vanessa
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KaleI'm growing some kale this year. I've never even EATEN kale before, so know very little about it!!
So ... at what stage do I harvest? What bit / bits do we eat? How's best to cook it?
Thanks 
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cab
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Re: KaleAll depends on what sort. If its 'red russian' then I pick that very young and eat it in salads, many of the others are better late on, when the weather turns cold; pick leaves off as you need them, leaving more on so it keeps producing.
Treat it like cabbage; simply steam it, or fry off bacon, onions and potato and add sliced kale for the last few minutes of cooking with the other ingredients browned off already.
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judith
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What Cab said.
I'm not that keen on it raw, and think of it almost entirely as a winter veg. It was just made for bacon. It also goes well as a late addition to hearty soups and stews.
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OtleyLad
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I grew some cavolo nero last year and got some lovely healthy dark green plants - but try as I might, whichever way I cooked it, it was really chewy and not much of a flavour either. Not impressed I am afraid - hope you have better luck.
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gil
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Younger leaves rather than the older tough ones on the outside.
Cut into strips and sweated in a pan. Good with fried bacon bits in among them. Or with any kind of pork.
Some people use very young centre leaves only, shred finely and use as a parsley substitute, but I think that's a waste of a good vegetable.
Leave them in over winter, and they will produce more leaves in spring. Then they will bolt and produce flower stems/buds that look like small sprouting broccoli, which are great steamed or sweated. These get smaller and tougher as spring progresses, and at that point you pull the plants up.
What variety of kale have you planted ?
There's also curly-leaved, smoother-leaved, and cavolo nero (dark green long leaves)
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judith
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| OtleyLad wrote: | I grew some cavolo nero last year and got some lovely healthy dark green plants - but try as I might, whichever way I cooked it, it was really chewy and not much of a flavour either. Not impressed I am afraid - hope you have better luck.
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I never got to eat mine as escaping chickens always made a beeline for it, preferring it over all other brassicas. Your plants do look good though.
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Behemoth
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| OtleyLad wrote: | | I grew some cavolo nero last year and got some lovely healthy dark green plants - but try as I might, whichever way I cooked it, it was really chewy and not much of a flavour either. Not impressed I am afraid - hope you have better luck. |
Better in stews and soups rather than as a green veg on its own.
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tahir
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Cavolo nero (and any other kale) is great in stir fries, pakoras and curries.
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sean
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Saag?
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tahir
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Brilliant in saag (honestly), not as sweet as cabbage and not so mushy as spinach
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cab
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| tahir wrote: | | Cavolo nero (and any other kale) is great in stir fries, pakoras and curries. |
I think its possibly the best of the kales, but I do find that when the leaves are older you need to strip out the central rib, which is quite tough. Beautiful plant, dead easy to grow.
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otatop
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On Sunday night we had Red Russian - steamed, then tossed with crispy streaky bacon and a dollop of creme fraiche. Some bread to wipe the bowls with completed the meal. Totally delicious. We would have had some berries for pudding, but we were stuffed.
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