to get seasoning on all of the leaves.

On two cookie sheets, spread the seasoned kale leaves in a single layer. This is important or they will not crisp. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn leaves over and cook for 10 more minutes. It is a good idea to check the kale at about 7 minutes. They can crisp and burn quickly. The baking time can vary depending on the moisture content of the leaves.

Pull out of the oven. Let cool for 10 minutes or longer if you wish. Eat immediately. They will keep in an airtight container for about a day...if they last that long!