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Small Wonders staff dress as fairy tale characters for Halloween

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In Ecuadorean cave, meals offered in darkness by the blind

<p>My father and grandfather, both no longer here, loved nothing better than a serious steak dinner at their favorite steakhouse, Peter Lugar&#8217;s, in New York City. If there was something to celebrate, an out-of-town guest to impress or the desire to indulge an extravagant comfort-food craving, there was one clear choice.</p><p>Ordering was easy: a starter of thickly sliced tomatoes and onions with the house dressing, which was also the house steak sauce (think of Worcestershire sauce disguised as a thick dressing), and possibly a wedge salad with bacon and blue cheese. To follow, there was a T-bone steak, sliced but with the bone served up for nibbling, with fried potatoes and creamed spinach. And after belts had been loosened, perhaps a piece of key lime pie.</p><p>I think that for most of us, to like creamed spinach is to love creamed spinach. You have to go all in if you go at all. And I love creamed spinach.</p><p>But because envelopes need the occasional pushing, I recently decided to cream up some kale with a generous amount of cream and Parmesan cheese in memory of my dad and grandpa. I know that in some circles kale is considered the king of the greens, and in others it&#8217;s considered &#8220;over.&#8221; I don&#8217;t belong to either camp, but I do love cooking with kale.</p><p>It has similar nutritional perks to spinach (not that I am selling this particular recipe as healthy), and holds up to heat with more presence. If you want, you can use baby kale in this recipe, which isn&#8217;t as tough as fully grown kale, and has no thick ribs to remove, which makes the prep easier.</p><p>This begs to be served up next to a roast chicken, a piece of seared or roasted fish, or, in the most perfect of all worlds, a juicy T-bone steak.</p><p><strong>Creamed kale with Parmesan</strong></p><p>Serves 4 to 6</p><p>Start to finish: 20 minutes</p><p>1 &#189; pounds kale</p><p>1 1/2 cups heavy cream</p><p>Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste</p><p>Pinch red pepper flakes</p><p>1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese </p><p>Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.</p><p>If you are using mature kale, trim the tough middle rib from the leaves, and roughly chop the leaves. If you are using baby kale, roughly chop that. Rinse them in a colander. Add the kale to the boiling water and boil for 4 to 5 minutes, until the kale is fairly tender. Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, and then use your hands to squeeze as much water as you can out of the kale.</p><p>Place the cream in the pot you used to cook the kale. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, and then lower the heat to medium and continue to simmer until reduced by about 1/2, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and the red pepper flakes. Add the blanched kale and simmer, stirring often, until the cream sauce is further reduced and coats the kale, about 3 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan until the cheese is melted and everything is well blended.</p><p>Transfer to a serving bowl and serve hot.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Creamed kale with Parmesan cheese is a take on the classic steakhouse side-dish of creamed spinach. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_AP17306708562005.jpg</photo0><caption0>Creamed kale with Parmesan cheese is a take on the classic steakhouse side-dish of creamed spinach. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sarah E. Crowder via AP </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Creamed kale with Parmesan</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Katie Workman</p><p>The Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Cooking on deadline: Creamed kale with Parmesan