Recipes of home: A kale classic and hearty beef & leek soup

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Good morning,

For this holiday edition, we revisit some of my family recipes to help with the cold weather. They’re simple, memorably delicious and quite healthy. Well, one of them is but both are delicious. Both are also low in starchy carbs so adding a slice of garlic or buttered sourdough bread is a nice accompaniment.

In the upcoming editions, we will return with a few fine dining stories and as we get closer to the start of December, you will see a few editions featuring food and drink buying suggestions for your table or for gift giving.

In remembrance of all those veterans who sacrificed to keep us free from tyranny.  

Ralf Joneikies, food and drink editor. [email protected]

RECIPE

A German comfort classic: Grünkohl

Brassicas (“kohl” in German) are known to be some of the healthiest foods we can eat and what makes this even better in a climate such as ours, is that they can be grown into November. This gives us powerhouse energy and nutrition just when we start to lose daylight and become susceptible to seasonal contagions.

Grünkohl is a traditional dish and because Germans eat so much kale, it’s also seen as a national dish. In fact, kale should probably be that country's flower. It’s so well-loved that there are dozens of brands sold in cans, jars and frozen bricks.

You’re likely to find this kale dish in every brewhouse throughout that country and there's a good reason for that too: it’s exceptionally delicious with beer.

Feel free to make this as a vegan/vegetarian version by leaving out the meat and using either avocado oil or butter to fry the onions. You may miss the umami effect that meat provides, so use a vegetarian broth that has a higher percentage of tomato in the base.

Although many different styles and cuts of pork can be used simultaneously, mettwurst is most commonly used and its flavours meld beautifully with the cooked kale.

Mettwurst can be hard to find, but luckily, Dutch Groceries on Clyde Avenue carries a good example and the price is very reasonable: just $7.50 for one large sausage ring.

Once done the kale will have taken on the savoury flavours of the slightly smoked mettwurst, and the sausage will have become plump, exploding with salty goodness.

Ingredients 

For 4 people

• Two bunches of regular kale washed and destemmed (discard stems) then chopped.

• Two medium red onions finely chopped

• Four large white potatoes, peeled and cubed to medium-sized pieces

• Two mettwurst sausage rings (string removed)

• One litre of vegetable stock

• Two bay leaves

• ½ whole nutmeg (freshly grated)

• Salt and pepper

• Three tablespoons duck/chicken fat or butter or avocado oil

Preparation

• Add fat/oil to a large preheated pot

• Once melted, add the chopped onions and saute until lightly browned

• Add the chopped kale and allow to wilt by a third, stirring periodically. Do not allow kale to brown

• Add the vegetable broth and bay leaves and simmer on low for 45 minutes

• After 45 minutes, remove the bay leaves and puncture the skin of the mettwurst(s) with a fork on both sides and add them to the pot

• Add the cubed potatoes

• Let simmer for 90 minutes, turning the sausages every 30 minutes or so

• After two+ hours your kale should be soft and the liquid almost entirely evaporated. If longer cooking is required, add small amounts of water and cover the pot with the lid

• Once all the liquid has cooked off, taste the kale and season with freshly grated nutmeg and pepper. The sausage gives off a fair amount of salt so it may not be required but you’ll want to test this for yourself

• After seasoning, remove the mettwurst and give the pot a stir to incorporate the elements

• Plate the kale potato stew into shallow bowls and top with sliced rounds of sausage

• This is a complete meal that feeds four

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RECIPE

Soup’s on: A bowl of comfort

Despite the richness of this soup, you’ll find yourself having a second bowl. It’s an easy dish to prepare but the results suggest a more complex preparation.

It may seem like an odd ingredient list but trust me, it’s delicious and even freezes well for those occasions when you don’t feel like cooking.

Note: When frying I prefer grapeseed or avocado oil, but feel free to use whatever neutral-tasting oil you have on hand. For the processed cheese, I use foil-wrapped products (as pictured) available in European Delis.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• 1/2 cup white wine

• 3 thick leek stalks (green tops removed)

• 1.5 to 2 litres vegetable stock

• 100 grams processed white cheese (Laughing Cow triangles will do)

• 100 grams good quality cream cheese (as pictured)

• 1 cup 10% cream

• 2 tbsp salt

• 1 tbsp black pepper

• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Preparation

• Remove outer leaves then wash the leeks well and cut into rounds no more than 1/2 inch thickness.

• Heat the oil in a large pot and once hot, add the ground beef.

• Cook until browned then add the leeks and cook for another three minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add the wine and cook off the alcohol for another two minutes.

• Now add the veggie stock and simmer on low until the leeks are well wilted.

• Add the cream cheese and processed cheese, salt and pepper and simmer until the cheeses are dissolved.

• Simmer on low for another five minutes and stir in the nutmeg.

In German households it’s served with thick slices of buttered sourdough bread and a simple salad on the side. Enjoy.

Quick bites

• Social media has become indispensable for so many businesses that it was devastating when Meta suspended a local restaurateur's FaceBook and Instagram accounts. [CBC]

• Ottawa can expect to see a surge of new hotels being built in the years to come according to experts. [CTV]

• Healthy eating costs the average family of four in Ottawa almost $1,200 a month. That means a crisis is brewing. [City News]

• Here is an eye-opening take on the Dubai Chocolate phenomenon from the excellent journalism outfit Current Affairs. [YouTube]

LOOKOUT WINE

For those who like a dry rosé, this wine is hard to beat for the price

This story is available in our Lookout Wine newsletter. Subscribe for free to get access to exceptional and affordable wines recommended by Ralf.

Since its founding in 1993, this Chilean winery has impressed wine drinkers with a consistently good product. Its wines are varietally expressive, they taste clean, are not over-sulphured and they’re cheap. And I don’t mean that as a pejorative.

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