Friday, February 6, 2009

Greens Series - Day 5 - Southern Style Collards

We've finally come to the end of my week of greens! I'm ending the week with a collard greens recipe that goes against every cooking instinct in my body. In general, I like to cook vegetables for a short amount of time in a shallow skillet with a minimum of liquid; these collards are cooked for a long time in a big pot of boiling water! The result is tender, smokey greens that go perfectly with Southern staples like BBQ. We had these tonight with BBQ beef brisket.


Southern Style Collards

ingredients:
3 quarts water
1.5 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 T hot sauce
1 tsp cajun or blackening seasoning
1 smoked turkey wing or drumstick or a smoked ham hock or shank
1 T olive oil or bacon grease
2 bunches of collard greens

In a stock pot, heat the water to boiling with the salt, garlic powder, black pepper, cajun seasoning, and hot sauce. Add the turkey wing, lower to a simmer, and cook for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the collards. De-rib the collards by folding the leaves in half and cutting along the rib. Stack the leaves and cut them into strips, then roughly chop them.

Add the collards to the pot along with the 1 T of olive oil or bacon grease. Simmer for a further 45-60 minutes.

To serve, scoop the greens out with a slotted spoon. You should be left with a pot full of flavorful broth called "pot likker" and a well-cooked turkey wing. You can shred the meat and save the meat and broth to make soup later. I'm eyeing up my leftovers to make a turkey and okra stew.

pot likker

The original for this recipe is the work of the infamous Paula Deen: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/collard-greens-recipe/index.html

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So that's it for the Greens Series! I hope you've enjoyed it and maybe found some new recipes to try out. I've definitely been enjoying eating them all week. :)

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Posts in the Greens Series:
Relaxed Kale Salad
Spinach Pesto
Baby Bok Choy with Ginger
Broiled Kale
Southern Style Collards

2 comments:

PaulaG said...

My mother used to fix collard greens and they were great. Now I have no idea how to cook and season them. Thanks for the tips. I got a CSA this year and I know I'll be getting a bunch of stuff I don't know how to cook!

TrailGrrl

Sheila Copeland said...

Just curious, have you ever tried cooking them in a crock pot? Maybe start out the recipe the same, then move to a crock pot to cook for 4-6 on high? I think I will try it. We're wanting to add more greens to our diet, and this may just be the way to do it.
Thanks for your recipes.