The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 11-Western Europe

 The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Week 11-Western Europe

(Source: mapofeurope.com)

General Western Europe shows up on my DNA tests, and it makes sense when I have mostly English, French, and German in my tests, that there would be a blend of other nearby places. I chose two countries that my bff and I have found evidence of in my family tree: Austria and Holland. One recipe from each was selected. Sadly, only one turned out, so I'm only going to share that one. I had a recipe in my collection for a Linzer Torte, a classic Austrian dessert, but the recipe was badly written and it turned into a huge hot mess. I highly recommend Linzer torte, but look around the internet for a good recipe to try out because you don't want to try the one I had!!

The recipe from Holland turned out great. It was my dinner and will be tomorrow's dinner as well! The recipe is called Boerenkoolstamppot, which basically means, sausage with mashed potatoes and kale. I used this recipe.

Mashed potatoes are made just like any other mashed potatoes, except you add a bay leaf to the water. Just make sure to remove it before you mash them after the potatoes are cooked and you drain them. It's just like normal, with butter and milk, though you also add a small pinch of nutmeg too.

Here is the kale and shallots. The shallots are already cooking and I just added the kale but not the water. The water helps it start to steam, but it will cook down and more of its own water will drain out of the kale. In the front is the kielbasa I used. I had no way of getting the special Dutch sausage, though I'd love to have tried it if I could. I at least found a fancy holiday kielbasa to make it special.

This is what the kale and shallots cook down to. You start with a huge pile, but it really gets down to so little by the time it's over!

The sausages fry up really nicely. I have a lot leftover for tomorrow and to freeze for other uses.

Typical mashed potatoes, as you can see.

But it really looks amazing when you mix in the kale. There's something fancy about it.

All the elements arranged on the plate.

And I made some chicken gravy to put on top because it was easy. It was really satisfying as a meal. The kale mixed with the mashed potatoes is a really great way to eat the kale. The texture just blends into the mashed potatoes. The shallots are always delicious. This is a really good comfort food meal, which makes it a great Christmas dish! I can see myself making this throughout the winter. Change the entree for variety maybe, but I really like mixing the kale with the mashed potatoes. And the dish ultimately came together relatively quickly, which is also nice. You can pretty much prep it as you go, if you want. I will definitely be doing this again!

Well, Christmas just keeps on going here! I have one last week next week, but it will also segue into my next food blog project. I'm going to start a winter bread baking project, and next week's item will fit right into that! So, enjoy that Christmas spirit for another couple weeks, at least! Merry Christmas!