Creamed Kale

Serves 6

2 heads kale
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup cream
1/4 tsp. sugar
Salt and fresh ground white pepper

1. Separate leaves, remove and discard stem ends from kale. Place kale in a large skillet, add chicken stock and simmer over medium heat until skillet is almost dry, 10 minutes.
2. Add the butter and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add cream and sugar, season with salt and white pepper, and cook for 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a warm serving bowl.

Cornmeal Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup of cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
21 tbsp. (1/2 lb. plus 5 tbsp) butter, softened
2 egg yolks

1. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add butter and egg yolks. Using your fingers, work butter and egg yolks into flour-cornmeal mixture until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a clean surface and knead 4-5 times until smooth (dough will be soft and tacky). Cover dough with a clean, damp kitchen towel and set aside to let rest for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 300°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8" star-shaped pastry tip. Pipe 2"-diameter spirals of dough out onto prepared sheets about 2" apart. Bake until edges turn pale golden, 20-25 minutes. Allow cookes to cool briefly, then transfer them to a rack to let cool completely. Serve with zabaglione, if you like.

Muscat-Spiked Zabaglione

Serves 4

4 egg yolks
4 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. moscato d'asti or other sweet Italian muscat wine

1. Put 4 egg yolks and 4 tbsp. sugar into a large nonreactive metal bowl. Set bowl over a medium pot of gently simmering water over medium-low heat and vigorously whisk eggs and sugar together until well combined. Gradually add the 4 tbsp. moscato d'asto ir other sweet Italian muscat wine, little by little, whisking constantly.
2. Continue whisking until mixture is light and foamy, almost tripled in volume, and holds soft peaks, about 10 minutes. (Do not let eggs cook around the edges of the bowl.) Divide zabaglione among 4 dessert dishes and serve at room temperature with cornmeal cookies.

Collecting...

One of the things I've always adored, and why I am not entirely sure, is collecting recipes. I don't always get to try the recipes I collect, but I do collect them. I figure that the day will come when I am able to make them, but right now it's a bit difficult with being single and no one really to cook for.

I think it's time I shared the recipes that I collect, at least then perhaps they can get made somehow. Between things I got over the years in high school meal management or just general recipes I've gotten in magazines, this blog will start to be filled with a variety of different things that look delicious.