Braised greens, Café de Paris butter
The oven is never big enough at Christmas, at least in my house anyway. Playing oven Tetris, trying to squeeze everything in is part of every Christmas day.
As much as I enjoy the games, a vegetable dish that can be prepared ahead of time and cooked on the stove during the big day is no bad thing.
Café de Paris butter is a great compound butter which is normally served with steaks and shellfish, but it’s particularly special on these braised wintery greens.
Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 4/6
125g Butter (soft)
20g Shallot (diced)
5g Garlic (chopped)
10g Parsley (chopped)
2g Sage (chopped)
2g Basil (chopped)
10g Dijon mustard
5g Worcestershire sauce
10g Anchovies (chopped)
10g Capers
2g Smoked paprika
15g Lemon juice
50g Guindilla chilli (optional, but I like the kick)
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300g Kale
300g Cavolo nero
3 Garlic clove (sliced)
1 Red chilli (seeds removed, sliced)
50ml Olive oil
Start by pulling the centre stem out of both kales, this is far to tough to eat. In a large pan of boiling salted water cook the kale for 2 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and leave in a bowl, no need for ice water.
In a large pan over a medium heat add the olive oil and slowly cook the garlic and chilli until fragrant, around 2 minutes. Add the cooked kale, turn the temperature down to low and cook with the lid on for 10 minutes until very soft.
For the butter, prepare all your ingredients and mix well with soft butter, roll the finished butter in clingfilm to make long cylinders and place in the fridge to set.
When it comes to serving add 2/3 of the butter to the hot braised greens and stir until fully combined. Save the other slices to decorate the top, they’ll gently melt as they sit on the table.
