Collard Greens - Traditions #Recipe @Abby L. Vandiver

 

Traditions by Abby L. Vandiver

 

With the holidays coming up, there will be a lot of cooking going on in households everywhere.

In my family, as is in most, family members gather for food, merriment and to enjoy and reflect on what the holiday means to them. There is laughter and merriment and a good time to be had all around. A lot of holiday celebration, however, centers on the cooking. In most black families there are staples that come with every Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year dinner feast.

At my house, that feast consisted of soul food. I carried that theme into my Books & Biscuits Mystery series. A place were soul food is served every day! 

I can remember growing up leaving my mother at the sink cleaning chitterlings (the intestines of a pig). A smelly, time-consuming job, she’d be up half the night. In the oven was a ham or turkey, macaroni and cheese and candied yams just to name a few. And bubbling on the stove was a pot of greens.

There are several types of greens that were commonly found in my house. A favorite of my mother’s was a mix of mustard and turnip greens. Both have a spicy bite and often cooked together. Mustard greens, lighter in color, are more peppery and shrink to quite a small size. I can’t say that I followed my mother’s lead when it came to choosing which greens, for me, I’ve always preferred collard greens. Collards have a milder taste and more of a leafy flavor.

In my first post for Mystery Lover’s Kitchen, I did a cornbread from scratch and explained that it was often eaten with greens, I didn’t post a recipe for it because there really isn’t one. It is a definitely a “cook and taste” kind of recipe. But I would be remiss to my family holiday tradition if I didn’t. because there really isn’t a recipe for it. No one I know follows one and everyone adds a little something different—a touch of sugar or baking soda, chopped onions or a different meat from me like smoked turkey necks or tails. I can only you how to do it, but trust me, they are delicious.

So, here’s my recipe for collard greens, something that will be served at my house for each of the three forthcoming dinner celebrations.

 

Ingredients

7 bundles of collard greens

2 ham hocks (medium sized)

Onion powder

Garlic powder (or a glove or garlic)

Lawry’s seasoning salt

Pepper

Liquid from jar of banana peppers (optional)

 

Directions

First put your ham hock in a pot of water. Make sure the meat is covered. Add salt, pepper, and garlic. Cover pot and let boil for an hour. Meanwhile, prepare your greens.

It is important to clean greens well, there is often dirt and grit on the leaves from when they were harvested. Tear the leaf off the main and inner stems. A lot of stems in the finished dish is not palatable. A time-consuming endeavor. Then put your greens in the sink. It works better if you have a double sink, but if not use a dishpan to separate after each rinse. Clean the greens by running them under water several times. Once cleaned stuff them into the pot with the meat. They will overflow, but soon will shrink into the pot.

Greens need to cook until they are tender, at least one and half to two hours. Add water and more seasoning if needed as they cook. When there is about a half hour left of cooking, I like to pour a some juice (about a quarter of the jar) into my greens for flavor.

Serve with sliced onion, tomatoes, or if you life vinegar.

 Enjoy!

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