Recipe Review from 10/3/11

What a week!  Our kitchen faucet sprung a leak right around the base of the water faucet itself, and unfortunately the attempt to fix it made the problem worse (never did figure out why it was leaking).  We had water dripping all over the sink and running underneath.  Oy.  So. Out with the old - which wasn't all that old - and in with the new!  That took up two evenings - one to pick out a new faucet and one to replace it.   Just what I want to be doing when we are having absolutely GORGEOUS fall weather.  Temps in the high 60's, sunny, almost no bugs. 

In other news we finally went to a Minnesota Vikings game!  Through a military connection of the Husband's, we hooked up with a group of folks for a little tailgating, a little football, and a fair bit of driving.  Still, in all the decades I've lived in MN I've never been to an NFL game.  MN Twins.  U of MN Gopher football, hockey, basketball and baseball.  U of Duluth Bulldog hockey and football.  MN North Stars then the MN Wild.  But no football.   Was an absolute blast!  Sorry, no pics, as usual, I forgot the camera...

Meals were unremarkable last week.  A Summer Squash Soup with Bacon and Blue cheese that I've made many times before was lunches.  A Leek and Potato Soup that we've also made before was supper and lunch toward the end of the week.  Grilled cheese the night we had the sink tore apart (I could get at the stove, just couldn't clean anything up).  However, one remarkable dish stands out:

Colcannon (Victory Garden Cookbook)
Can we say OUTSTANDING!?!  OMGoodness!  Just put the bowl in front of me and stand back!  A bit dish intensive to make (one pot for potatoes, one pot to blanch the kale, one pot to saute the leeks, one pot to caramelize the onions), but worth it.  The directions below are what we ended up doing, so some of this is from memory.  But it's not like you can goof this dish up.  I wish I had taken a picture, but I ate it too fast!  Oh, we served this with a slow-cooked pork shoulder. 

1/2 lb kale, trimmed and washed (definitely wash your kale!)
1 lb potatoes, preferably yukon golds
1 cup leeks, white part only, thinly sliced.
6 tbsp butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped

Wash, quarter and cook the potatoes.  Hand mash Set aside.  (We like our potatoes with skin on and 'chunky'-mashed)

Melt 3 tbsp butter in a small saute pan, add onion and saute until nicely browned and intensely caramelized, stirring frequently. Don't let butter or onions burn.  This may take about 15-20 minutes depending on your stove (mine's gas).

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, blanch the kale (submerge for 3-5 minutes in boiling water, then remove and run under cool water).  Drain well, squeezing any extra water out.  Kale should not be limp-limp but still maintain some structure. Coarsely chop and set aside.

In a large saute pan, melt 3 tbsp butter and saute leeks.  Add kale and saute until last of water is cooked off.  Add to mashed potatoes and stir to combine.  Put in a a large serving bowl, make a well and put caramelized onions in center.