One Local Summer Challenge - Week 5

I am posting this late, as we had our OLS dinner on Wednesday. Hubby and I both had a hanckering for a dish we had tasted in Oldenburg, Germany while living there about three years ago. In the late winter, there is a traditional dish that northern Germans have called Grünkohl. This is a tasty dish of kale, sausage called Pinkel, onion, and potatoes. When the Germans make the Grünkohl it is an all day event with friends and family. They start cooking down the kale early and boiling it with the sausage and onions. Before the food is finished cooking (early evening), everyone dresses warm and steps outside to go on a Kohlfahrt. A Kohlfahrt could possibly be translated as "Kale March".

Someone in the front of the pack (we're talking about 20 - 25 people here) take an uncooked piece of kale (their kale seemed a lot larger than ours, I would say about the length of an arm) proudly displays it as they walk around the neighborhood while traditionally taking shots of Apfel Korn Liquor or any liquor available, wearing shot glasses around their necks. We did this and it was so much fun! There are also traditional songs that we sang, but it's been so long, I can't remember those.

Well, when I saw the kale at the farmer's market I had to get some and make it for dinner. I also got an onion and potatoes. I had some sausage left from Old Style Sausage in Louisville, CO. This was just regular style sausage as I did not have access to the traditional German Pinkel. I baked the sausage with onions for about 40 minutes. After the kale had boiled in some chicken broth (not local) and salt and pepper for a little over an hour and half, I added the sausage, onion, and drippings from the sausage pan and boiled for another 45 minutes. Last but not least I cut the potatoes and boiled them. This was the result.



Hubby and I really enjoyed this dinner, however, the kale didn't exactly taste like it did in Germany, all mushy and melty and buttery. It was still a little rough, even after 2.5 hours of boiling. Any suggestions for preparing? When I had some left overs the next day, it actually tasted better. Hmm, weird. The sausage was super soft and mimicked the texture of the Pinkel. We also didn't go on a parade through the neighborhood taking shots of liquor and singing songs to the harvest of kale, however it was a wonderful step back in our good ole' memories from living in Deutschland.

Side Note: We also had local trout prepared for us on Tuesday evening. My sister's boyfriend Tony caught the 19" trout out of the Boulder Creek (I wish I had a picture!). He grilled it for us and it was so delicious! We had a salad that was non-local that complimented the fish wonderfully. It was an assortment of perfect summer fruits and veggies (tomatoes, avocadoes, magnos, blueberries, bell peppers, and a bunch of others I can't remember right now) combined with fresh cut cilantro and lime and pineapple juices.