Collard greens are one of the few unprotected veggies still standing up to the rigors of winter. They will look pretty soft and dehydrated after a particularly cold evening, but then they bounce back when the weather improves. My little stand of three collard plants was looking very good, so three days ago I harvested some of the outer leaves.
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| Collards to harvest, 1/18/2012 |
We usually prepare collards in the same way as kale, that is sauteed with garlic and onions. Good, but we prefer the kale. Having heard about slow cooked or crock pot collards, I have always wanted to try some. So yesterday I searched the web for a recipe, and found one that sounded good:
I found smoked pork hocks at the supermarket so bought the two pack. Diced an onion from the supply on the porch, and four beautiful garlic cloves from my summer supply. Simmered this for two hours, then removed the pork hocks to pick the meat.
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| Picked pork hock |
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| Collard leaves, 1/20/2012 |
The collard leaves were stripped and cut into inch wide ribbons. Turns out that it would be better to cut the collards into one or two inch squares, as it would then be easier to eat the smaller pieces. I put in two of my dried cayenne peppers, including the seeds. Then simmered everything for another five hours.
And it turned out to be delicious. With just the right amount of bite from the cayenne peppers. We ate some today as a soup, but you could also drain it to eat as a side dish. The liquid that is left is "pot likker". Don't throw that delicious stuff away. Instead use it as stock for some other soup. I am going to look for wontons. Added to the pot likker, it would be delicious instant wonton soup.
Pretty darn good for my first solo soup experiment.
George, what time do we eat?
ReplyDeleteCarla, it is nice to be able to still pick garden greens here in the winter. This must be favorable growing weather for you in California.
ReplyDeleteI planted collard greens this year, because I love them. I am not a patient cook that is the only problem. They are worth the effort and the wait.
ReplyDeleteHi 4Bs, ah, but the aroma of the pot simmering all day was delightful. My impatience was the desire to try the dish, my patience in knowing that when I turned off the stove, I turned off the aroma. All that was missing was your fresh baked rolls.
ReplyDeleteI must confess...I've never tasted collard greens...or kale...but it sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog today...I wish too that PPL would have agreed to simply top those trees, but nope...they wouldn't negotiate, even though they were only 6' from the edge of the right of way. We're hoping they will compensate us in some way (other than just planting more trees) so that we can construct some sort of temporary shade for the cows!
Hi Alicia, please try kale and collards this year. They will extend your harvest season by months into the fall. These two actually hold up to the heat of summer pretty well, though an infestation of harlequin beetles will do them in.
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