That would be the kale chips. I'm glad I made these while the kids were at school. I am certain they wouldn't have ventured near them otherwise. The smell of these during cooking was...not inviting!
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| Photo from Tastefully Julie. My photo was nowhere near as nice as this one. |
I have seen kale chip recipes around for a long time. Acquaintances have spoken of them. I have walked past bunches of kale at my fruit and veg shop. Yet it is only today that I thought I would try to make some. It's a great day to be trying something new. The floor needs vacuuming (and mopping), there is laundry to be done (well, there is always laundry to be done), dinner is half a quarter made (fried rice made from the leftover rice from last night's dinner. It's the plan of what to make for dinner that is most important. Plus, I made some jelly. Jelly makes whatever I cook for dinner a "good dinner Mum".), not to mention everything else on my daily list that I'm not going to take the time to mention. You know what it's like.
So, a quick Google session for kale chip recipes and I'm off! I should probably mention that I went to my fruit and veg shop this morning and bought a bunch of kale. I finally acted on my kale curiosity.
I'll let you know how the chips turned out at the end of this post. In the meantime, whether they turned out or not, this is what I did.
Preheat oven to 140 degrees Celcius (fan forced. This is 300 F). Wash the kale.
Strip off the curly bits - kale is extremely curly - and tear them into large sections. Place in a salad spinner and whizz the kale around until it is dry.
Put about a tablespoon (you know, a decent 'blop') of extra virgin olive oil in a mixing bowl with some salt.
Put the dry kale bits into the olive oil and salt mix. Toss until the kale looks coated.
Spread out onto a lined baking tray and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let the chips cool on the tray for 5 minutes before eating.
How did they turn out? Beautifully! Light and crispy (almost paper - the texture reminds me of toasted nori), without a hint of the boiled-cabbage-wrinkle-up-your-nose-smell that was present during the cooking process (although I clearly didn't air the house out enough before the kids came home from school. As soon as they stepped inside they asked me what I had been cooking to produce such an awful smell.).
My top tips: Use your extractor fan and go easy on the salt (I used a bit too much; a generous pinch per tray is plenty. Or none at all.).
Did the kids like it? One out of four gave it the thumbs up. But in fairness to the kale, I used too much salt. Next time I'll leave out the salt entirely.
Well, now that I have conquered the cooking of kale, perhaps I should try growing it?
Kale is the easiest thing to grow, before you know it it's leafing up everywhere. Lucky the chips are so yummy!
ReplyDeleteMy sister makes kale chips a lot. I have yet to try it myself, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed eating the chips They are so good for you. I think my sister adds a little red pepper to hers. From Rachael's comment I may have to try it in my garden this year. Janita
ReplyDeleteHello again Jeneta , I just talked to my sister about the kale. Do you by any chance have a food Dehydrator? She said the best way to do kale chips in order to not kill the enzymes is to use a temp of 115 or less in a food dehydrator . She said it takes about 1 night. Spices she uses 1 tsp cumin, 1tsp thyme, 1 tablespoon basil, dash of red pepper 2 tsp. olive oil. and sea salt. The key is to taste before you dehydrate. She said It must taste good before you dehydrate . Good luck with the next batch. Janita
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