To me , Boerekool is the best of all dutch ethnic recipes, its my all time favourite ! Here in NZ it is hard to obtain but luckily being a proffesional cook i can get it through the wholesalers in certain times of the year. Last time i ordered it they asked me what I planned to do with it as the farmer said it was not fit for human consumption , he only fed it to his goats ! :) I replied that in the Netherlands they feed pumpkins to the pigs or use them for decoration, not many people actually consume them. (kiwis eat a lot of pumpkin , i love it as well now) Anyway , wash the leaves , remove the stem or stalk and only use the nice green frilly bits. Chop them as fine as you can, a foodprocessor would come in handy.. Scroll down to continue...
After the kale is finely chopped , just cover it with water (add plenty of salt to retain color) and boil for 20 minutes.
Strain the boiling water from the Kale and discard water. Put potatoes in large pot and just cover with water.
Place the cooked Kale on top of the potatoes and continue a slow boil for another 25 minutes. As you can see we are slowly warming up the "Rookworst" (dutch smoked sausage) in some simmering water. In the big pan we have fried off onion and bacon pieces.
If the Rookworst is hot enough you can rest it on top of the Boerekool mixture. As you can see i've made a tasty dark gravy to go with this dish.
Here comes the masher ! Mash the Kale and potatoes together after you drain all excess water off.
In the mash you add butter , a little milk and seeded mustard. Also season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add onion and bacon pieces to Boerekool either mix through or sprinkle on top. Slice Rookworst.
The gravy MUST go in a 'pool' created by the ladel dipping into the mash , this is very important and enhances the experience ! dont forget! :) Serve mustard for the Rookworst and some pickled gherkins on the side. You are ready to eat !
This is Nolans first Boerekool ! Exciting !
And... YES !! He loves it !! Good lil dutch kiwi boy he is ! :)Have fun cooking everybody !
Will try this, it will really appeal to the men in my family! Enjoyed your nice easy style too.
ReplyDeletethanx , hope they like it , great to see my recipe being used !:)
ReplyDeletejasper
Doesn't get any better. Just had it tonight. Add chopped bacon into the mix to enhance the goodness!
ReplyDeleteDoes it REALLY need 50 mins cooking???? ...
ReplyDeletei guess you can cook it in a shorter time depending on the kind of potatoes you use. As soon as potatoes are cooked its pretty much done. dont forget to "steam off" after straining to prevent watery taste.
ReplyDeleteI do advise boiling the kale (by itself, before u add potatoes as in recipe) at least 15 to 20 minutes by itself to remove bitterness (discard water used) this time should not be shortened.
good luck, great to see my recipe being used!
any questions, just ask!
jasper
I come from a dutch family and loved the fact that you made a point of making a "pool" of gravy. That was a very important part of this dish or any time we had potatoes and gravy. Thanks for not forgetting that. :)
ReplyDeleteHello Jasper, Since we are having Boerenkool tonight, I was looking for a recipe since I forgot how long to cook the cabbage. I was surprised to find a recipe from NZ. I can see no differences witheet my mothers recipe :-) only thing is that we normally cook the cabbage together with the potatoes on top for about 20 minutes. Ànd like you said that is about the minimum.
ReplyDeleteLove the kuiltje / pool for the jus / gravy!
Kind regards from The Netherlands, Boris
PS instead of mustard, Inreally like sambal that should not be a problemen side you Guus are closet to Indonesia than we are...
Ps i really like sambal, that should not be a problem for you guys, since you are closer to Indonesia than we are.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is preparing Boerenkool right now using USA Hillshire Farm sausage; not the same, but close enough. My absolute favorite is andijviestamppot with spekblokjes, but here in US we can only get bacon strips, not cubes, but it will do until we manage to get back again to NL for the real thing from my dear mother-in-law.
ReplyDelete