a taste of the south: collards

Growing up, every Sunday my family went to the Picadilly Cafeteria with my grandparents. In the south cafeteria's aren't just in hospitals and schools. Every Sunday we would go so my grandmother could get fried chicken. She swears she has eaten fried chicken every Sunday since the day she was born, and I don't doubt it. Cafeteria's serve your usual southern fare: fried chicken, fried catfish, turkey and dressing, fried okra,  macaroni and cheese, and of course- greens.

I love collards. Collards are a tried and true southern tradition. Every Sunday thousands of southern grandmas have a pot of greens(either collards, mustard or turnip greens) on the stove. My version of collards are a little different than most, but the flavors are the same. Here's how I do it:

Pin It

Collards
Serves a bunch

2 bunches of collards
4-5 slices salt pork
1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped

The first thing you have to do is stem and clean the greens. Collards are grown in sandy soil and they WILL be dirty when you buy them.

Then I chiffonade the collards. Chiffonade is a fancy work for cutting into long strips. Some people chop theirs. I like long ribbons. And then I wash them AGAIN. It never fails that you don't get all of the sand off in the first wash, and I don't like to take any chances. Sandy food is not yummy.

 

Next I boil the salt pork in water. You'll need just enough water to cover the greens. I use about 2 inches in the bottom of a big pot. By boiling the pork in the water you are basically making your own pork stock. A lot of recipes call for smoked ham hocks instead of the salt pork. This is up to your personal preference. I don't like smoky greens so I use the salted pork.

Remove the salt pork and let cool. Add the collards and vinegar to the pot of seasoned water.

This is where I kind of deviate from tradition. After boiling the salt pork in the water I chop it up with half an onion and fry it in a small skillet. I think by frying the salt pork it adds a different layer of pork flavor, and it adds a different texture to the dish.

I then add the cooked pork and onion to the pot of boiling greens. Continue to cook the greens. Overall they are going to take between 2 and 3 hours, depending on how soft you like them.

At the very end of cooking I add one chopped tomato. This is not something you will see in traditional greens, but I love it. I think after stewing the collards for 2 hours they need something fresh to kind of waken them up a little.