One of my little babysit-tees used to drive me up the wall. I blame this one on both of us having red hair and being intelligent. But I really, no matter what happened in 1993, I enjoy his company now-and over the Christmas break, I had the privilege of a cooking lesson with him.
Yes, he taught me how to cook.
Jack and I had a wicked good time riding the train together to DC, shopping, cooking, and social network computer playing....rock on old friends and new times!
AND THEN...
Guess what?
I get a text....from my baby/buddy Jack...because he needs MY expertise.. in the great, fantastic, no one else can hold a candle to it..world of....HARRY POTTER...
The text:
Hey P-I've been invited to a Harry Potter potluck party, what should I take vegetarian?
In less than one second..I responded:
A mushroom dish...you see in Deathly Hallows they had to camp out after Yaxley saw where 12 Grimmauld place was...and then they had to find their own food, and Hermione made mushrooms in a billycan, which is some kind of cooking pot..and then she got really good at identifying edible fungi but if you don't mind I can't remember the exact chapter right this minute please forgive me...but the point is, something with mushrooms and edible plants you find in the woods would work for an authentic vegan dish at a Harry Potter party.
Jack didn't judge me at all!
In fact, he decided on Mushrooms and Kale from the royal highness of all things on the Food Network you can can actually cook: Ms. Rachael Ray!
He made it, and it looked like this:
Ok, let's put this in perspective...I used to race him on the shores of Wrightsville beach and he told me my prom dress was ugly and he told me the love notes in my car my boyfriend used to leave me made him want to throw up. If he can make this dish, I can make this dish.
Let's start with the kale-is kale Superman's dad? No wait, that's Ka-el. How do I find this? Is anyone going to know if I use spinach? Probably not, but still, let's be as real as we can. Kale, kale is that seaweed? No, that's kelp...Voila! I found it-in the generic mainstream grocery store even. Thank goodness I don't have to go to the hippy store.
Chop the kale? How do I chop?
Mother nature really seems to be working for the common person-to chop the kale you fold it in half, chop off the stems, and then chop finely. Got it-here is a website for everyone else.
Ok, use extra virgin olive oil instead of butter...ugh the north...
get the mushrooms dark..then add the chopped kale and the spices...
This is mine:
The real test is-would Ron Weasley eat it? I can only imagine what the first years of marriage to Hermione were like. She was a lawyer and he had been the 6th son out of seven children to a stay at home mother???? That can't have gone over well. Jo, if you stumble across this blog, please let me know...
Happy cooking to my vegan friends and anyone that needs a side dish...Harry Potter, old friends made new again, and Rachel Ray always provide!