Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Boil for two hours? Got to make sure every vitamin in there is thoroughly killed.
LOL! Could be.
The pot is not a roiling boil, but just boiling enough to move the water around. Collards don't lose their tooth after two hours, IME. Now SIX hours, yeah, they start to get soft. Many southerners keep most of the ribs and yellow in, and that might be one of the reasons for the really long cooking time. Tradition in the south is to cook greens to death.
Poke salat is poke greens that are picked from the first flush of the plant and then cooked. The proper way to cook those greens is to boil them, throw away the water and rinse, boil them a second time and throw THAT water away, then boil them a third time. Literally, if you don't do that, eating them can kill you. There is poison in the greens. That probably had an influence on how other greens were cooked as well.
TBH, I suspect a lot of the purpose of collards is not as a healthy addition to a meal, but an excuse to use bacon fat.
Collards and turnip greens are about the only greens I can safely eat anymore, as the oxalates in others cause me to form kidney stones if I eat them in any quantity. About the only greens I never cared for was kale. That used to be put on the plate to deter ants and brush away flies.
I cook collard greens every few months. Most of the time, I put them in the crockpot and it takes all day, but the last couple of times, I've made them on the stovetop in a Dutch oven. Total cook time is about 3 hours, however, most of that cook time is due to cooking the ham hocks. If you were to omit the meat, the recipe I use suggests a cook time of under an hour.
Here's what I do (Note: this yield is for 8 large servings, so I sometimes decrease everything by half):
1. Combine 2 ham hocks, 1-2 medium sliced onion, 4 crushed garlic cloves and 2 quarts chicken stock (I use low sodium). Add a little salt and pepper, 1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp brown sugar. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours until ham hocks are very tender.
2. Remove ham hocks, transfer to a cutting board and shred the meat off the bone. Chop the meat into chunks and return to pot. Discard bones.
3. Add 3 lbs collard greens to the pot (I use bagged pre-washed chopped collard greens, so there's no need to do anything else). Cook uncovered for about 45 minutes or more depending on preference for tenderness.
I love the broth, so I serve in a bowl with lots of liquid.
All of the methods above are more southern techniques and they are pretty good.
A Brazilian method is quite a bit different.
1) Remove the woody stems from the leaves.
2) Roll several leaves into a "cigar" shape.
3) Cut the leaves into a chiffonade - think about how you would shred cabbage for coleslaw.
4) Heat up a frying pan. Add in some chopped onions and some sliced garlic.
5) Saute the collard greens.
Miss Addie, a dear friend, now residing in Heaven, laughed when I brought her a can of collards from Wal-Mart. Guess she was used to fresh collards.
I truly enjoy Glory Brand CANNED Collard Greens. They are well seasoned and have a great taste.
Other decent brands include Allen and Margaret Holmes. They are NOT great but they will do in a pinch.
I live in Southern Arizona and it is hard to find really good fresh greens year round even though there are a lot of greens grown in Arizona. One of the paradoxes is that a lot of produce is grown in Arizona but you never see in Arizona supermarkets as most grocery purchasing decisions in Arizona are made in Cincinnati, Boise, or Bentonville, AR.
I cook collard greens every few months. Most of the time, I put them in the crockpot and it takes all day, but the last couple of times, I've made them on the stovetop in a Dutch oven. Total cook time is about 3 hours, however, most of that cook time is due to cooking the ham hocks. If you were to omit the meat, the recipe I use suggests a cook time of under an hour.
Here's what I do (Note: this yield is for 8 large servings, so I sometimes decrease everything by half):
1. Combine 2 ham hocks, 1-2 medium sliced onion, 4 crushed garlic cloves and 2 quarts chicken stock (I use low sodium). Add a little salt and pepper, 1-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp brown sugar. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours until ham hocks are very tender.
2. Remove ham hocks, transfer to a cutting board and shred the meat off the bone. Chop the meat into chunks and return to pot. Discard bones.
3. Add 3 lbs collard greens to the pot (I use bagged pre-washed chopped collard greens, so there's no need to do anything else). Cook uncovered for about 45 minutes or more depending on preference for tenderness.
I love the broth, so I serve in a bowl with lots of liquid.
That ain’t broth, thats pot likker. Wonderful.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
