Post by Kathy on Aug 21, 2016 20:37:52 GMT
Collard Greens
Thanks to my friends Carol (Cookie Carol), Corinna (bebeblues) and Kate (KY Kate) for sharing their recipes for Collard Greens! I used a combination of all of their idea's and recipes and turned out a fantastic pot of Collard Greens that we loved!
After all of these years my hubby decided he likes Collard Greens! The only green vegetable he would eat was green beans until he tried my Collard Greens at a local BBQ place we ate at recently! He said I had to make them at home and that's exactly what a did with a little help from my friends!
They turned out fantastic for my first go around with them! I wouldn't change a thing! The saltiness of the ham and chicken broth, simmering with onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and vinegar made for a very tasty collard green! Nothing like the smell from fresh Collard Greens cooking in the kitchen! My house smelled amazing! Our tummies were filled with love! Yummy!
1 pound cottage ham butt (can also use crisp cooked bacon)
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste (there was enough salt from the ham and chicken broth so don't add a lot of salt)
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
3 large bunches fresh collard greens, washed and cut
Cut up ham into pieces. Boil enough water to cover the ham in an 8 quart pot and boil ham until done, about 1½ hours, adding more water if needed. Remove from pot and shred.
To clean and cut the greens, remove the stems that run down the center by holding the leaf in your left hand and the stem in your right hand. Pull the stem down with your right hand to strip the leaf. The tender young leaves in the heart of the collards don't need to be stripped. Discard all stems. Wash the greens in a sink full of cold water. Drain the water and repeat the washing process three or four times until you have removed all the grit that often sticks to the leaves. It seems like at the bigger grocery stores they are a lot cleaner nowadays so you may not have to wash as much. Cut the collard greens into slices about 3/4-inch thick. This is easiest if you stack several leaves together, roll them up, and slice through them all at once.
Keeping the water in the pot, add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, vinegar, salt & pepper and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
Add washed and cut greens to the boiling broth. Hard boil for 30 minutes and then lower the heat to simmer adding your shredded ham back into the pot at this point and simmer (covered) until tender. Mine took about 1½ hours to the tenderness we like. Stir occasionally; if the liquid is getting too low, add additional water to keep from scorching.
You can add a splash of vinegar or hot sauce if desired to the finished greens but we did not.
Serve
