Colcannon (Mashed Potatoes with Kale)

•  2 lbs Yukon Gold (or russet) potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch think (traditionally peeled, but I like the skins)
• 1 1/4 t salt, plus for cooking potatoes
• 8 oz curly kale (I just used kale from my garden)
• 8 T butter
• 1/4 t pepper
• 8 scallions, sliced thin (3/4 c)
• 1 1/2 c whole milk

1. Place potatoes and 1 T salt in large saucepan, add water to cover by 1 inch and boil on high. Reduce to medium and simmer until tender, 18-22 minutes. 

2. Stem kale and slice stems thinly. Cut leaves into 1 inch pieces. Melt 6 T butter over medium and add stems, salt, and pepper, cooking about 6-8 minutes until stems soften. Add leaves and scallions and cook about 1-2 minutes (leaves wilted and scallions softened). Add milk and increase to high heat to simmer. Remove from heat. 

3. Drain potatoes, return to saucepan and mash. Gently fold in kale mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and create a depression in the center with remaining 2 T butter. Serve. 

Kale Au Gratin

Ingredients (were originally doubled):

onion

2-3 garlic cloves

1 cup heavy cream

1 rosemary sprig

3/4 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 3/8 tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus seasoning to taste

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus seasoning to taste

2 large bunches of Tuscan kale and/or Swiss chard (1–1 1/4 lb. total)

1/2 lemon

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

3 oz. high-quality sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (panko or I like Schar GF)

1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

Step 1 (Cream sauce): 

In a large pot, add a few T diced onion (or more if you like), 2-3 cloves of minced garlic, heavy cream, rosemary sprig, salt and black pepper. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion and garlic are very soft, 15–20 minutes.

2. While cream cooks, remove ribs from 4 medium bunches of (Tuscan) kale (I actually like cutting up the ribs and including them with my thousand head kale). Tear leaves into big pieces and wash. It’s okay if some water still clings to the leaves—this will help them wilt later. If you don’t have a bowl big enough to hold all of your greens, pile them on a baking sheet instead.

3. When cream is ready, pluck out rosemary sprig and discard. Finely grate zest of ½ lemon into cream and stir in ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes. 

4. Either heat a large (as large as possible—12" is the goal) ovenproof skillet over medium OR just add the Kale to the cream sauce and transfer to a small baking dish (7x11 is what I used). Add some of the greens, cover skillet (use a baking sheet if you don’t have a lid), and cook until wilted, 3–4 minutes. Scoot wilted greens to one side of pan. Keep adding until all in the pan, covering pan, and cook to wilt, 3–4 minutes. Add lemon juice and cream sauce if you cooked the kale separately from the sauce. Remove from heat and place skillet on a rimmed baking sheet or transfer to oven safe pan.

5. Cut sharp cheddar cheese into ¼"-thick slices (or just used shredded). Combine bread crumbs, extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add on top of kale. Bake at 350 until cheese is browned and bubbling and panko is toasted, 50–55 minutes. 

GF apple pie muffins

 These were really good, with adaptations but original was a gluten free version to begin with from Baked to Perfection by Katarina Cermelj. Author says cold ingredients help create domed top. 

Ingredients

Crumble 

• 70 g (too much, try 50g?) gluten free flour blend (many options, I included some almond flour)
• 25 g brown sugar (original said 50g)
• 1/2 t cinammon
• 40 g (2-3 T depending on how much dry it goes with) butter

Muffins

• 2 apples (I used pink lady, granny smith is another recommendation)
• 2 T lemon juice
• 150g (original 175g) brown sugar, divided
• 1.5 t cinammon
• 250g gluten free flour blend (I mostly use Bob's red mill 1-1 but also included some of the Artisan Whole Grain bread flour recipe, maybe 10%)
• 80 g almond flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t xanthum gum (this is already in the Bob's red mill mix so not needed here)
• 1/2 t ginger
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 c oil (original was 130 g butter, could be interesting to try applesauce but would also then need less sugar, could try 1/4 oil and 1/4 applesauce and 50g less brown sugar)
• 1/2 c (140g) milk, cold
• 1/2 c (140g) yogurt, cold
• 2 eggs, cold
• 100g pecans, chopped and divided

1. Mix crumble ingredients, working in butter until crumbly but holds its shape when pressed together. Author says to put in fridge for 30 minutes to help it hold its shape, but I keep my gf flours in the freezer so probably could have done this last and added right away. I didn't have success getting it to hold its shape, but still worked ok, just some topping falling off after baking. 

2. Spray muffin tins (made 18 muffins for me). Preheat to 375 degrees (370 on mine). 

3. Peel and cube apples to size of peas. Add lemon, 25g brown sugar, and cinnamon. 

4. Original recipe suggests mixing in a certain order, but I prefer oil to butter and gf flours don't have issue with overmixing the gluten, so flours and dry ingredients can really be added to remaining sugar, oil, milk, yogurt, and eggs in any order. Fold in apples and 75g pecans. Put into muffin tins. 

5. Add remaining 25g pecans to crumble and top muffins, mound it mostly in the center. 

6. Bake 22-24 minutes until set. Can try toothpick but doesn't always help with gf. 

Shrimp and Kale alfredo

 This has some similarities with our basic alfredo recipe but acid from wine and lemon as well as additions of fresh produce added interesting layers of complexity and nutrition. 

Ingredients

• 12-16oz pasta (spaghetti or fettuccini)
• 1 tbsp. 

  extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 lb. 

  shrimp, peeled and deveined (could try chicken?)

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 3-4 tbsp. 

  butter

• 3 

  cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 tsp. 

  crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for garnish

• 2 1/2 c. 

  grape tomatoes, halved

• 1/4 c. 

  white wine

• 1 c. 

  heavy cream

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 5 oz. 

  baby kale (about 6 c.) or if regular kale, needs to be chopped and cooked longer

• 1/2 c. 

  freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish

Directions

• 1. 1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta according to the package directions until al dente, reserving some pasta water.
  2. 2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through, 4 minutes. Remove from skillet and reserve on a plate.
  3. 3. Add butter to skillet then add garlic (add kale here if it's full grown) and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add tomatoes to skillet and cook until beginning to soften, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine and cook until mostly reduced, 5 minutes. 
  4. 4. Add heavy cream, lemon juice, and Parmesan. Let simmer until sauce is thickened, 5 minutes. Add pasta, shrimp, and baby kale and toss to coat. If sauce is too thick, add additional pasta water.   

Kale with bacon and apples

Very similar to bacon brussel sprouts that seem to be common at restaurants and holidays. 

Ingredients

• 3 thick-cut peppered bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium chopped Honeycrisp apple
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 8 cups torn kale leaves
• 2-3 tablespoon (cider) vinegar (lemon is also good, could try other acids)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to hot skillet; cook until crisp and fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Drain all but 2 tablespoons bacon drippings from skillet.

2. Add apple and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and gradually add kale. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drizzle with vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin pancakes (GF)

This recipe seems much better than the other one I've tried, adapted from Pumpkin Pancakes - Once Upon a Chef

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all purpose flour (bob's red mill 1-1 GF I like)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup pure pumpkin (such as Libby’s)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (or I prefer canola oil)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• canola oil, for cooking
• mix ins: choc chips, pecans, etc

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and salt. With GF flour, simply add the wet ingredients.  If the batter seems too thick, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of milk. Add mix-ins if desired. 

2. Heat a griddle or nonstick pan over medium heat and coat lightly with vegetable oil. Drop about ¼ cup batter from a small ladle or large spoon and cook until the puffy and bubbling on top and golden and crisp on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until the bottom is golden, about 30 seconds. 

Kale Fried Rice

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• One 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced
• 3/4 pound (shiitake) mushrooms

• 5-6 cups coarsely chopped curly kale leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups (day-old) cooked short-grain white rice

• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2-4 T oyster sauce (soy sauce is an ok sub)

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Add the ginger, scallions, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and garlic, season with salt and stir-fry until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cooked rice and stir-fry until heated through, about 3 minutes.

2. Make a well in the rice and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the eggs. Cook without stirring until the eggs begin to set at the edge. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs until just set. Stir the eggs into the rice along with the vinegar and oyster/soy sauce. May need to add more salt or soy sauce to season appropriately.