Kale Chermouola

Empire Building

Well howdy and welcome to my new home! I am so so excited you (and I) are here. I have been thinking about and plotting and building this space for almost a year, but I was just a little stuck (and cooking, I was doing a lot of cooking too.) Things are a bit different than they were when I was "regularly" blogging last, but I hope to get back to it much more often. I love it. It's a different kind of creativity than cooking and it also forces me to cook for myself sometimes, instead of just for clients, which I forget to do when I am busy. For anyone new to this space, I hope it conveys how much I love to cook for other people, and I hope you love the blog as much as I do. For those I have neglected, I am so glad to see you again. Welcome back! 

And now, on to our regularly scheduled programming...

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Honey Harissa Wings

​I am sitting here, watching Parks & Rec (always and forever watching P&R, anytime, anywhere) trying, trying to write something worthy of more than a year away from here, and I am coming up short. So instead of anything wildly profound or exceptionally witty, and instead of a laundry list of all of the things I have been doing instead of blogging, I will just get right to the recipes, and hope that the more I type, the more I have to type.
 
The first picture of Kale Chermoula in my computer photo files is from August 18th of last year. Based on that data point alone, you won’t believe that I have been really very excited to tell you about this, but indeed, I have. I use this ALL the time. I have, for the most part, had a jar of this in my fridge since that fateful day in August, and I have piled it on top of everything from chicken to octopus with stupendous results. It tastes green and fresh and it has depth and heat and it feels virtuous even though it is something like 50% olive oil. It’s part condiment, part sauce and part side dish and I just love it so much.

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Harissa Octopus with Grilled Pineapple

I'm not kidding when I say it is great with everything. I particularly love it with harissa, and it is also really wonderful with honey, which really complements the herby freshness of the chermoula. It can be a marinade for shrimp or fish on the grill, tossed with pasta like basil pesto, or used to make a weeknight roasted chicken or plain scrambled eggs feel just a little more exciting. 

Leftover Chicken Sandwich, Tomatoes, Feta, Avocado, Kale Chermoula

Kale Chermoula might just be your new best friend. At the very least, you are going to want to invite it to dinner several times a week. Just make it, trust me. After all this time away, would I come back and steer you wrong?

So many things…
 

1. What I am listening to: Hamilton (ALL DAY, EVERY DAY AND MORE IF I CAN – great for running, great for driving, great for belting out maniacally in your own home.) Lemonade (Obviously. There was a time when it was exclusively Lemonade and Hamilton taking turns.) Dixie Chicks (saw them in concert with the girls a couple months ago and they are so so great, I had forgotten how great they are.) PODCASTS. I am pretty new to podcasts, but right now I am big on The West Wing Weekly (new and delightful for West Wing nerds like me) and Call Your Girlfriend. (It’s great, it makes me think of my besties and how much I miss them all the time.)
2. What I am reading: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, and my back issues of Lucky Peach.
3. What I am watching: Just finished my annual(??!!??) rewatching of The West Wing, intermittently throwing 30 Rock and Parks & Rec in there while cooking. (I KNOW there are so many good things on my list to watch and I can’t wait, but sometimes the commitment seems terrifying. My cousin recently said that I am always like 8 years behind pop culture, tv specifically, and I was going to protest but she is absolutely not wrong. I still haven’t seen the last season of Mad Men or the first season of House of Cards.)
4. I won a Vitamix at the Cherry Bombe Jubilee in April and oh man it was the best day ever. That machine really is something. I am amassing quite the collection of kitchen equipment. If the robots ever become sentient and rise up, I am toast.
5. I have discovered Bob's Burgers and it is amazing. I am not sure which character is my favorite, I just love them all so much.
6. I am training for another half marathon. It's going...about as you'd expect, which is just barely.

Kale Chermoula (makes about two cups)
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1 bunch red kale (12 oz or so) destemmed and coarsely torn
1 bunch parsley (4 oz or so) tough lower stems removed
1 bunch cilantro (4 oz or so) tough lower stems removed
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne
1 to 1 ¼ cup olive oil
 
Place kale, parsley, cilantro, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne in bowl of food processor and turn processor on. Run the processor until the ingredients are finely minced, stopping and scraping the bowl when necessary. Turn the processor back on and drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube until the mixture is a loose paste.

AND...because you have been SO patient...BONUS RECIPE!!!

Harissa Honey Wings with Kale Chermoula (makes two dozen)

12 chicken wings, tips removed and drumettes and flats separated (or buy 24 flats and drumettes)
1/2 cup harissa (my recipe of choice)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tbl honey
salt to taste
6 tbl kale chermoula
2 tbl olive oil

First, prepare your wings the way you like, by roasting, frying or some combination of the two. I really like the America's Test Kitchen crispy oven baked wings. Easy peasy and healthier than frying. I also don't ever get the super crispy results that I envision when I fry wings, so this technique is perfect and works like a dream. (America's Test Kitchen is a subscription, but if you don't have the subscription, you can google it, others have written it up!)

While the wings are cooking, mix together the chermoula and olive oil so the sauce is looser and can be drizzled on the wings.

Meanwhile, mix the harissa, butter and honey in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking as the butter melts to combine the ingredients. When the sauce is hot and combined and the wings are cooked, toss the harissa mixture and wings in a large bowl until the wings are well coated.

Place the wings on a plate and drizzle the chermoula over the top. These are SO GOOD, and if possible are just as good leftover and cold the next day.