Hey guys, kicking off this week with a #ThanksgivingRecap before we head into December. Let’s start with the greens! Growing up I HATED and I mean really could NOT stand greens. They were so bitter to me! Greens along with a number of other dishes were among those that I didn’t like (such as cranberry sauce and dressing) that I ended up making for Thanksgiving. I made these greens for the first time last Christmas for my family and to say the least, even the kids were eating them. Now when I make them I add mustard greens to them as well to give them an extra flare of flavor. They honestly taste like butter!
My recipe is super simple and this is the way that I have found to be the easiest. As always I remind my readers to use my recipe as. Guide and take it add/subtract whatever you want to make it your own and unique to the way YOU eat/like your food.
Let’s jump right into this!
*Note there are no measurements for the seasonings because I eye ball this recipe. I don't believe in restricting these greens to a certain amount of seasoning because as they get tender the taste changes which determines whether or not I add or scale back on something. But for this recipe start with a couple shakes of each Ingredients: 3-4 Bunches of collards 1-2 Bunches of mustards Smoked meat of your choosing (I used 2 smoked ham hocks) 2 Turkey necks 2 Onions 3 Garlic cloves Chicken stock Salt Pepper Onion powder Garlic Powder Garlic Salt Tony Chachere original seasoning Lawry's seasoning salt Hot sauce (I used Louisiana) Butter Instructions: 1.) Pull the middle stem from the middle of the green leaves, toss the stem and stack them neatly on top of each other 2.) Roll up the stack of leaves and roughly chop up the greens 3.) Fill your entire sink up with cold water and drop the chopped greens in the water 4.) Let them sit for about 15 minutes, swirling them around in the water every 5 minutes 5.) Once the 15 minutes is up, drain the water and then rinse them again one more time with your hands 6.) Rough chop the onions and garlic coves 7.) Heat a large/tall stock pot on medium high and add about 3-4 TBS of vegetable oil 8.) Saute the onions and garlic, then drop in the smoked meat 9.) Next add as much or as little of the chicken stock as you'd like and bring that to a boil 10.) Add all of your seasonings 11.) Add the greens, turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid Check and stir the greens and add butter every 15-20 minsCook until they are as tender as you like to eat themServe and EAT! Now that wasn’t so bad was it it? The labor put into making greens isn’t strenuous at all. You literally throw everything in a pot and kind of baby sit them. The tricky parts knowing when to season, which seasonings, and when to stop. My rule of thumb is to add 1TBS of each at a time as a starting point for those who have never made greens before. Try this recipe out and let me know what you think. Until next time … With Love & Food, -Chef Morghan