Hi friends! It’s me again! This time with an entry for the CSA Super Extreme Ultimate Challenge! As you saw in Gwen’s post, last week we received a whole metric buttload of kale. The trouble is I don’t particularly like kale, and my husband has a hardwired aversion to all things new and leafy and green. What to do?

Scanning around the internet, I saw a Gourmet recipe for a Potato and Kale Galette that was awfully similar to a recipe in my repertoire called Potatoes Anna. I’m a big believer in having a few core recipes that can be modified to make a different dish. Adding kale to Potatoes Anna seemed like a prime candidate. I was hoping the potatoes would mellow out the harshness of the kale, and I figured that if you add enough garlic and Gruyere to anything it’s bound to be good.  Luckily, Gourmet was right on the money, and this dish even earned a “Mmmmmm!” from my veggie phobic hub.

You will need:

- 1 metric buttload of kale. To be more precise, about 4 good sized bunches, to cook down to about 1 cup. I used a variety of kales, and a little chard. I think any hearty green would hold up well in this dish.

- 2 medium Russet potatoes

- 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine

- 1 cup grated Gruyere (use a little less if you’re feeling health conscious)

- 1 tablespoon butter, melted

- salt and pepper

- olive oil

First, set your oven to 450 degrees. Then, wash and dry your greens well. Roll them up and chop them in a fine julienne. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, then add the kale and a heavy pinch of salt. You want to wilt the greens down well in this step, but the real cooking will happen in the oven. About 2 minutes before you pull the kale from the heat, add the garlic and cook briefly. Next, we need to remove some of the moisture from the kale. Place it in a fine strainer or on a bunch of paper towels and gently press the excess moisture out. You may want to chop the kale even finer at this point if it still seems really chunky.

Peel the potatoes and slice them very thin. Using a mandolin is best to get even pieces, but if you have to do it the old fashioned way, I’d aim for between an 1/8th and 1/16th of an inch. Brush the inside of a lidded, oven safe dish with some melted butter, then start placing the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish so they overlap slightly. Once you have one layer of potatoes complete, brush with a small amount of the butter, then sprinkle very lightly with salt, pepper, and Gruyere. Remember, go very light on the seasonings here, because they will add up over the layers. Then, sprinkle half of the cooked kale over the potatoes. Add another potato layer, season, then a kale layer, and one last potato layer without the cheese. Cover, and then place in the oven for 20 minutes. After the time is up, remove the cover, and then back in the oven for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the Gruyere to the top, and then 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes, so the potatoes and cheese can set a bit. Then, slice like you would a pie and serve!

For me, being on serious overtime means surviving on catering and never, ever, ever getting to cook. But never fear, for the time after a movie is done (called “unemployment”, or as I prefer “extended vacation”) means lots of cooking and experimenting with new recipes! Now, so far some have been, uh, lackluster. I’m looking at you, rock hard homemade rice crackers. But others have been lovely. Like these nice Prosciutto, Dijon, and Gruyere Puffs:

Om nom nom.

Now, I gleefully stole this recipe from the lovely blog Joy the Baker. I strayed from her recipe in a few minor ways, but the changes are so slight that I’ll just put a little link here to her instead. Ze Puffs! Credit where credit is due! These mofos are soft, flavorful, and so very easy to make. Seriously. If you’ve ever used Play-doh or assembled a sandwich, you’re good to go.

My changes are as follows: I am not terribly fond of the double roll style of pastry that she used, so I just did a single roll. The double roll stuff tends to fall apart as I eat it, so I stuck with a more compact formation. The picture makes the finished rolls look huge, but they’re really quite small, less than palm sized. As a result, I went with less of the filling than the original recipe called for, fearing that the flavor would be too intense. And boy am I glad I did. I went about half on the Prosciutto and Gruyere, and used a little less than a tablespoon of Dijon. The dijon can be a little overwhelming, so use less if you’re not crazy about it.

Oh man are these good! I forsee an entire summer of rolled puff pasty awesomes and delights! Spinach and mushroom! Olive tapenade! Who knows what else!

On tap for this summer’s food blogging assuming I get off my lazy ass and do it:

- Cookbook reviews, including “The Japanese Kitchen”!
- Restaurant reviews, like Shinsengumi Ramen and La Provence!
- Tips, tricks, and product reviews, none of which come to mind at the moment!
- My favorite Southern dishes, aka, a thinly veiled excuse to eat tasty things when I go home this summer!
- Recipes, assuming I can get the rice crackers to come out right this time!

I’ll see you mofos later.