Serving Size: 4*Dairy, nut, and gluten free |
Prep Time: 20 minutesCook Time: 2 – 3 hoursTotal Time: 2 hours 20 minutes, 3 hours 20 minutes |
“I figure it’s almost like a balance. We’re eating these wonderful collard greens… which are so medicinally good for you and, OK, so what if it has a little ham hock in it?”
Paula Deen
It’s not easy being green…
A smoky crowd-pleaser that can easily be doubled, tripled, or however many servings you need. These collards are a nice summer dish to go with your barbequed, smoked, and grilled meats. Of course, it can also go with anything else, too. If you get the nibbles in the middle of the night, it is just as good cold as it is warm. The collards store, freeze, and reheat well.
Ingredients
- 1 lb bag of collard greens*
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp of minced garlic
- 1 large white onion, rough diced
- 1 smoked ham hock OR 1 smoked turkey leg OR 1 cup smoked ham**
- 2.5 tbsp cider vinegar
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth **
- 2 tsp Tobasco, or to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
*A 1 lb bag of collards should be available at your local market. If it is not exactly 1 lb, that is ok! You can just go a little heavy on the rest of the ingredients. The collards should come precleaned, but you can always clean them again before you use them.
**We have found that the turkey leg will produce the best flavor, but having the smoked ham bits is pretty darn good too.
***We use the low sodium chicken broth so we can control the saltiness a little better. The smoked ham/turkey will add a large amount of salt but with no way to know how much salt is present on the meat, you have to be careful. It is easy to make this dish too salty. Remember! You can always ADD but you can never remove.
Directions
1. In a large pot, add the oil, minced garlic, and roughly diced onion. Start simmering over medium heat until the onion is translucent — about 2 or 3 minutes
2. Add the ham hock, turkey leg, or smoked ham. The ham hock and turkey leg can be added whole. If you are using a smoked ham, dice the ham into small cubes.
3. Take the collards and remove any large stems. Make sure the leaves are roughly chopped.
*You may need to add the collards gradually, depending on what size pot you are using. You may have to wait for the collards to begin to wilt so there is space.*
The collards should begin to shrink after a couple of minutes. It is ok if some of the collards cook longer than others — ultimately they will be left to simmer for about two hours so a couple of minutes here and there is not a huge deal.
4. After adding the collards, add the broth, vinegar, and Tabasco. The order does not matter as long as the vinegar goes in after the collards. Otherwise, the vinegar will boil off.
5. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Then turn down to low heat and leave to simmer for about 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes or until tender. Ideally, the collard stems will be softened and the leaves will be silky. The precision of the time is not imperative. While the collards can be overcooked, it is pretty hard to do so it will be fine.
6. You can serve the collards from the pot or move them to a bowl. Make sure you save the broth! It is tasty. Add the salt, pepper, and Tabasco to taste. Make sure you TASTE before adding any salt because it might not need any.
7. Enjoy!
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