It was kismet that led me to exploring both a Creamed Kale or Creamed Cabbage Recipe.

While I was in Cleveland at the beginning of December, one of my colleagues at lunch mentioned how he loves the Vitamix his wife brought, and how they’ve been able to make soup out of anything and everything. He then noted though that just as all these nice ingredients go in, his wife then “ruins” it by making it a green monster by adding kale.

Other trivia he bestowed included that you should massage kale to make it less tough, and before kale became a trendy superfood the #1 use/purchaser of kale was apparently Pizza Hut, which used it to decorate its buffet and then would toss it out!

This made me want to do something with kale besides my usual saute or eating them as kale chips, and I recalled this recipe I had bookmarked for Oui Chef’s Creamed Kale Gratin. The author of this creamed kale recipe was inspired by a creamed kale at one of Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain restaurants. My vegetables are usually in sauteed or roasted form, and I had actively been avoiding a creamed vegetable recipe as I browsed Thanksgiving veggie sides. But this recipe caught my eye anyway, and though it didn’t make the Thanksgiving cut, I couldn’t forget the intriguing possibility.

I see kale looking to come home with me at the Farmers Market every visit, and imagined it would love to snuggle up with a bit of cream and be indulgent once in a while despite its healthy reputation. I sensed it wanted to be a rebellious bad boy for once.

Yes, I totally put human characteristics in inanimate objects, though I have to cut it off because if I lived in a Pixar world where lamps, umbrellas, and pipes had feelings I’d never be able to throw anything away.

My thoughts were further reinforced by the fact that while traveling on the plane I have been reading Orangette‘s aka Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life and she has a chapter in which she also writes about cream, though the recipe she provides is with Cream Braised Green Cabbage.  Mmmm that sounds good too.

And I’ve seen forlorn cabbage in their haphazard piles on those folding tables at the Farmers Market too, hoping to also be tucked into my reusable bag. And it is so easy to imagine hopeful faces on those round orphan heads, hoping for a good home. Damn.

Well… the temperatures were cold for a few weeks in early December- below freezing! A creamed vegetable dish, perhaps served on rice, fits right in with comfort food. Maybe even TWO creamed vegetable dishes, and then see which one we like better, and it could serve as a meal for both Saturday and Sunday. After all, both these recipes yield 4-6 servings. Hmmm…

And, I even had almost exactly 1 2/3 cup of cream in the fridge leftover from Thanksgiving when I made the Pumpkin Mac and Cheese, still waiting to be utilized (I subscribe to the use every little bit of food philosophy a la An Everlasting Meal). The Creamed Kale recipe used 1 cup. The Creamed Cabbage used  2/3 cup. Yes, it was a bunch of cream, but with these great vegetables and over multiple meals on two days… I only needed kale and cabbage. It seemed like I had to follow where fate was telling me to go.

Creamed Kale

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches Kale, washed, dried, stemmed and cut into ribbons. I wash my kale by dunking it and leaving it in a bowl of water a few times until the water isn’t dirty anymore.
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Fill a large mixing bowl with ice water and set it aside. Boil a large pot full of salted water over high heat. Add the kale ribbons to the boiling water and blanch until slightly tender, about 3-4 minutes. Scoop the kale from the water and toss it into the ice bath to stop it cooking and set its color. Drain the kale and squeeze any excess water out of the kale (or you can use a spinner if you have it- I used it to help justify to F why I made him get one for me) and set it aside. I don’t know about you, but after the prep of cutting all that kale, seeing it blossom into that beautiful green always makes me happy.
   
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the minced onion, cook until translucent. Or in my case, since I know F is not a fan of onion, I do what I usually do- cook it much longer until it really browns and caramelizes. This does have the side effect, in this particular case, of making the dish look more brown than white. If you want the white creamy sauce look, stick with translucent.
3. In the skillet, Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook another 2 minutes. Add the kale and the cream and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cream thickens to a sauce consistency, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. If you want it to be smoother after it cools you can put it in a food processor, but I served it as is.

This would be so great in making yourself a steak dinner at home, just pour yourself a nice glass of red wine and you’re set! Or, as I mentioned, I actually served mine with jasmine rice. Jasmine rice is a staple because of my Thai background. I can’t imagine not having rice in the house. As I mentioned, this dish will look more white if you don’t brown the onions as much as I did!

Cream Braised Green Cabbage

This recipe calls for a small cabbage, as Molly notes small ones are often sweeter and more tender than their big-headed siblings. You can certainly use any size you want, as long as you make sure each wedge is no thicker than 2 inches at its outer edge, and only use as many wedges as fit into a single layer in the pan, so the cabbage cooks properly. I walked around the whole Farmers Market trying to find the smallest one and only found a medium one, so that left me a wedge after I filled the pan for a future wedge salad. Molly also notes that you can try this recipe on halved or quartered Brussels sprouts.

Ingredients:

• 1 small green cabbage (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Prepare the cabbage by pulling out any bruised leaves, and trim its root end to remove any dirt. Cut the cabbage into quarters, and then cut each quarter in half lengthwise. When you cut, make sure you keep a little bit of the core in each wedge to hold the wedge intact so that it doesn’t fall apart in the pan. You should wind up with 8 wedges of equal size. Again, make sure that each wedge is no thicker than 2 inches at its outer edge. You will only use as many wedges as fit into a single layer in the pan so the cabbage cooks properly.
2. In a large (12-inch) skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage wedges, arranging them in a single crowded layer with one of the cut sides down. Allow them to cook, undisturbed, until the downward facing side is nicely browned (the more brown the more sweetly caramelized), 5 to 8 minutes or to your liking of brownness . Then, using a pair tongs (I used tongs and a spatula), turn the wedges onto their other cut side to brown.
   
3. When the second side has browned, sprinkle the salt over the wedges, and add the cream. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, and reduce the heat so that the liquid stays at a slow, gentle simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, then using tongs, flip the wedges. Cook another 20 minutes, or until the cabbage is very tender and yields easily when pierced with a thin, sharp knife.
   
4. Add the lemon juice, and shake the pan to distribute it evenly. Simmer, uncovered, for a few more minutes more to thicken the cream to a glaze that loosely coats the cabbage. Serve immediately. Molly recommends serving with salt at the table, but F is not a huge fan of salt so we went with lots of cracked pepper instead.
   

I have to admit visually, the Creamed Cabbage perhaps isn’t quite as pretty as the Creamed Kale. However, F said he liked the Creamed Cabbage the most of the two- its flavor is more subtle, sweet and nutty. I did like the kale a lot though, it had just the slightest hint of a bit of spiciness from the red pepper as an undercurrent to the sweetness of the caramelized onions and the backbone of the kale- it was more rich than I had ever experienced kale. The Creamed Cabbage was so easy to do though- not much prep, and easy to manage as a side dish while multi-tasking other dishes in your kitchen.

Both of these winter vegetable recipes take advantage of the season so you can enjoy the freshness while also taking comfort in them. I know creamed vegetables are not the healthiest way to get your vegetables, but when it’s below freezing, I think you can give yourself a treat- and make it a vegetable too.

You know there is still a Portland Farmers Market open now, don’t you? The one at PSU on Saturdays is on winter vacation just until March (and then will be back on all Saturdays), but the one at Shemanski Park  at SW Park Ave & SW Salmon St, just a few blocks north on the South Park Blocks, is open January and February 10-2 on Saturdays to fill that gap.

Furthermore, starting in February, you can also visit the Beaverton Farmers Market, which is open first and third Saturdays from 10:00 – 12:00.

It’s a smaller market than the ones at better weather, but seems like even more reason to come out and see these hardworking farmers standing in the cold, waiting for you.

Which is the winner for you- the Creamed Kale or Creamed Cabbage Recipe? What’s your favorite creamed vegetable dish?