Kale for Sale (i couldn't resist!) from the Food Forest
my favourite spot in the markets, Patlin's Garden's table of leafy greens. the piles of greens are a lot higher at 9am but i went walking through the gardens with ben this morning and didn't get there until 11am.
Mr Patlin was a bit disappointed that i wasn't portraying his produce at it's bountiful best and wanted to re-arrange it all for me!
leafy greens are my favourite veges, but until maybe three months ago i had no idea that the most delicious leafy green by far is kale/cavolo nero.
i'd skimmed through the cavolo nero section in maggie's harvest but not given it much thought... it wasn't until i read about kel sauteing it in olive oil and garlic, and noticed it looking all crinkly and lovely at the patlin's gardens stall, that I bought a bunch. after all, kel always seems to be right about these things!
i was expecting it to be a bit like silverbeet but, after sauteing it like kel does, i was amazed at just how different cavolo nero was to any other green i'd tried... and was immediatley converted!
So far i haven't done anything else with my bunches of kale... but i've saved the rind from my last chunk of parmigiano and have a bowl of beans soaking on the bench and tomorrow it's all going to be turned into a big pot of maggie beer's minestrone with cavolo nero. i wish i'd thought of soaking the beans yesterday and could make it for dinner tonight!
there are lots more people taking photos in august at The Byron Life.
i'd skimmed through the cavolo nero section in maggie's harvest but not given it much thought... it wasn't until i read about kel sauteing it in olive oil and garlic, and noticed it looking all crinkly and lovely at the patlin's gardens stall, that I bought a bunch. after all, kel always seems to be right about these things!
i was expecting it to be a bit like silverbeet but, after sauteing it like kel does, i was amazed at just how different cavolo nero was to any other green i'd tried... and was immediatley converted!
So far i haven't done anything else with my bunches of kale... but i've saved the rind from my last chunk of parmigiano and have a bowl of beans soaking on the bench and tomorrow it's all going to be turned into a big pot of maggie beer's minestrone with cavolo nero. i wish i'd thought of soaking the beans yesterday and could make it for dinner tonight!
there are lots more people taking photos in august at The Byron Life.
Don't you love a farmer that cares about arranging his/her produce? It's not like they don't have anything else to do but I do appreciate a good display. I haven't had kale forever but now that you've reminded me how good it is I can't wait. I simply steam it and dress it with a bit of olive oil and my favorite sea salt.
ReplyDeleteYou have just reminded me to go and check my kale, I know there have been a lot of caterpillars around. I used kale last week in a minestrone. There is a rapid soak method for dried beans: cover beans with about 4 times their volume of boiling water, or bring to boil and boil for 2 minutes, then leave to stand for 1-2 hours before cooking. You might still be able to have minestrone tonight!!
ReplyDeleteohhh yeah! another kale lover...kale can grow in pots you know!! lol I cant believe how the food forest has changed, i remember when they first started! im getting old, argk!
ReplyDeletekale - mr patlin is definatley my favourite farmer, he just so passionate about his produce, you should here the way he goes on about his olive oil!
ReplyDeletei'll try my next bunch of kale your way. thank you!
pip - i posted this on sunday at 1pm but for some reason it didn't pop up on the feed until monday at 8pm... very strange ... but the good news is after waiting for my beans to soak 24hours i had the most delicious minestrone i've ever made last night! and am having it again for lunch today! :)
kel - i know it'll grow in a pot... but i didn't know i loved kale until a few months ago... and my balcony is soooo difficult to grow things on it's worthy of a whole post, which i'll do another day :)
ReplyDeleteOur balcony is a blistering hell of death and despair and car fumes. Any kale surviving there i would strongly suspect to have been spliced with alien DNA to make it grow teeth and legs and become a danger to shipping.
ReplyDeleteYou know, like in Cloverfield.