Drunken Chicken, Crispy Kale

Rishia & Andrew Zimmern brought us an incredible dinner tonight. Chinese drunken chicken – fragrant, sticky, tender, and sweet – with rice to soak up the insanely addictive sauce. (The pic doesn’t do it justice, sorry, lost my light…) We four put away an impressive amount of rice, blame that damn sauce. I’m going to wake up in the morning craving it. And you know what? I’ll indulge my craving, because what precious little remains is in our fridge. My fridge. Yes indeed.

I roasted some crispy kale to snack on while Andrew cooked. (I LOVE having someone else cook in my kitchen. While I munch and chat. So relaxing! I really should have myself over sometime.) I sprinkled the kale with some black sesame seed salt that Andrew gave me – delicious together.

I also made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert, which we were all too full to really appreciate. I suspect it will be better loved tomorrow. I’ll pop the recipes in later, so tired. For now, sleep tight!

OK, back with recipe for kale, below. The pineapple upside down cake recipe I’ll put in my next post. I’ll double-check with Andrew on the recipe for drunken chicken and post if it’s cool. Apparently still a post-in-progress…

Crispy Kale
Adapted from www.steamykitchen.com and www.kalynskitchen.com

4 giant handfuls of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces and tough stems removed (about 1/3 lb.)
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt (optional: toasted sesame seeds)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dry kale thoroughly in a salad spinner and/or on paper towels – moisture will cause the kale to steam and not crisp. Put kale in a large ziploc bag and drizzle with the oil. Close the bag and gently rub the oil into the kale leaves, coating them thoroughly. Spread leaves evenly on the baking sheet (make sure they’re not piled on top of each other). Bake for 12-20 minutes (15 min was the mark for me). When the leaves are dried and crackly, but not browned, the kale is done. If the leaves are still a bit soft, leave them in for another 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt (and sesame seeds, if desired).