This past weekend…
I was watching a YouTube episode of CNBC’s Millennial Money and I noticed a young lady purchasing a Can of collard greens. So it may be the fact that I’m a chef but throughout the remainder of the episode all I could think is why on earth would any one buy canned greens?
They’re so easy to make; and thus the inspiration for today’s recipe was born!
[Note from Courtney: Our mom mentioned this week that greens are a traditional African remedy for a cold, which is helpful during these cold winter months!]
Substitutions for this recipe can easily be made. For example the Collards can be replaced with other fibrous greens such as Kale or Chard. For the smoked meat, I’d suggest anything from the slab bacon I’m using to Ham Hocks or Turkey Legs.
Ingredients
- 3 bunches Collard Greens
- 1/2 pound smoked meat
- 2 quarts Chicken Stock
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon of lard/butter
- 2 Tablespoons of your favorite Hot Sauce or Tabasco
Equipment Required
- Kitchen Knife
- 1 Large Bowl
- Large Wooden Spoon
- 1 Large Pot
Instructions
- Begin by placing the smoked meat into a large pot along with the lard on hand. *if using slab bacon; dice into small uniform pieces before adding to pot.
- Over medium heat lightly brown the meat on all sides.
- Once browned, pour the two quarts of chicken stock along with salt and pepper into the pot and allow mixture to come to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to medium-low allowing the liquid to lightly simmer.
- While the liquid is simmering remove and discard the middle vein from each green and tear each leaf in half or quarters if you’d like smaller pieces. Place the greens in a large bowl.
- Fill bowl of greens with water to rinse and clean.
- After the Pot has been simmering for at least 30 minutes, add the cleaned greens into the pot and allow mixture to simmer lightly for another 60 minutes.
- After 60 min of simmering, add the hot sauce to the pot and stir to incorporate. Then allow to cool and enjoy!
*Optional*
You may notice that there is a decent amount of extra liquid in your greens, well worry not! This is what is referred to as your ‘Pot Liquor’ and there is never anything wrong with having too much. While you are more than welcome to enjoy it along with your greens, I personally like to freeze the extra liquid and add use it in anything from my next batch of greens (in place of chicken stock) to stews, braises or soups!
Easy Homemade Greens
Yield: ~6 cups for approx 6 people
prep time: 5 minutes
Active time: 15 minutes
Idle time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 35 minute
