Miso-Creamed Kale

This was a big hit at our Christmas dinner where it starred alongside two meats - a roasted lemon-brined turkey and a fall-apart tender pork shoulder blade roast. For a meatless option, I love spooning the miso-creamed kale on top of a mound of creamy mashed potatoes!

Notes: In my version below, I tripled the original recipe. I also lightened up the dish by reducing the amount of heavy cream and replacing some of the butter with olive oil. To make things easier, you can buy bagged, pre-washed, chopped kale leaves. Sometimes though, the leaves still have a bit of stem attached. It's a pain to remove them, so I just cook the kale a little longer until the stems are soft.


Miso-Creamed Kale
Adapted from Food52 by Trent Pierce
Makes 10-12 servings

Clean by wiping each mushroom with a damp paper towel, or giving a quick rinse in cool water and drying with paper towels:
1/2 lb/225g of mushrooms (any of the following or a mix: shimeji, shiitake, oyster, baby king oyster)
If using shiitake mushrooms, separate stem from cap. Set aside the mushrooms.

In a small saute pan, place:
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Set aside. You'll saute the mushrooms in the pan after wilting down the kale in the following steps.

In a large dutch oven or heavy-bottom stockpot over medium heat, combine and melt butter:
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil

Add and saute 3-4 minutes or until soft, but not colored:
3 large shallots or 1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Add in batches, cooking kale down to make room for the rest:
1 lb/approx. 500g kale leaves, or 16 cups of tightly packed kale leaves, or about 3 bunches of kale, destemmed, leaves coarsely chopped

Cook kale until wilted and soft, stirring occasionally, altogether about 15-20 minutes without any stems, another 5-7 minutes with stems. If the kale starts sticking to the bottom of the pot, add a splash of water and stir. Try a bite to see if it's cooked to your liking. If you prefer it softer, keep cooking, adding water if needed to prevent burning and/or turning down the heat a bit.

While the kale is cooking, saute the mushrooms.

Over medium heat, melt the butter in the set-aside prepared saute pan.. Add the set-aside, washed mushrooms to the pan, cooking until softened, but not mushy, about 5 minutes. If the mushrooms start sticking, throw in a splash of water - not too much, you don't want them soggy!

Add to the mushrooms:
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
Cook for another minute, then turn off heat.

Returning to the kale, once cooked to your liking, turn heat up to medium-high. Add and cook until just evaporated, about 1 minute:
3/4 cup dry vermouth or sherry

Add to the kale, stirring to incorporate thoroughly:
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons shiro (white) miso
Cook until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper per your taste buds, but remember, the mushrooms have soy sauce.

Plate the kale and top with the mushrooms. Serve right away.

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts!

Delivered by FeedBurner