I Might Adjust And A Meal From My Birth Home

I have been wondering about what’s going on with me. I mean it’s not scary or anything, it’s just not what I expected. After spending the winters in a beautiful warm environment, I am home this year. And today we had the first snow on the ground. And haven’t I been bitching about the cold? Haven’t I been bitching about the relentless wind?  And all of a sudden there is this feeling of cozy comfort, of belonging, of being “home”. Splitting wood this morning And I have been thinking about where that came from. My conclusion so far is that all of a sudden I felt so much reminded of winters long gone, winters of my past. Winters in Norway, buried in snow to the hilt, but also winters at the coast of northern Germany, where I grew up. Winters when we undertook long walks along the beach of the Baltic Sea. But it isn’t just the winters. There is more to it. More, like Christmas. Christmas with nice decorations, with cold and dark nights. Yes, Christmas with good food, with afternoon coffee and cookies, and Mother playing the Grand Piano or later her electronic organ. But also days when family members came visiting.   All this came up to the surface in a matter of a few days. We are invited for great meals, our friends become our family we dive into their nice homes and there is this great feel of being welcome. And during the days I split firewood. I stoke an oven and then sit to enjoy the wonderful heat. And today all this resulted in me preparing a meal which we always enjoyed during the winter in Schleswig-Holstein. It’s kale with caramelized potatoes and smoked pork chops. Smoked Farmers sausage is good as well. Kale was never available in Norway. But here we get it almost everywhere. If you are curious, here’s the easy description on how to make it.   Take kale and chop it with a big knife. Raw Kale has a huge volume, but once it is cooked it appears to be a lot less. so, make sure you have enough. Kale is a cheap vegetable. So are potatoes. Ideally you should be buying small round baby potatoes, but more often than not you can’t get them. Then you have to make do with regular potatoes. You cook the peeled potatoes cautiously. Make sure you have a sort fit for potato salad. The cooked potatoes should cool off. In fact you can make them a day earlier and keep them in the fridge. Cook the kale with a bit of water so it doesn’t burn the pot and generous amounts of bacon. Also add a chopped up onion. The smoked pork chops and/or Farmers sausage are placed on top of the kale.  Ad salt and a bit of sugar. Let that simmer for at least 40 minutes. As long as you have juice in the bottom of the pot it can continue simmering. It will just get better. The greatest meal in the world If you have used regular potatoes they should be cut (after cooling!) into small pieces like in the above picture. While the kale is cooking you take a large pan and cover the bottom of the pan with sugar, then add margarine or butter. Let this heat up. When sugar is melting you add the cut or small round potatoes. In order to caramelize them all over you need to turn them over again and again. And here is the reason why round potatoes are easier to get fully caramelized: They can be rolled around in the pan. The potatoes should now turn golden and get a thin crust of sugar. If that is not happening you need to add more sugar. When the potatoes are done you can scoop up the meat and the kale and enjoy one of the greatest dishes in the world. In my home place we have a shot of clear brandy, like a Scandinavian Aquavit (Good brands are: Loiten, Linje, Aalborg) and a nice beer with the meal. I was just getting hungry again by writing this! Hope you all had a wonderful 1. of Advent

blogger Tags: 1.Adventure, Christmas Lights, Kale, Gruenkohl, Winter, Campobello Island, Canada, Aalborg, Loiten, Linje Akvavit