Sauteed Kale with Shiitake, Balsamic Vinegar and Truffle Oil

Kale is one of my favorite winter vegetables.

It always has been, though I have to admit that I seldom eat it was cooked when I grew up. In our home, kale was simmered all day on a back burner, in a big pot, seasoned with a ham hock or a hunk of jowl bacon. Though the leaves were completely flaccid and olive drab by the time they were done, they were smoky, sweet and so good splashed with vinegar, salt and pepper that I could eat huge bowls of them. (I used to drink the juice, too–in the South that green stuff is called “pot likker,” and it is filled with all the vitamins and minerals leached out of the vegetative matter after the long cooking process. It also tasted really, really good.)

But, I don’t cook kale like that anymore. For one thing, it stinks up the house a bit, and Zak objects to it, and for another, I have figured out how to cook kale other ways that are just as good, but which leave more of the vitamins and minerals unmolested and intact.

This recipe is a variation on one I invented years ago for my vegan personal chef clients. Thier version was more distinctly Asian in concept and form: it consisted of lacinato kale, fresh and dried shiitake mushrooms, garlic, scallion and ginger, soy sauce, black pepper, rice vinegar and sugar.

This time all I had was curly leafed kale, and I wanted to make more of a European-styled saute rather than a stir fry. So, I switched the ingredients around, though I decided to use as many Western umami ingredients as I thought would be prudent without turning the dish into a gloppy mish-mash of an ill-concieved fusion.

I definately wanted to keep the vinegar; kale, particularly the curly-leafed varieties, can be bitter, and acidic ingredients tend to tone down bitter flavors. So, I switched to balsamic vinegar. Since I wasn’t cooking for vegans, I decided to be luxurious and add a half teaspoon of saved bacon grease to the olive oil. I could have added crumbled bacon if I wanted to make the dish really over the top fattening and tasty, but I didn’t. I am still trying to chill out on the fattening food now that the holidays are done.

The other luxury item I did add, however, was a good drizzle of black truffle oil at the end of cooking. It took a good side dish and pushed it over the edge into an absolutely delicious one. The inherent sweetness of the kale is accentuated by the bacon grease, the golden shallots and the sweet undertones of the balsamic vinegar. The earthiness of the mushrooms is enhanced by the truffle oil and the garlic, and the sprinkling of herbs and black pepper bring a sharpness to the entire flavor profile that provides clarity and a rather ringing note to the ensemble.

I was rather glad that Zak doesn’t like kale and declined to try any. That meant there was more for Morganna and I.

Sauteed Kale with Shiitake, Balsamic Vinegar and Truffle Oil

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon bacon grease
2 medium sized shallots, thinly sliced
6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps thinly sliced
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper to taste (More is better.)
pinch dried oregano or thyme
1 small bunch fresh young curly kale, washed and dried, thick stems removed, leaves torn into bite-sized bits
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black (or white) truffle oil

Method:

In a heavy-bottomed, deep frying or saute pan, heat olive oil and bacon grease until grease is melted. Tilt pan to coat bottom evenly.

Add shallots to pan, and cook, stirring constantly until they begin to turn golden. Add shiitakes, and cook until shallots turn dark golden and shittake begin to take on color. Add garlic and cook until pale gold and fragrant. Add pepper and herb, then kale.

Stir and toss to coat kale with oil, then sprinkle with salt and pour chicken broth into pan. Cover pan, and allow chicken broth to simmer, steaming kale. Remove lid–kale should be brilliant green and beginning to wilt, and chicken broth should be reduced to nearly nothing. Add balsamic vinegar and stir and toss kale until balsamic vinegar simmers away to nearly nothing; what is left should cling very tightly to the leaves.

Remove from heat, pour in truffle oil, stir to combine and serve immediately.

This is very good with a mushroom risotto, quiche or baked macaroni and cheese for a light supper.

9 Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.

1. I have all the ingredients in the house; I’m having this for supper!

   Comment by lindy — January 10, 2006 #

2. Sigh. I made greens (green & red chard) over the weekend. But I simmered the greens in the oven that I’d previously rendered nearly 2 lbs of bacon in. Of course I poured out and saved the fat for cornbread. But the leavenings couldn’t possibly have been considered low fat.
   Oh well, maybe I’ll do different next time. Heh.

   Biggles

   Comment by Dr. Biggles — January 10, 2006 #

3. Glad to hear it, Lindy. Let me know how you like them.

   Dr. Biggles–sometimes low-fat is just not where it is at. If I had my way, I would eat turnip greens, collards or kale cooked in bacon fat every day of the year. Of course, I would be as big as a house and my heart would likely stop, but I reckon I’d die happy.

   This way of making them–while not what I grew up with and in truth, prefer–still tastes really, really good.

   Though, in truth, I bet it would be even better with some crumbled up bacon in it!

   Comment by Barbara — January 10, 2006 #

4. Barbara-I was unable to find my little bottle of truffle oil, but it was lovely anyway. I threw in some toasted sesame seeds at the end. I am amazed at how much kale I can eat all by myself!

   Comment by lindy — January 11, 2006 #

5. I’m not a huge fan of kale, but I must admit this post makes me want to dash out and buy some!

   Comment by Christina — January 11, 2006 #

6. Lindy–I can eat a huge pile of kale, and always have been able to. Back when I cooked up a whole mess of it the old fashioned southern way with a ham hock, onions, garlic and chiles, I would often end up eating the whole pot in two days, because Zak didn’t want it or like it, and it tasted so good.

   But I get that way with greens. If I deprive myself of them for a while, I will go nuts eating them after I make them. These days, I eat enough greens, now that Zak and Morganna both will eat gai lan (and positively beg for it) broccoli, choy sum, bok choy and pea shoots. But still, I get a hankering for kale or collards or turnip greens and I have to have them.

   The sesame seeds are great with it–that is what I finished my Asian version I made for my vegan clients with. They loved that! (A drizzle of dark toasted sesame oil is also divine.)

   Christina–if you can find the lacinato variety, go for that. It tends to be sweeter than curly kale, and the center rib is not as likely to be tough, stringy and godawful. It is really mild and tastes really good cooked in this way or the Asian way.

   Comment by Barbara — January 11, 2006 #

7. Barbara, I made this tonight (the first time I peeked at your site was today, in fact) and MAN it was good!

   Comment by Catherine — January 11, 2006 #

8. p.s. although I couldn’t detect the truffle oil…

   Comment by Catherine — January 11, 2006 #

9. Welcome, Catherine–I am glad to have you here. And–I am glad to hear you liked the recipe!

   It may be my truffle oil is stronger than yours–try adding more next time. Truffle oils vary in quality and strength–it is just the nature of them as a product.

   Comment by Barbara — January 11, 2006 #

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.