Boerenkool met worst (Kale with sausage)

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Well, I had planned on making a nice writeup about this, but alas between work and home life I don't have the time to put into it right now, so I'll just put the basics up now and hopefully I can flesh it out later as time allows.

This dish is a Dutch staple in wintertime and belongs in a whole class of dishes called Stamppot. The Dutch people are rather fond of mixing mashed potatoes with just about anything, and that is the basis of stamppot. In this classic dish, potatoes are mixed with kale and sausage for an easy, yet filling dinner.

Boerenkool literally means farmer's cabbage, and is the Dutch name for what we call kale. There is a Dutch saying "een nacht vorst overheen is gegaan" that loosely means "after a night's frost on the field" and refers to the kale tasting better after a night of frost, because the cold weather causes more sugars to form in the leaves. Therefore, kale is harvested in the fall after the first frost, and is a very common dinner this time of the year. 

While a quick search of the internet will turn up a variety of recipes for this, you'll see they are all similar, yet different at the same time. That is because there is not one right way to make it, and everyone makes it differently. In fact I don't even really have a recipe per se, but a general guidelines which I'll outline below.

First, the major players in the game, Kale, potatoes and sausage.

Most of the time I'd use one bunch of kale per two people, more or less. I used two last night and it made about 3 servings worth. It may seem like a lot of kale, but it cooks down pretty good. For the potatoes, I'd use two large baking potatoes per bunch of kale, but I didn't have any large ones on hand, only small and medium, so I used 6 of those and it came out a little light on the potatoes, so more would have been better and would have probably made enough for four people.  For the sausage, any sausage would work. In Holland it'd typically be a rookworst which is a type of smoked sausage, but in reality anything will work. I used smoked kielbasa last night. My mom would also make this with pork chops, and dice the cooked pork up and mix it in, so the options are really endless here.

The first step is to peel and quarter the potatoes, then place them in a large pot just barely covered with water. You'll need a large pot to hold the seemingly endless amount of kale.

Next, wash the kale really well. Those curly leaves are great places for bugs, stones and other junk to hide out. Then remove the tough stems and either cut or tear the leaves into small pieces. Add the kale to the pot on top of the potatoes, you may need to squeeze it down to get it all to fit. Then add your cooked sausage (or other meat) on top of that so it can warm up.

Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat and boil, covered, for about 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are done. Remove the sausage and drain off any remaining water, but if you want you can reserve a little bit to use in place of the milk. Now, mash the potatoes and kale together, then add a couple tablespoons of butter and about 1/3 cup of warm milk (or the reserved liquid) and stir to a smooth consistency. Add more milk/liquid if needed, but not too much. I was a little heavy with the milk last night and it came out a bit runny as you'll see below. Add salt and pepper to taste, and if you like (I do) a couple tablespoons of vinegar as well. Not everyone likes the vinegar, but I like the acidy tang it provides. Slice the sausage and mix in, or serve it on the side, your preference. 