Reinventing traditions

When I was growing up, our holiday celebrations followed a familiar pattern. Big Christmas Eve celebration with Scandinavian accents, Christmas stockings and cinnamon rolls Christmas morning, and an early Christmas dinner. New Year's Eve celebrations varied, but the most memorable were those spent around my grandparents' kitchen table, covered in newspaper, and piled high with Dungeness crab.

As an adult, the holiday celebrations have been much more varied. Christmas Eve became a quieter affair that featured Grünkohl, marzipan, and tapioca pudding with no ham, lefse, or krumkake in sight. Some years, Christmas brunch was the big gathering. 

New Year's Eve generally involved a collection of friends, and, occasionally, competitive cooking. And there were a number of years mom & I opted to head to Palm Springs for the holidays. (After one too many trips home to Seattle that involved snow.)

This year,  mom and I celebrated Christmas early (because, snow), and I was able to spend Christmas Eve with friends. Today, as a cousin put it, I am celebrating the Second Annual Shelter-in-Place New Years Eve with Pepita. 

While others were busy prepping their black-eyed (or yellow-eyed!) peas, I opted to make the dish that for many years was synonymous with Christmas Eve: Grünkohl. For brunch. With Champagne. I think this just might be the start of a new tradition. 

Smoked brats

With the demise of Saag's, it's been hard to find good smoked bratwurst. I was happy to come across these from Bavarian Meats at Town & Country the other day. 

They have a good texture and flavor. My only gripe is that the casings are a bit tough. 

The upside of that is that there's no reason not to cook them with the kale for the entire time. 

Before kale was trendy, there was Grünkohl

And, by some accounts, Black-eyed peas and Collard greens are a mash-up of European and African food traditions. Regardless, slow-cooking tough greens from the cabbage family with pork fat has a long history. There were no black-eyed peas harmed in the making of this dish...just a small handful of steel cut oats.

Traditionally, it's served with boiled potatoes. I even bought a potato. But, I was totally happy just eating the kale & bratwurst. Pepita was content with a few bits of bratwurst and the "likker". 

This probably isn't how Traute made it

I've prepped for this dish many more times than I've attempted to cook it. I had to iterate a bit to get the texture I wanted. Extrapolating from that, this is what I would do the next time.

Ingredients

3 bunches kale, destemmed (tear the leaves off)

1/2 large onion, diced

1lb smoked bratwurst (4)

2 slices bacon, diced

Small handful steel cut oats

Olive oil

Amontillado sherry

Crystal sauce

Salt

Water

Process

1. Heat some olive oil in a large pot & saute the kale. Add a bit at a time & toss with tongs as it shrinks. Put the lid on & remove from the heat. 
2. Set the Instant Pot to Saute, or heat a pressure cooker on the stove.
3. Add a bit of oil & saute the bacon.
4. Add the onion, stirring until you get some browning.
5. Add a splash of sherry.
6. Mix in the kale and add a bit of salt. 
7. Add the oats.
8. Add water to cover.
9. Hit it with a couple dashes of Crystal sauce.
10. Add the brats.
11. Pressure cook for ~10 minutes. 
12. Let sit for ~10 minutes then release any remaining pressure manually.
13. Turn the heat on & reduce to desired consistency.
14. Season to taste.