Food Gold: Kale with Garlic Oil and Bacon

Posted on Sep 16th, 2010 in Food Gold by Mr. Goldbar


Guest appearance from Ludwig Von Pig

I’m a biiiiiiig fan of leafy greens and Kale is hand down one of my favorites. It’s incredibly good for you, edgy in all the right ways (raw or cooked it always has some kick) and wildly in season right now. This week we are going to show you how to make sauteed kale with garlic oil and bacon, a magnificent side if there ever was one. We snazz it up here with a bit of red wine vinegar and red pepper, but you could just as easily leave those things out and still catch the vibes. This goes perfect with Pork Meatballs, btw!

Kale with Garlic Oil and Bacon

2 lbs of Kale, tough bits and stems removed so only leafy parts remain

4 strips of bacon, cut into lardons or small strips

Salt/Pepper to taste

Splash of red wine vinegar (optional but delicious)

Few pinches crushed red pepper flakes (optional but delicious)

1 1/2 cups of water or chicken stock

Garlic Oil

1 1/2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

2 or 3 cloves garlic cut into medium sized strips (keep the pieces pretty large since you will be pulling out the garlic at the end)

Recipe:

1. Chop up your Kale. First, remove the tough stalks on the bottom, then cut pieces off the center ribs. Then roll leaves up and roughly chop. Repeat until all the kale is relatively the same size (so it cooks evenly.)

2. In small COLD pan, add sliced garlic to olive oil and turn on heat to medium/low. Let the garlic flavors slowly infuse into the oil over a low temperature and then remove garlic cloves once they start to bubble and turn slightly brown. Let oil cool down and reserve.

3. In large skillet or decent sized cooking vessel, cook bacon over medium/low heat until crispy, approx 8 minutes. Remove bacon lardons from skillet, leaving only about 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the pan.

4. Deglaze pan by throwing in a shot of red wine vinegar if you like. Be sure to scrape up all the drippings from the bottom.

4. Add chopped kale and cook until bright green (approx 1 minute), tossing with tongs as you go.

5. Add garlic oil to the pan and toss again.

6. Add water or chicken stock to pan and simmer until kale is tender and less aggressive, approx 8 minutes or so. You can add red pepper flakes here if you want.

7. Add crispy bacon lardons and toss again.  Check for seasoning and you are DONEZO!

Fork The World!

Elliot