If you can allow time in this recipe to fly down to LaPlace for some HTG tasso, please indulge yourself. The ham hocks will blush. Bring a big suitcase. You know where, or google does. Just used some in the squash / kale (didn't grow collards this year) / eggplant / tomato / mirepoix business that demoted the turkey to a side dish. Musical. Sprouts leaves are a great sub for any other brassica leaf, and bonus, sprouts. But the butterflies destroyed my sprouts this season.
I love collards; vegan of course. There used to be a big Korean market around the corner. It's now a gym. One of the first times I shopped there, I bought a huge bunch of collard greens. The sweet woman behind the counter shook her head at me adamantly, and insisted they were for black people; not for me. I disabused her of that notion.
Safeway had a huge bag (think pillow sized!) so I got the collards. Made them last night with sautéed shallots, garlic, bacon fat and broth. Of course salt and red pepper flakes. I don’t find them especially bitter myself. They are tasty as can be however.
Rinse collard greens, remove stems, tear into pieces about the size of your hand
Garlic sauteed in olive oil
Add collard green stems
Add collard green leaves
Optional tablespoon of A-1 sauce (unless you just happen to have tamarind in your kitchen, in which case, use that)
Red pepper flakes
Cider vinegar.
Secret technique:
The stems are tougher and cook more slowly, so add the stems FIRST, cook them a while, and then add the flat part of the leaves AFTERWARDS. This way the stems will come out crisp-tender, and the leaves will not be soggy.
Northerner here, as is my wife. But I really do enjoy bitter greens and she hates them, so every once in a while I cook up a batch (collards, broccoli rabe, etc) that my wife will throw into my meals. Got a big bowl of collards in the fridge right now.
You authentic southerners would probably frown at my technique. I just throw in a little salt & garlic and boil them till they're tender. Just making it up, no southern grandma in the lineage whose ghost would be looking over my shoulder.
Heat up some olive oil and put in a lot of minced garlic, then a couple of teaspoons of diced chipotles in adobo, for heat and smokiness, salt and black pepper. Add chopped/sliced collards, stir until wilted, add a little chicken or vegetable broth, and cook until tender. Yum.
Collards are also easy AF to grow, and will still be in your garden at this time of year even if they've had some snow fall around them. And as noted below, pretty much any greens or even brassica leaves can be mixed in with them: kale, mustard, broccoli, even cauliflower. I personally do not consume bacon (vastly overrated - oh look, two controversial food opinions in one day) nor ham. But the rest of this recipe makes me wish we didn't already have a planned out menu that will feed six when it looks like there may be only two of us.
I have a child who owns a copy of The Joy of Cooking and busts it out precisely twice a year: Thanksgiving and Yuletide. She loves making All The Foods; we had four sides plus stuffing, pumpkin pie, chestnut rollups, and chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Her dad did cancel but cabana boy was persuaded to show up and help us eat some of it.
Sadly, I have PTSD about collards. Many years ago, there was a gal at work I flipped head over heels. We arranged to have Christmas dinner at my place. I cooked a couple of Cornish game hens and she would bring the collard greens.
If I made a whole protein (or a whole side) for some mayun who then stood me up -- I won't say he mightn't live to see the next holiday (that's for Aunt Rae's generation) but there sure would be a whole lot of people who knew about it whom he probably wished would not
Tennessee boy here. Love me some collards with with vinegar. Mrs. Hammer is making her southern style green beans. Simmered all day in bacon grease, salt, water, and red pepper flakes. I lovingly refer to them as "ash tray beans." It's a term I learned from college.
Hubby and I had a long conversation at our local veggie stand this past Saturday on the quality of the collards they had out. Lips were pursed and hearts were blessed - triflin', just triflin'...
On this topic, some years back I went to Whole Foods (*why*, I don't recall) to get some smoked ham hocks for Mama, who was making us a pot of collards. I couldn't find them, so I asked the very superior butcher behind the counter where they were located. He replied, "Oh, the HAM SHANKS? They're over by, etc." That remains a family joke to this day.
Our household is vegetarian, but my husband (who hails from NC) routinely makes greens in our crockpot. Only one picky kid doesn't love them (though he will eat a bit). They do make the whole house smell weird, though. I keep the bedroom doors shut while they are cooking.
As northerners, we never had collard greens while growing up, and yams only once. But then, our mashed potatoes came in a box except for holidays. So did our mac & cheese and Hamburger Helper. Didn’t find out until a few years ago that mac & cheese is associated less with suburban white cooking and more with Black cooking.
If you can allow time in this recipe to fly down to LaPlace for some HTG tasso, please indulge yourself. The ham hocks will blush. Bring a big suitcase. You know where, or google does. Just used some in the squash / kale (didn't grow collards this year) / eggplant / tomato / mirepoix business that demoted the turkey to a side dish. Musical. Sprouts leaves are a great sub for any other brassica leaf, and bonus, sprouts. But the butterflies destroyed my sprouts this season.
I love collards; vegan of course. There used to be a big Korean market around the corner. It's now a gym. One of the first times I shopped there, I bought a huge bunch of collard greens. The sweet woman behind the counter shook her head at me adamantly, and insisted they were for black people; not for me. I disabused her of that notion.
Safeway had a huge bag (think pillow sized!) so I got the collards. Made them last night with sautéed shallots, garlic, bacon fat and broth. Of course salt and red pepper flakes. I don’t find them especially bitter myself. They are tasty as can be however.
Tasty
They sound delicious
Here is my recipe for collard greens:
Rinse collard greens, remove stems, tear into pieces about the size of your hand
Garlic sauteed in olive oil
Add collard green stems
Add collard green leaves
Optional tablespoon of A-1 sauce (unless you just happen to have tamarind in your kitchen, in which case, use that)
Red pepper flakes
Cider vinegar.
Secret technique:
The stems are tougher and cook more slowly, so add the stems FIRST, cook them a while, and then add the flat part of the leaves AFTERWARDS. This way the stems will come out crisp-tender, and the leaves will not be soggy.
Northerner here, as is my wife. But I really do enjoy bitter greens and she hates them, so every once in a while I cook up a batch (collards, broccoli rabe, etc) that my wife will throw into my meals. Got a big bowl of collards in the fridge right now.
You authentic southerners would probably frown at my technique. I just throw in a little salt & garlic and boil them till they're tender. Just making it up, no southern grandma in the lineage whose ghost would be looking over my shoulder.
For those of us who don’t eat swine’s flesh-
Heat up some olive oil and put in a lot of minced garlic, then a couple of teaspoons of diced chipotles in adobo, for heat and smokiness, salt and black pepper. Add chopped/sliced collards, stir until wilted, add a little chicken or vegetable broth, and cook until tender. Yum.
som miso won't go amiss in that recipe
Hmmm-interesting idea. Or gochujang.
a little. I use about a tablespoon of pepper flakes for 4 lbs (uncooked, undeveined).
The umami you don't get from using pork can be had from the miso and olive oil.
those are two perfectly good ingredients in regular collards, too. And the gochujang would rock in them, as well.
Collards are also easy AF to grow, and will still be in your garden at this time of year even if they've had some snow fall around them. And as noted below, pretty much any greens or even brassica leaves can be mixed in with them: kale, mustard, broccoli, even cauliflower. I personally do not consume bacon (vastly overrated - oh look, two controversial food opinions in one day) nor ham. But the rest of this recipe makes me wish we didn't already have a planned out menu that will feed six when it looks like there may be only two of us.
Kale is part of the brassica family. They all play together beautifully.
You'll have excellent leftovers, for starters
Did somebody cancel? Or do you just have those elder relatives who grew up cooking for hundreds and who refuse to do math?
I have a child who owns a copy of The Joy of Cooking and busts it out precisely twice a year: Thanksgiving and Yuletide. She loves making All The Foods; we had four sides plus stuffing, pumpkin pie, chestnut rollups, and chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Her dad did cancel but cabana boy was persuaded to show up and help us eat some of it.
Sadly, I have PTSD about collards. Many years ago, there was a gal at work I flipped head over heels. We arranged to have Christmas dinner at my place. I cooked a couple of Cornish game hens and she would bring the collard greens.
She stood me up.
Doug, I am sorry and that's terrible
♥
If I made a whole protein (or a whole side) for some mayun who then stood me up -- I won't say he mightn't live to see the next holiday (that's for Aunt Rae's generation) but there sure would be a whole lot of people who knew about it whom he probably wished would not
Tennessee boy here. Love me some collards with with vinegar. Mrs. Hammer is making her southern style green beans. Simmered all day in bacon grease, salt, water, and red pepper flakes. I lovingly refer to them as "ash tray beans." It's a term I learned from college.
Hubby and I had a long conversation at our local veggie stand this past Saturday on the quality of the collards they had out. Lips were pursed and hearts were blessed - triflin', just triflin'...
On this topic, some years back I went to Whole Foods (*why*, I don't recall) to get some smoked ham hocks for Mama, who was making us a pot of collards. I couldn't find them, so I asked the very superior butcher behind the counter where they were located. He replied, "Oh, the HAM SHANKS? They're over by, etc." That remains a family joke to this day.
HAM SHANKS
IKR? I STILL makes me laugh.
mix collards with mustard greens for even more goodness!
Greens are a necessity and I love them. I don't use the porkie stuf tho...
Our household is vegetarian, but my husband (who hails from NC) routinely makes greens in our crockpot. Only one picky kid doesn't love them (though he will eat a bit). They do make the whole house smell weird, though. I keep the bedroom doors shut while they are cooking.
For weird smells nothing beats liver or kidneys being cooked.
We kids allowed our folks to cook them only when we were not going to be at home for several days.
LOL! ewwww!
sounds good. Mine are do not have the ham hock, and collards don't need to cook a long time to become tender.
As northerners, we never had collard greens while growing up, and yams only once. But then, our mashed potatoes came in a box except for holidays. So did our mac & cheese and Hamburger Helper. Didn’t find out until a few years ago that mac & cheese is associated less with suburban white cooking and more with Black cooking.
*waves arms* HELLOOOOO DOK, the Betty Ford chocolate cake post is set to "paid subscribers only" for commenting. Can someone pls fix?
I just got that on Hooper's post. All I did was reload the page and all was well again.
So there are posts you have to pay to comment on now?
Okay, I guess.
Try reloading the page. That just worked for me.
Probably an error on the part of whoever put up the post. Hopefully Dok or someone is on comment-moderating duty and will fix it.
One hopes.
It happened to me a few months ago and it got fixed pretty quick.