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Lentils with Smoked Sausage and Kale

May 4, 2012 in Pork, Vegetable

I love kale.

I mean, I LOVE KALE!  Like, through the roof, off the charts, over the rainbow I love KALE.

It’s an extremely versatile green that can be dressed up or down and give “heft” to a bite instead of mush.  I recently visited a Natural Grocers recently (that’s the name of the chain), and found some B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L organic kale.  It was almost too pretty to be organic.  Suspiciously pretty.  This is a pre-rinsing pic:

I also picked up some locally made, uncured, all natural, smoked kielbasa from Pederson Natural Farms.  With some new, fresh ingredients to test drive, I went about searching for a recipe involving sausage and kale.  I stumbled upon this beauty and decided to try it out.  It just so happened that I had everything I needed already in stock.

Lentils with Smoked Sausage and Kale (adapted from Eating Well’s Kale, Sausage & Lentil Skillet):

Collect these:

  • olive oil
  • 1 kielbasa sausage loop
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
  • 1 1/2 cups red wine (optional, but if I had it, I totally would have used it!)
  • 1 cup lentils
  • 12 cups chopped kale leaves, tough stems removed (I’m not sure if it was 12 cups exactly.  It was 1 bunch of kale leaves.)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • pinch of salt
  • freshly ground pepper, to taste

Mince your garlic as best as you can; slice your onions; wash and chop your kale.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil to get things going.  Pan-fry the sausage, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Set aside to cool.

Add more olive oil if needed and sauté your onions.  The original recipe said until they brown, and that it would take 5 minutes, but that is a lie.  I sautéed until they were soft and looking less white from the bits left by the sausage.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and stir.  Let them cook until fragrant.

Next pour in the chicken stock and stir it around a little bit.  Bring to a boil and add your lentils. Stir.  Reduce heat to low-medium and partially cover the pan.  You’ll let this simmer for about 30-40 minutes, depending on how soft you want the lentils.

When the lentils are just about done, add in your kale.  Be careful!  It will overflow the pan, but have patience and toss the lentils with the kale so the leaves cook evenly and shrink in size.

Let this simmer for about 10 minutes or until the kale is tender and the lentils are just right.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, slice the sausage.

Then add it to the pan at the end just to let them warm up again.

Dish it out, and EAT!

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Your Basic Meatball

March 30, 2012 in Beef/Lamb, Mains, Pork

You could call them mini-meatloaf bites if you wanted to.  They essentially are.  A basic meatball can be used for a variety of cuisines and is so simple to accomplish.  The worst meatballs are dry and have a texture that could remind you of food not fit for human consumption.  The best meatballs are moist, tender, and hold up well in sauce as well as on the end of a toothpick and dipped in a condiment.

Meatballs, like meatloaf, are better made when you have a party of animals going on there. In mine, I do a combination of ground pork and ground beef. Ideally, I would have wanted a less lean pork.  Why?  Fat = moisture = flavor. Alas, the local grocery only had one type of unseasoned “extra lean” pork for sale. *sigh* Ce la vie, I suppose. As for the ground beef, it was 20% fat. I admit, the lacking pork fat was missed.

I prepared these meatballs two ways.  One way, I pan fried them, getting a nice dark brown crust on the outside.  The seared meatballs were then finished in a marinara sauce.  The other way, I baked them in the oven so I could freeze and store them.

Basic Meatballs

  • 1 lb. of ground beef (not lean, you want something like ground chuck)
  • 1 lb. of ground pork (go for around 70% – 80% lean)
  • 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (I would have used a bit more, but I got tired of grating cheese.)
  • 3 eggs
  • salt and pepper (be generous, you’ll be happy with the results)

Dump everything in a bowl.

Get down and dirty and mix WITH YOUR HANDS.  It’ll be fine.  You’ll survive.  Just mix it up until everything looks incorporated and evenly distributed.

crappy shot. that's what happens when you have a "meat hand."

Next, still with your hands, grab a chunk any size you want and roll into a ball.  Do so with all of the mixture until you no longer have any leftover.

Cook however you want!

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot enough, lay in the meatballs. and let them fry until a brown crust forms.

When they have enough color, turn over and let cook until they reach a similar shade again.

If you want the meatballs in a sauce, pour in your sauce of choice and turn the heat on low-medium, cover the pan, and let them simmer until cooked through. (I used Trader Joe’s Low Sodium Organic Marinara.)

If no sauce is desired, then give the meatballs a stir, and pour in a small amount of water or broth. Cover, and let the steam finish them off.

If you want to bake them, put the raw meatballs on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (maybe longer depending on the size of your meatballs); flip them over, and rotate the sheet halfway through.

Easy peasy, George and Weezy!

 

 

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