Curly kale with pork loin and duo of sausages
Dennis lives in a super sleek bachelor pad in Friedrichshain. He moved here with his Eames chairs and his beloved SMEG fridge. It certainly is the shiny red heart of his kitchen. Dennis loves getting his fruit & vegetables at nearby Boxhagener Platz market on Saturdays. But the truth is, he returns from the clubs so late most weekends, that the last thing on his mind are apples and tomatoes.
I am cooking the perfect winter dish. It's my Mum's recipe and I have always loved it. I had to change it a bit as I can't get the right sausages here in Berlin. In Lüneburg/Hamburg we use Bregenwurst. But a coarse smoked sausage is just as good. Grünkohl (curly kale) is cooked in kitchens and restaurants across Germany in Autumn/Winter. It's only really available after the first frost, which is the perfect time for me and my friends to meet at mine for a bit of PlayStation, a few beers and a home-cooked dinner. If I make it to the market in time, that is.
1 kg curly kale, 500g potatoes, 1 - 2 large onions, 3 large TSPs of ghee, 500g smoked pork loin, 2 smoked air dried sausages, 2 fat pork sausages, a 2cm thick piece of streaky bacon or Speck (for seasoning), salt, pepper, a little sugar
Thoroughly wash your kale and cut of all the leaves from the stem and stalks, so you are just left with the soft parts. Chop your onions. Heat the ghee in a large (5-6 litre)pot. Add your cut kale and onions. Cook for a few minutes until the kale has softened and the onions are getting transparent. Be careful not to burn it. Add half a cup of water. Then add the pork loin and the uncut bacon, put the lid on your pot and cook for 1,5 hours on a medium heat.
At half time, add another half cup of water, a little salt, pepper and a little sugar to taste. After about an hour add the sausages, covering them with some of the kale. Put your lid back onto the pot and cook for the last 20 minutes. In the meantime, skin your potatoes and boil in a little salt water until tender. Put some beers to chill.
Now that your whole kitchen is filled with the homely (maybe not most attractive) smell of kale, start to plate up your potatoes, one sausage of each kind and a piece of loin together with your now buttery soft kale.
Get your beers and enjoy!
Your German lesson: 'Grünkohl mit Kassler, zweierlei Würsten und gekochten Kartoffeln'