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Collard Cuisine

When it comes to you fellow southerners, I know I am just "preachin' to the choir" but Collard Greens are one of the best tasting foods on earth. Not only that, they are very good for you. They are said to support the liver in detoxifying functions among other benefits. But who cares about that, they are just delicious. Here is how we fix them:

2 quarts of water
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic power
1 tablespoon of salt
1 nice size of fat-back bacon (hog jowl)

In a large pot, bring the water, salt, pepper, garlic power and fatback to a boil and then simmer for about 40 minutes. While the water is simmering tear the Collard leaves from the stems (stalks) and roll them up and cut them in about 1/2 in threads.

Add the collard greens to the water, bring to boil and simmer for another 40 minutes. That's it! Remember the first part of the recipe is so important, this is where the black pepper and the salt, the garlic and the jowl release their flavors into the water and that is the secret to good collard greens.

I was just wondering are there other Collard Greens fans on the forum? If so, what is your recipe?
 
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My mother-in-law boils them twice, 1st time for about 45 minutes, then drains them, then a 2nd time with the seasonings added for a couple of hours. The potlikker has no bitterness due to the 1st boiling and discarding the water. Collards, black-eyed peas, fried streak o' lean, and cornbread are a New Year's Day tradition for me and mine.
 
I use ham to cut down on the fat. I never tried garlic powder. I wll give that or maybe a few cloves of garlic a try. I add the pepper in the last 15 min. so it does not turn bitter and sometimes add red pepper too.

The most important thing is making way too much and then you can have collard green sandwiches the next day. Drain and press the collard greens, spread mayonnaise on a slice of bread, put a very thick layer of collard greens, add a little vinegar and top with the second slice of bread. I got this recipe from "White Trash Cooking".

Dave
 
I, too, love cooked greens. One could probably make most anything palatable with bacon grease and other smoked products. I've even seen smoked turkey parts swapped in to reduce fat.
 
As a self respecting Southerner, it pains me to admit that I can tolerate collards, but they're not something I go out of my way to get. I love turnip greens, though, especially cooked with a smoked ham hock and some cracklin' bread.
 
Greens aren't just a southern thing, they are traditional throughout the whole Appalachia region. This reminds me of an encounter I had in West Virginia.

We were working our way up a mountain fly fishing a trout stream in the Monogahela region when we saw him. An old guy, long white hair, long uncut beard, with two large black trash bags that were obviously full. One was slung over his shoulder and the other was simply in hand. The seven of us in the group weren't sure what to make of him as he came down the stream towards us, and we weren't armed at all. The best defense we could put up was to sword fight with our fly rods.

For a moment it sounded like the stream was playing that Deliverance tune.

Turned out he was a friendly feller (naturally, for that area) and the bags were full of greens that he was harvesting. Lived in a shack a few hundred yards from where we had parked. He had already spent half the day gathering them but still offered us some. We passed, we simply didn't want to carry them four miles back to road.
 
Greens aren't just a southern thing, they are traditional throughout the whole Appalachia region. This reminds me of an encounter I had in West Virginia.

We were working our way up a mountain fly fishing a trout stream in the Monogahela region when we saw him. An old guy, long white hair, long uncut beard, with two large black trash bags that were obviously full. One was slung over his shoulder and the other was simply in hand. The seven of us in the group weren't sure what to make of him as he came down the stream towards us, and we weren't armed at all. The best defense we could put up was to sword fight with our fly rods.

For a moment it sounded like the stream was playing that Deliverance tune.

Turned out he was a friendly feller (naturally, for that area) and the bags were full of greens that he was harvesting. Lived in a shack a few hundred yards from where we had parked. He had already spent half the day gathering them but still offered us some. We passed, we simply didn't want to carry them four miles back to road.

I bet the old fellow was picking Polk Salad Greens. I used to collect them with my father when I was young. They remind me of spinach.

As far as Collards not just being a southern thing, you are right. I read somewhere that Julius Caesar use to eat Collards the day after a big banquet to help him recover from all that over eating and over drinking.

And it is amazing the number of mountain folk who migrated to Ohio and Michigan looking for work over the years. I live on the Ohio River and I can tell you there are just as many hicks in Southern Ohio as there are in Northern Kentucky. Hey, we are all cousins.:lol: And we all love Collard Greens!
 
I always use smoked hocks as you get a lot of body and flavor with very little fat. Just put about four of them in a large pot with just enough water to cover and simmer for about three hours or until they pretty much fall apart. Fill the pot with washed and stemmed collards to the top and cram the lid down. The collards will cook down and soften over about 40 minutes to an hour. Sprinkle with pepper vinegar if you like and be sure to make your cornbread in a cast iron skillet greased with bacon fat.
 
If you pick greens, do so after a frost. They're sweeter. Cooked with hamhocks, streak-o'-lean or fatback, they're great. Smoked turkey wings will do but nothing beats pork. Serve with vinegar and/or hot sauce.
 
Loves me some greens...collard, mustard, turnip. I don't discriminate. :smile:

I bet the old fellow was picking Polk Salad Greens. I used to collect them with my father when I was young. They remind me of spinach.

...

We call that poke sallet or poke weed or just plain poke. It can be a bit dicey to prepare properly. I have a several of poke "volunteers" in my back and side yards.

Anyone remember the Tony Joe White song Poke Salad Annie?
Down there we have a plant
That grows out in the woods and the fields,
Looks somethin' like a turnip green.
Everybody calls it Poke salad. Poke salad.
Used to know a girl that lived down there and
she'd go out in the evenings and pick a mess of it...
Carry it home and cook it for supper,
'Cause that's about all they had to eat,
But they did all right
 
I love collards! I like the recipe that you list but I add a handful of red pepper flakes for a little spice!!
 
I love collards! I like the recipe that you list but I add a handful of red pepper flakes for a little spice!!

Even being a dyed in the wool NYer I love the collard greens! I also agree with the red pepper flakes. I like to make them saute and then braise. Bacon fried, or fat back, in a pan saute the greens in the bacon fat until they get real bright green and then braise in stock or water until cooked. Drain 'em and toss in the red pepper flakes and maybe a bit of vinegar (I like malt vinegar for this) and your done.
 
When it comes to you fellow southerners, I know I am just "preachin' to the choir" but Collard Greens are one of the best tasting foods on earth. Not only that, they are very good for you. They are said to support the liver in detoxifying functions among other benefits. But who cares about that, they are just delicious. Here is how we fix them:

2 quarts of water
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic power
1 tablespoon of salt
1 nice size of fat-back bacon (hog jowl)

In a large pot, bring the water, salt, pepper, garlic power and fatback to a boil and then simmer for about 40 minutes. While the water is simmering tear the Collard leaves from the stems (stalks) and roll them up and cut them in about 1/2 in threads.

Add the collard greens to the water, bring to boil and simmer for another 40 minutes. That's it! Remember the first part of the recipe is so important, this is where the black pepper and the salt, the garlic and the jowl release there flavors into the water and that is the secret to good collard greens.

I was just wondering are there other Collard Greens fans on the forum? If so, what is your recipe?

Great recipe. One suggestion though. Ditch the salt and jowl and, before you guys begin throwing rocks, use salted streak o' lean. It's just awesome.
 
I love all kinds of greens. It's a rare trip through Atlanta airport that I don't stop at Paschal's for some Southern food that always includes a side of collards.
 
Collards, turnip greens, and mustard greens... sign me up! I had some pretty passable collards at lunch today, but they were a little bit bitter and clearly not cooked with fatback/pork/bacon/etc.
 
Thanks Rich, I'm gonna cook up a batch tomorrow with some steaks on the barbie....um um good....

When it comes to you fellow southerners, I know I am just "preachin' to the choir" but Collard Greens are one of the best tasting foods on earth. Not only that, they are very good for you. They are said to support the liver in detoxifying functions among other benefits. But who cares about that, they are just delicious. Here is how we fix them:

2 quarts of water
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic power
1 tablespoon of salt
1 nice size of fat-back bacon (hog jowl)

In a large pot, bring the water, salt, pepper, garlic power and fatback to a boil and then simmer for about 40 minutes. While the water is simmering tear the Collard leaves from the stems (stalks) and roll them up and cut them in about 1/2 in threads.

Add the collard greens to the water, bring to boil and simmer for another 40 minutes. That's it! Remember the first part of the recipe is so important, this is where the black pepper and the salt, the garlic and the jowl release their flavors into the water and that is the secret to good collard greens.

I was just wondering are there other Collard Greens fans on the forum? If so, what is your recipe?
 
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