Essentials: Collard Greens
People don’t eat collard greens often enough, probably because they just haven’t tried them—they look deceptively old-fashioned and limp, like something on offer at a depressing cafeteria or prepared by your grandmother who isn’t such a good cook. When I was a child, they definitely fell into my category why would anyone eat that, and even when I finally grew up and embraced green vegetables, I liked ‘em firm and bright—not soft, murky, and bacon-studded. I came around (was forced to, really, by boredom with the standard repertoire of Italianate sautéed greens), even to the point of wishing we could serve collards alongside the fried chicken and corn pudding at our wedding. We left them off the menu since I was worried people wouldn’t try them, but my evangelical zeal has not diminished: please make yourself a pot of collard greens.
Tender, smoky, mellow, and toothsome, long-simmered greens make a great side dish for barbecue and fried chicken, among other things, and are also good with nothing but rice. I like them at room temperature as much as I like them hot. Even after I was converted to the greens, I was skeptical about the supposed deliciousness of pot likker, their simmering liquid, which Southerners will sip straight up. Well, what a fool I was—pot likker is delicious, especially with corn bread. Even dry, disappointing corn bread shines when combined with collard greens.
About the author: Robin Bellinger recently escaped a career in book publishing, which was cutting into her cooking time. Now she's a freelance editor and can bake bread on Tuesday afternoon if she feels like it. She lives in Midtown Manhattan with her husband and blogs about cooking and crafting at home*economics.
Collard Greens
- serves 8, I think -
Ingredients
1 bunch collard greens (usually 1 1/2 to 2 pounds), well washed
1 teaspoon olive oil
Big pinch red pepper flakes, to taste
1⁄4 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 or 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cups broth or water
Salt and pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon chipotle pepper, optional but recommended
Procedure
1. Cut the tough central stems from the collard leaves. Stack the leaves, roll them up lengthwise, and slice crosswise into ribbons.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pot over medium heat and add the red pepper flakes and bacon. Cook until the fat renders out and the bacon is getting crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon.
3. Add the garlic and onion and turn the heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and golden. This should take at least 10 minutes. Do not allow the onion and garlic to darken; lower the heat if necessary.
4. Add the collard greens to the pot in big handfuls, stirring each one until wilted. Add the bacon back to the pot. Pour in the broth or water and season with a little salt and pepper. (Be careful about adding too much salt to greens, as they will cook down and the salt will concentrate.) Bring to a low simmer, cover, lower the heat, and cook for as long as it takes to reach the tenderness you prefer. Twenty to 30 minutes is about right for me.
5. Taste for salt and pepper. If you like, stir in 1/2 teaspoon or more minced chipotle in adobo.
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12 Comments:
((((((((((((Robin)))))))))))
You poor thing - you did yourself and your wedding guests a great disservice by not serving collards at your wedding. So glad to see that someone appreciates them. I grew up on them - my mom's parents were from South Carolina and moved north as part of the Great Migration, and thank heavens they brought their collard green recipe with them. I suffered from digestive problems as a kid (ok, I was constipated), and my grandpa would always serve me a heaping plate of collards with a piece of smoked meat. Sometimes with chow-chow, sometimes not. But hey, they worked.
I'll admit, I was intimidated by them as an adult, in the sense that I was afraid to make them from scratch. I always got them frozen and they never turned out right. I called Mom over the phone and she took me through the process step by step (the recipe is quite similar to yours), and they came out fantastic. I always end up making too much (I live alone), but I absolutely adore collards. Thanks for posting your experiences with them.
BITTER at 2:46PM on 07/11/08
I have to say this is one of the few times I would recommend against bacon...I can't believe I just typed that.
Here's what I mean though. Go buy a smoked ham hock or two. Keep them in your freezer. When you get the hankerin' for this recipe, sub ham hocks for the bacon.
Used the bacon to wrap whatever you're serving the greens with.
I also go with broth over water always, and use thyme as a spice, no pepper flakes or chipotle (ugh, really, first time I've looked at a Serious Eats recipe and thought "what are they doing to this food.")
kitchengeeking at 2:50PM on 07/11/08
Blackeyed peas, hamhock and collard soup.......make myself sick eating until I bust....
Markbb at 3:15PM on 07/11/08
I adore slow-cooked collards. Another sub for bacon is a smoked turkey wing--throw it in with the water you've simmered it in and then shred the meat. I also always pitch in a spoonful of sugar and a hit of balsamic vinegar. Sounds weird, but it works (lord, the pot liquor...).
thdx3 at 3:31PM on 07/11/08
I like to get the ham hock in the simmering water at least 30 or 40 minutes before the greens to make a kind of ham broth to cook them in. Don't forget the splash of hot pepper vinegar on the cooked greens for a little zip.
blueskyman at 3:46PM on 07/11/08
@blueskyman--Yeah, no bacon here, either, it's ham hocks, baby. We simmer the ham hock way before adding the greens, too. And we add a sploosh of apple cider vinegar. Other wise, basically the same as Robin's.
wookie at 4:09PM on 07/11/08
Sorry if this is a stupid question but...are collards always a specific type of vegetable? Is it the "collard" plant? I ask because I'm used to eating a bazillion leafy, steamy green plants that I don't know the name of that we get from the Asian supermarket, and I just wanted to know whether collards are a category or a species. :)
Pammeh at 4:59PM on 07/11/08
@ Pammeh: Collards are a specific plant in the cabbage family. I've never seen them in any of the Asian or Indian markets I go to, even though I bet they'd make a great kimchee and my favorite way of preparing collards is haak, a Kashmiri dish.
kurteye at 6:57PM on 07/11/08
Bacon would be okay, ham hocks better, but I have to say that smoked turkey legs are the best. Just last week I used them in collards for the first time. Same great smokiness, but much more delicious meat to pick off the bone and return to the pot of cooked greens.
I feel the 20-30 minutes cooking time in this recipe is misleading. Collards are the toughest green out there. I like them to be as tender as lightly sauteed spinach, and in my experience that always takes simmering the collards for 60 minutes or more. Cook them to your taste, of course, but certainly don't give up at 30 minutes.
If you like them, I highly recommend growing collard greens yourself. The plants are vigorous, productive, frost-resistant, and attractive. I live in upstate New York. I planted eight plants and I can't eat 'em fast enough.
kurteye at 8:17PM on 07/11/08
I try to find a smoked ham shank rather than a hock or two. However, I fry a little bacon first and cook some onions and garlic in the bacon grease. I agree with blueskyman re the pre-cooking of the hocks and/or the shanks. Collards, by the way, are what fed the Confederate troops during the civil war.
1stmakearoux at 11:35PM on 07/11/08
My earliest food memory is sitting in the kitchen while my grandmother made her collards greens...with salt pork, onion, vinegar and chile peppers. As a professional chef, I have made them using smoked ham hocks, a prosciutto bone, smoked turkey wings and even smoked tofu....
iwannacook at 3:48PM on 07/12/08
Definitely need to add lots of vinegar and smoked neckbones to that recipe.
electroboy at 2:48PM on 07/15/08