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Scotch Kale
Procure Scotch kale as fresh as possible, and cut away the outer and decayed leaves, and the stalks; wash with care, and drain it. Put it into boiling water slightly salted, and let it boil quickly until cooked; drain thoroughly and serve very hot. Whilst the kale is boiling, the saucepan should be left uncovered. Time to boil, twenty minutes.
A plain boiled-greens method from an era when vegetables were cooked until soft. The technique is sound; the timing is not.
- Cut the time hardTwenty minutes reduces kale to olive-drab mush and drives off most of its texture. Curly kale leaves need roughly 5 to 8 minutes in fast-boiling water; taste a piece at five and pull it while the ribs still have a slight bite.
- Why the lid stays offThe instruction is worth keeping. Kale releases sulphur compounds and acids as it cooks; trapping them under a lid dulls the green and sharpens the flavour. An open pan and a generous volume of water keep the colour.
- Scotch kaleThis means a curly kale; 'Scotch kale' was the name for the tightly ruffled, curled-leaf sorts. Tuscan kale or cavolo nero works too and stays darker.
- Stalks and ribsStripping the thick central rib from each leaf is the fastest way to even cooking. If you want to keep the tender upper stems, give them a two-minute head start before the leaves go in.
- Salt the water properly'Slightly salted' is too timid for greens. Salt the water until it tastes seasoned; kale absorbs very little of it and boils out bland otherwise.
- Drain and dressKale holds water in its ruffles. Drain in a colander, press lightly with the back of a spoon, then chop coarsely and toss with butter, black pepper and a little cider vinegar or lemon before it reaches the table.
- YieldA 250 g bunch of trimmed kale wilts to about two modest side portions. Buy roughly twice the volume you think you need.