Comments on: Dark Days: Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup

By: mary w

mary w — Sun, 22 May 2011 20:13:37 +0000

I know this comment is very late (I just found you blog). I try to eat out of my garden and I don’t grow celery. I substitute swiss chard stems in both cooked and raw recipes. Chard stems add great color to raw dishes although the color fades when cooked. I grows year round in my garden and I think grows in winter even in colder areas.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:27:28 +0000

I made this today and it is AWESOME!! I’ve never had kale before and now I love it! And it was the first time I ever used a pressure cooker. Lots of firsts for me today. Thanks for this recipe. I even shared half my batch with a friend so the recipe definitely stretches!

By: Heather @ (The Single Dish)

Heather @ (The Single Dish) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:33:53 +0000

I made the same soup, well a little different! But it was excellent. I also didn’t chop the fresh kale into small enough pieces…I also like your addition of carrots. Looks yummy.

By: Kiki

Kiki — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:07:16 +0000

You should try kale the Dutch way – in a ‘stamppot’ (literally ‘mashed pot’). Peel and cut up about 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes in a normal amount of salted water, with a pound of chopped kale on top, for 25-30 minutes (the kale shouldn’t be immersed, it will sort of steam on top of the potatoes, but make sure the potatoes don’t dry out). The kale will be tender and have lost a lot of its fluffiness. Drain very well and mash them together; add any cream, milk, butter, and salt you want, and stir in half a pound of chopped cooked bacon. You can serve it with smoked sausage if you like, but it makes a hearty meal on its own as well. It’s one of the best winter dishes.

By: Marisa

Marisa — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:04:55 +0000

All I can say is that I think everyone should get a pressure cooker. They are miraculous things (and far cheaper than much cookware).

Elle, Dark Days is a challenge that is put on and hosted by Laura of (Not So) Urban Hennery. The goal is to create at least one completely local meal during the winter months (aka the “dark days”), to show that it is possible to source food locally, even when the farmers markets are bursting with tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers.

By: Elle Ross

Elle Ross — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:41:28 +0000

what is dark days? i keep seeing it everywhere..

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:13:24 +0000

Margo:Read recently of a storage method where a trench is dug behind the rooted plant(this was for a fig in a cold climate), the plant is gently bent down, still rooted, into the trench, and then heavily mulched for protection from the cold. This could be what your farmer is doing. Very labor intensive. Buy his celery! Keep him encouraged!

By: threadbndr

threadbndr — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:28:43 +0000

I just bought my DIL a pressure cooker/canner for Christmas. Now *I* want one, too.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:02:03 +0000

As you know, the title had me, but this post has set the hook! The post also reminds me I need to buy a pressure cooker too! In honor of Scott, I will keep the “proper” amount of sausage and wow, compared to my feeble efforts, you are the champion of clean kale stems! I leave to much waste.

By: Margo

Margo — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:35:24 +0000

So I asked my market farmer why he has celery now. He said he has it in trenches with several special protective layers on top – I’m not sure if that means it’s growing or just being stored there. He also said that bigger farmers wouldn’t fiddle with something like this. I’m so glad HE’S doing it!