Curly Kale Stamppot Recipe

Curly Kale Stamppot (favorite Dutch recipe)

2 or 3 pounds of curly kale
3 pounds of potatoes
Milk and Butter
Salt and Pepper
1 Kielbasa (Polish) sausage
Bacon and bacon drippings

Strip, wash, and cut up the kale very finely. (I recently purchased
cut, washed, and one pound bags of kale at Walmart. It was perfect for
this recipe. Even the small pieces of stem cooked up deliciously.)
Peel, wash, and cut the potatoes into large cubes. Place the chopped
kale on top of the raw potatoes and the sausage on top of the kale.

Boil the potatoes, kale, and sausage in boiling water with a pinch of
salt until the potatoes are done for mashing. By that time, the kale
will have steamed, and the sausage will be good and hot, too. While
waiting for the kale and potatoes to cook, fry up chopped bacon to use
later to top off your dish.

When potatoes are ready to mash, lift out sausage and drain off all
water (you do not want soup). You can retain the drained water in a
measuring cup to use later if the Stamppot is too dry for your taste.
Then just stamp the steamed kale and boiled potatoes with a potato
masher. If this is your first time for green mashed potatoes don't
worry, just add salt and pepper to taste. I sometimes add salted
butter and a little milk.

Slice the worst (Polish kielbasa) into bite sizes. Serve the Stamppot
with slices of sausage and drizzled with pieces of fried bacon and
lots of warm drippings.
Enjoy this winter dish. It sticks to your ribs!

We also make Stamppot with sauerkraut. Yummy! In the summer we eat
Stamppot made with raw greens like endive and even spinach. The warm
potatoes cook the raw greens just the right amount. Thickly sliced
(salty) bacon works the best for the drippings. I like Wright's from
Walmart the best, but I have tried salt pork and fatback. If you skip
the bacon pieces (spekjes), be prepared to add more salt to the
Stamppot. My Dutch sister-in-law loves this dish with salted butter
instead of bacon.

Dutch saying: Never eat curly kale (boerenkool/farmer's cabbage)
before the frost has got at it.