Kale, Mustard Greens and Emmenthaler Panade

That's a mouthful, isn't it?

I first came across the recipe for Kale and Gruyere Panade on Desert Candy, and thought it sounded amazingly comforting. A little bit of research revealed that most Interwebs panade recipes were based on one in the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, which I don't own, but I have nothing but good things to say about it. Have you tried the Roast Chicken and Bread Salad? Yes, the recipe is pages long, and yes, it takes days, but it's also worth every minute.

But, back to the panade: It's layers of sauteed onions, stale bread cubes, wilted greens, and cheese. The whole mess is moistened with broth, then baked slowly. Sounds good, right?
















I subbed Emmenthaler for Gruyere, since Gruyere was way too expensive for this experiment. I also used one bunch of kale and one bunch of mustard greens, instead of all kale. And I used a mix of onions and leeks, rather than just onions.
















None of those tweaks to the recipe can, however, explain the outcome. It wasn't bad (meaning, I ate it, but won't eat the leftovers), but it wasn't all it was cracked up to be by others. What happened? I think it was the fact that the bread I used had been in my freezer for who-knows-how-long, stuffed in there by God-only-knows-who, and was slightly freezer-burned. So instead of turning into silky souffle-like pillows, I got mush. Meh.

The long-braised cheesy kale & mustard greens, though - wow. I found myself picking around the texturally unpleasant sog, in order to enjoy the fantasticness that was the greens.

So, this one isn't relegated to the recycle bin, but rather to the re-try shelf. With good stale bread, not frostbitten crumbly trash.