Escarole. One Largely Unknown Leafy Green

Please forgive my tardiness.  A couple weeks ago I posted about my discovery of flat-iron steaks and mentioned that I served it with baked potatoes and Sicilian style escarole.  I promised to post the recipe for the escarole and just realized I have not made good on that promise.  

The tricky part is this:  since I'm so tardy in letting you all know how I made this dish, I find myself sitting here with my laptop wondering, "hmmmm, where did I find that recipe?"  I consulted my cookbook, Leafy Greens, sure that that is where I'd find it.  Big fat NOPE.  To quote Astro, "rut ro!" In total disbelief, I actually thumbed through the book just to be sure it wasn't really in there. Then, it dawned on me.  One of my new favorite websites (and their cookbooks rock too) is AllRecipes. Lo and behold, that's where the recipe resides.  So, without further ado, here it is.

There's no photo posted, so here is how mine actually looked:

I never had escarole as a kid!

 Much to my chagrin, I didn't have Kalamatas in the pantry, so I just used plain ol' black olives.  The dish was delicious, but I know that using the imported olives next time will definitely make a nice difference.  If you are like me and didn't grow up with escarole on the family table, look for it in your market.  It's becoming more prevalent in our groceries.  I think most people look at it and think it's some other form of lettuce, but it's so much more.  If this recipe doesn't do it for you, just saute it with olive oil and a little garlic.  It's a nice, tasty change of pace and it's really good for you. 

Kiddies and Kale

Last night just felt right for an old-fashioned 'steak dinner' at home.  Nothing real elaborate; I broiled steaks then I topped them with mini crab cakes and bearnaise sauce, smashed potatoes and kale.  If you'll indulge me, I want to take this meal piece by piece and then, maybe just then, I'll actually get to the point.

A steak with bearnaise on it is simply my idea of Heaven. If I were on Death Row, my last meal could be anything as long as it has bearnaise on it.  Hell, I'm not that picky...I could eat it with a spoon.  To me, bearnaise is the queen of sauces; it's buttery, full of tarragon, smooth and it just looks pretty.  Steak and bearnaise is a match made in Heaven alright, but wait, add crab to the party and look out!  Here in the South, we catch, clean, cook and cherish our blue crabs.  When you've spent hours and hours over the course of 42 years killin', pickin' and cookin' with crab, you're entitled to that righteous indignation that we have when we see crab cakes on a menu for $18.00.  I can make them for less and they'll taste a whole lot better too!  Ok, back on point...sorry!

What?? We're having mashed potatoes!  Sign me up!

Next, Neil is a potato lover.  Please don't misunderstand-he's NOT one of those guys who only eats potatoes or requires potatoes at every meal. But, he just appreciates a good potato from time to time. One thing I really can't stand on today's menus is the term "smashed" potatoes.  It's overdone, no longer trendy and generally just sounds silly to me.  But, that is in fact what I did to these potatoes.  Cooked some red-skins, smashed them up with some milk, sour cream and butter and viola!  They really did turn out yummy.

One thing I know about myself is that I must have something green on every plate. It's some sort of inherent rule implanted in my psyche.  All plates must have a green vegetable; likewise, there shouldn't be two greens, unless they are vastly different in shape, consistency, starchiness, etc.  You get the picture.  So, I had a bag of kale on hand.  I sauteed some bacon then garlic.  Threw in the kale and wilted it.  Then I added about a cup of water and let it simmer to get the kale nice and tender.

Now, here's the whole point of my story...breathe, breathe, here it comes.

My four-year-old wunderkind Vivian LOVED the kale!  I fibbed just a little at first.  She already likes collards (I know, right?) so I just called the kale collards and she was in.  She liked them so much that at one point, Neil pretended that he was going to eat hers right off her plate.  This caused her to push his arm away and instruct him to "get his own."  

Oh, I am a proud mama today!  I feel quite accomplished actually.  Yes, it is I.  The one who can make children eat dark, leafy greens.  I can even make them defend their greens with vigor and conviction.  No applause necessary.