Do you know that collard greens are really, really good for you? I mean, they are a nutritional powerhouse. I think a lot of people are scared of collard greens - or any green, for that matter. Don't be afraid. Greens are delicious.
There a few schools of thought as far as the flavoring of greens go: to sugar or not to sugar. I learned to make greens from Chef, who trained in Charleston: his were sugared. A former coworker, from Cleveland, thought sugaring greens was a sin. Personally, I like mine with a little sugar (Husband is in the anti-sugar camp, and likes his really smoky). To be sure, I like my greens made with what I like to call the Vietnamese mindset: that is, they include flavors of hot, salty, sour and sweet.
Greens can be a long process, but never difficult. This past week, Wayward Seed Farm was selling tender young collards, and they were a breeze to cook into submission. For this reason, I am recommending bacon rather than the standard hamhock. There are a few general rules for cooking greens, which you can take or leave, argue with, or whatever. First of all, you must cook them with pork. I suppose, if you have some aversion to pork, you could use a smoked turkey leg, which you can find at most supermarkets if you look hard enough. I love to include a ham hock, because there is nothing better then digging the succulent pieces of porky goodness from that lowliest cut of meat.
Secondly, take out the rib in the center of the green; it will never cook down and makes eating unpleasant. Other things are personal: you can choose to chiffonade (roll the leaves and cut into strips) your greens, or tear the leaves in quarters, or leave them in whole giant leaves. I have to admit that I kind of like them in really big messy leaves. For these young collards, however, cutting them was totally unnecessary, no matter how you like them. These leaves started off about the same size as my hand, and cooked down to nothing. One only had to remove the stem and rib, easy as pie.
Larger, tough leaves take a long time to cook - Chef told me to cook them for about 6 hours, but again, these cooked in about half and hour. I left them on low to simmer for another half hour, just to ensure savory yumminess. Look for tender young collard greens early in the year, and for giant greens later in the year. This method also works well with Swiss Chard. We'll revisit greens again in the fall, with ham hocks, when the first frost sweetens the crop and we have those giant, tough, weathered leaves.
Tender Young Collard Greens with Bacon - Serves 2
2 slices thick cut bacon or 4 slices regular bacon (I really like Blue's Creek thick cut bacon here), cut into lardons (strips of bacon; sorry, it's that restaurant french again)
2 bunches young collard greens (about a poundish), stems removed and tough ribs ripped out
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
pinch red pepper flakes, or a few dashes Tabasco - I prefer Tabasco here, just for the record
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
Place the bacon in a large pot and cook over medium heat until crisp and rendered, then remove half of the bacon to paper towels and set aside. Drain off most of the rendered bacon fat (you should always have a jar for this purpose in the fridge). Wash the greens but don't shake out or spin; place the wet greens in the pot. Add the cider vinegar and brown sugar, along with red pepper flakes to taste. Cook, stirring, over medium heat, until the greens are wilted. If the pot becomes dry, add a little chicken stock. Cook over medium low heat, covered, until the greens are very tender, 1/2 hour to an hour, stirring occasionally to be sure they aren't burning, adding chicken stock as needed. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. When you are ready to serve, add the reserved bacon back in, so you have some melty bacon pieces and some crisp ones. Serve with polenta or cornbread, to soak up those yummy pan juices - that's pot likker, for the uninitiated, and it's also very good for you.
