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Cooking with Winter Greens

January 12, 2016 - Radio Kitchen - Cooking with Winter Greens

Last week we talked about making vegetable-based winter stews that could tempt and satisfy the most demanding palate.  This week we want to continue the theme and talk about how to use one of the few local ingredients still in production, and that would be winter greens.  And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School has learned, something amazing happens when these hardy vegetables get exposed to some really cold weather.  They get sweeter and more flavorful!

First of all, which leafy greens are we talking about?  For starters there are spinach, kale, and arugula.  But let's not stop there:  mustard greens, collards, even beet and turnip tops are all in the picture.  Two things about them:  they can all be used either raw or cooked, and they are highly nutritious.

Getting to know each green's characteristics is important.  Spinach is pleasantly bitter; the older it gets the tougher it is; you might want to remove the stems in older bunches; and it cooks way down in volume, so you need to use more than you might think.

Kale comes in several varieties, some being curly and tough, others being flat leafed and more tender.  It has a pleasant earthy flavor that can get bitter.  Curley kale doesn't shrink as much as spinach, but it will lose volume.

Arugula is famously bitter and peppery.  A little goes a long way, and it's often smart to blend it with milder or complementary flavors if you're serving it raw.  As good as it is in salads, it does well in cooked dishes.

Mustard greens do in fact taste mustardy, and depending on variety can be mild-ish to down right pungent.  They are pretty tender, so a quick blanching is all you need to get them ready for a cooked dish.

Collard greens area staple in the south, but are gaining popularity elsewhere.  Very similar to kale, the collard has a somewhat thick leaf and a tough stem.  After the first frost, collards always taste sweeter.  And if you want the best, pick the younger more tender bunches.

Beet greens in a way reflect the flavor of the beet itself.  Sweet and earthy, they are very tender and cook easily.  But only choose the freshest greenest examples, and use them up quickly.

But the question remains, how do you use these winter wonder greens?

There are many conventional recipes, including soups and salads, but here are a few more creative ideas.

With Pasta

Cut up your greens, and add them to your topping or sauce.  Toss in the pasta, stir well, and you've got a very nice dish that hints at "primavera".

Wrap 'em Up

Because many of the leaves in this family are big and broad, they are good for wrapping.  Trim the stem, blanch the leaves quickly to make them tender and pliable, then lay on the filling and seasoning and wrap them up.  Try this with some of the same Asian ingredients you would use for spring rolls.
 

Pesto Alternatives

Think of pesto and you think of basil, of course, a smaller leafy green.  Being so similar to our new friends, basil can step aside for say, arugula or mustard greens.  The basic flavors are close, but the variations make it an interesting idea.

Stir Fries

The quick cooking time of a stir fry means that you will preserve much of the spicy flavor of your greens.  Be sure to cut into smaller pieces, and go easy on the stems.  And many of the common stir fry sauces match up well with leafy greens.

Pack a Potato

Blanch and shred your greens quite finely.  Stir into the makings of a "twice baked potato" along with bacon and cheese, and you have transformed the dish.

Roll 'em Up

Using a tenderized flattened piece of chicken breast, pork loin or a skirt steak, prepare a stuffing of chopped up, blanched leafy greens, combined with all manner of other ingredients, like shallots, garlic, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes...you get the picture.  Roll up the meat, trice it up handsomely, roast, slice and serve.
 

Al Spoler, well known to WYPR listeners as the wine-loving co-host of "Cellar Notes" has had a long-standing parallel interest in cooking as well. Al has said, the moment he started getting serious about Sunday night dinners was the same moment he started getting serious about wine. Over the years, he has benefited greatly from being a member of the Cork and Fork Society of Baltimore, a gentlemen's dining club that serves black tie meals cooked by the members themselves who are some of Baltimore's most accomplished amateur cooks.
Executive Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Corks restaurant is fascinated by food and wine, and the way they work in harmony on the palate. His understanding of the two goes all the way to the molecular level, drawing on his advanced education in molecular biology. His cuisine is simple and surprising, pairing unexpected ingredients together to work with Corks' extensive wine offerings.