Kale & Sweet Potato Gratin
It’s comfort food season folks. There’s no denying it now – not with snow on the ground, extra blankets on the beds, and months of frigid days and nights ahead of us. Our first storm hit last Saturday and dumped a good amount of snow. Nick got stranded on route 95, driving from Brooklyn to Boston, and had to get a cheap motel room for the night. That evening I baked up this Kale & Sweet Potato Gratin which reminded me of the wonders of comfort food – warm, creamy, and satisfying. This one is a keeper.
Happily, Dylan and I were still off island celebrating the holidays at my parent’s house when the storm hit. He couldn’t get enough of the snow, his sled, and checking everything out. When my sister and I were little girls our dad built us this amazing playhouse. There are pictures of him, probably not much older than I am now, wearing suspenders and swinging his hammer while we smiled at his feet.
Well it still stands but now houses a lawn mower and rakes most of the year until Dylan comes to open it up. He hasn’t noticed the scribble “No Grown Ups Allowed!” and “We Hate Boys!” that his aunt and mom left decades ago but maybe someday our old notes will make him laugh.
KALE & SWEET POTATO GRATIN
4 sweet potatoes
2 bunches kale
Parmesan cheese (about a cup)
2 cups heavy cream*
2 cups half and half*
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 garlic clove, grated
butter for lining baking dish
*You need 4 cups of dairy but may divide it up however you’d like. All heavy cream will create a rich decadent gratin. Using some milk will make it more watery and may curdle which won’t really affect the taste but will change the look. It’s up to you!
1. Prepare vegetables: Peel and slice sweet potatoes thin – about 1/8″. Pull kale leaves off stem, wash, and chop into bite sized pieces.
2. Preheat oven to 400. Rub a baking dish with butter.
4. Steam kale for 3 minutes, let cool, then squeeze of excess liquid. For easy steaming, I simply use a large colander over a pot of boiling water.
5. In a large bowl – whisk together cream, half and half, salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, garlic.
6. Lay potatoes in a layer across the bottom of the baking dish, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle potatoes with parmesean, layer on half the kale, potatoes again, parmesean, the rest of the kale, and finally remaining potatoes and parmesean.
7. Pour over cream mixture and gently tip if necessary so cream is evenly distributed.
8. Bake, covered with foil at 400 for 25 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender and top is starting to brown. Let sit to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.