Eastern Nc Collard Greens Recipes

COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Rinse and dry the collard greens. Cut each leaf in half, removing and discarding the center rib. Stack a few leaves on top of each other, tightly roll together and thinly slice. Continue with the remaining leaves. Set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until hot. Add the smoked turkey and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sliced collard greens, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder and onion powder; season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir to incorporate (a pair of tongs works great for this).
• Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are wilted, tender and darker in color, 30 to 40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

STIR-FRIED COLLARDS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Wash and trim the greens, and cut into 2-by-3-inch pieces. Blanch in batches in the boiling water for 1 minute (begin counting after the water returns to a boil), then immediately transfer to the bowl of ice water. Drain well. Lift the greens up by handfuls and squeeze out the excess water, then spread out on a kitchen towel and pat dry.
• Heat a wok over high heat (medium-high if you have a powerful stove), then season with salt and let it brown lightly. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir until lightly browned. Add the greens and pepper and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Stir in 2 tablespoons oyster sauce and the sugar, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately.

LOWCOUNTRY COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Tear the greens from their stems. Take a handful of greens, roll them up lengthwise and slice them into bite-size pieces. Add the sliced greens to an empty, clean sink full of cool water and wash them, removing all grit, sand and debris. Drain sink and rinse greens thoroughly with cold water until water becomes clear.
• Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add 4 cups of water to the pot. (This will become your potlikker.) Turn the heat to medium-high. Add the cleaned greens by the handful, stirring them until wilted before adding more.
• Add the smoked turkey, bouillon cubes, garlic and onion powders, apple cider vinegar, black pepper and red-pepper flakes to the pot. Bring to a rolling boil, then cover and lower heat to medium-low. Cook until greens are completely tender, at least 2 hours. Most of the water should have evaporated by this point, with just enough left to cover the bottom of the pot, and the meat should pull away from the bones.
• Take the meat out of the pot, transfer to a cutting board, and shred the meat with two forks. Add the shredded meat back to the pot and stir until well combined. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and onion powder as needed. To cut bitterness, add sugar; if you'd like more tang, add more vinegar. Serve hot.

EASTERN NC COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Using large nonreactive pot, bring water, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes & ham hocks to a boil.
• Reduce heat to simmer, cover pot & simmer 2 hours until ham hocks are falling apart.
• Cool liquid & ham hocks.
• Pick bones from meat & skin - chop both roughly & return to pot.
• Bring liquid to simmer & lay the collard stalks in the bottom of the pot. Next layer in the torn leaves, putting the largest, thickest on the bottom above the stalks & finish with the tender innermost leaves. There should be about 4 cups of liquid in the bottom of the pot - not all the leaves are submerged!
• Gently braise collards with lid on pot for an hour. Low heat is key - high heat causes release of sulfur compounds (as same other members of Brassicaciae family -cabbage, broccoli), stirring occasionally.
• Expect the leaves to initially brighten & then slowly turn a dark forest green - and smell really good!
• Add additional heat with pickled peppers or Texas Pete (made in NC) hot sauce & vinegar as you wish at the table - Mmmmmm good! Freezes well in freezer bags.