Double Date Dinner!

Daniel & Liz are in our small group and they live like 6 blocks away! They had us over for a great dinner one night and we're very excited that they came over for one at our place!
It turned out to be a lot of fun and we got to bust out our sipping chocolate and give it a try.


Kale & White Bean Kielbasa Soup:

I've wanted to try a kale soup for awhile. It is supposed to be really healthy and it has made me curious. Plus when our friends were over they said it is a Seattle winter staple if you're trying to eat local :) 

1 lb. dried white cannellini beans
2 white onions; chopped
4 cloves garlic; minced
5 cups vegetable broth
2 qt water
1 parmesan rind (necessary!)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 lb smoked kielbasa
8-10 carrots; chopped in circles
1 lb lacinato kale; chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley; chopped

1   place beans in a pot, cover with water 2 inches above beans and bring to a boil.
     Once they  re boiling immediately remove them and let sit for an hour; then drain them and rinse
2   cook onions with a little bit of oil in a giant pot for 4-5 minutes, add garlic and cook for 1 more minute
3   then add the beans, broth, 1 qt water, parmesan rind, salt, pepper, cumin, bay leaf,
     rosemary and simmer uncovered for 50 minutes
4   cut the kielbasa into pieces diagonally and simmer until browned; then add to the soup
5   also stir in the other 1 qt of water, kale, and parsley
6   simmer for another 10-15 minutes and then serve

we made the soup the day before we needed it because soups tend to have better flavoring if they are left to sit a bit first. then we just warmed it back up on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes. Top with grated parmesan and parsley




I also made Parmesan Black Pepper Foccacia from the Flour recipe book I got for Christmas! Flour is a bakery that I loved to go to when I worked in Boston and I've been dying to get my hands on her cookbook. Now that I have it I think I page through it almost every night trying to decide if I have time or the ingredients to make something! This bread rocks and it makes a good amount so we froze 1/2 of it to pull out later since the we only needed 1/2 of it to serve the 4 of us with the soup.