Kale - Green, Purple, Black, Red Russian & Japanese Flower
Kale - Green, Purple, Black, Red Russian & Japanese Flower
8oz Bundles - To store wrap the leaves in a loose bundle with a paper towel or a thin cotton kitchen towel, place them in a large, sealable bag, and refrigerate in the crisper drawer for up to a week.
Our kale this year will be a mixture of Winterbor, Red Russian, Redbor, Japanese Flowering and Black Dino. This blend will offer you different textures, flavours, colours and a wide range of different nutrients. This is NOT your normal boring kale! Let’s dive a little into each kind.
To prep Kale for use, whether raw or cooked, first remove the tough and fibrous stems. A quick way to do it is to hold the stem in one hand and strip leaves along the stem away from you. A quick massage can help the process of breaking up the cellulose structure of Kale. You can drizzle it with olive oil, salt, and lemon juice, and rub the leaves together in your hands to get a slightly sweeter, much silkier Kale.
Winterbor; The standard Kale we usually find in the grocery store is pale to deep green with large, ruffle-edged leaves and long stems. In general, Kale offers an earthy flavour with a nutty sweetness that is accentuated when cooked. Kale leaves add an earthy flavour to raw salad green mixes, and fully mature Kale is one of the few leafy greens that doesn’t shrink much when it’s cooked. It’s great sautéed, roasted, stewed, and even baked into Kale chips. Kale is also often added raw to smoothies, juices, and salads.
Redbor; frilly, curled leaves that have deep purple stems and veins running throughout. It has a mild cabbage-like flavour and crisp texture. Its bright magenta colour is best retained if left raw, but should be finely shredded to mitigate its hardy texture. When cooked it becomes tender and nutty with a mild earthy sweetness. It does lose some of its intense pigmentation when cooked. The leaves may be steamed, braised, stewed, fried, sautéed, and even baked like a chip.
Red Russian; richly coloured burgundy stems and purple tinted leaves. They are flat and toothed like an oak leaf with an overall dark green colour and deep red veins. Red Russian kale offers a mild nutty flavour that is slightly sweet and earthy with a hearty texture.
Black Kale; blade-like shape, the leaves are narrower than most other varieties and have a thin tender stem. The chewy texture easily softens when cooked, and offers subtle green cabbage flavour that has a tangy bite with a sweet earthy finish. Often used as a salad green when young. The fully mature leaves are best when cooked, but require minimal cooking when compared to other kales. Try it steamed, braised, stewed, fried, sautéed, juiced and even baked like a chip.
Japanese Flowering; this delectable kale has dramatic ruffles, sublime flavour and dense nutrition. The bold fuchsia and cream-coloured leaves add a depth of sweetness and refinement, making it exceptionally gourmet. The culinary possibilities for such a vibrant and delectable vegetable are boundless. The plants are super frost hardy, and their colour and sweetness actually intensify as the weather gets colder! This is an antioxidant-rich plant that will dazzle in the garden and delight on the dinner plate.
Pairs well with;
Fruit & Vegetables; potatoes, shallots, onion, tomato, sweet potatoes, garlic, chilies,
Meat & Dairy; Smoked meats, roasted meats, cream, parmesan, roasted meats, cheddar cheese, chorizo sausage, pancetta, sausage and chicken
Others; bay leaf, oregano, thyme, caraway, red pepper flake, nutmeg, beans, barley, sesame, grains, soy sauce and ginger.
Recipes;
