Collard Greens with Hot Pepper Sauce! (The dish that might make you rich!)
I have always loved greens. Turnip, collard, or mixed, I just adore them. Among the greens I like, my Grandmama’s ranks the absolute highest. No one can make them like her. However, I did learn that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing…
When I was working on my degree, I lived with my grandparents for a while. Grandadddy passed away while I was living there and it was just me and Grandmama. You can imagine how very different life was for the both of us with Grandaddy gone. Being a southern lady, Grandmama needed someone to take care of – because thats just what southern women do. I had mentioned before how much I enjoyed Grandmama’s greens and she was off to the races with a cause!
Every day for lunch, we had turnip greens. Every day for supper, we had turnip greens. There might have been a day or two in there in which we only had them once, but they always made a show before the sun went down, carried to the table by a very pleased looking Grandmama as she bragged on how much I loved to eat them. I DID love them and hers WERE the best but…y’all can just imagine. I ate every bite, every day, at every meal she served them at. After a month or two, I half expected to look in the mirror and find my skin had turned green. At one point I went to get blood work and the doctor was impressed with my iron levels, her exact words were “You must eat a lot of greens and such”. If she only knew.
I laugh now, just as I did then, about Grandmama making me greens so much. I did get a little weary after a while, but the thought that was behind them still made them delicious and to this day I still count them among some of my favorite dishes.
Greens are a critical part of our New Year’s Day meal in the south. According to our tradition, the amount of greens you eat is directly proportionate to how much money you will have in the coming year. Even my brother, who has picky eating habits to rival the most obstinate toddler, has been known to manage a bite or two on New Years day!
You’re going to need some greens. You can use Collards or Turnip greens, or a mixture of both. I am using Collards because that was what was available to me. This is what a bunch looks like. The bundle I bought had three of these and that is the amount I’ll be making today.
I start by chopping the end off like this.
Then I put them in my pot and run cold water over them to start washing them. Washing your greens is extremely important as they do have dirt on them and you want to remove that.
I also pick up each individual leaf and run that under the water, too. Then I place washed leaves in a clean bowl or dishpan.
These little ones that have clearly been feasted on by little critters just get thrown away. I don’t mind them though, I don’t fault a little buggy who has a taste for some fresh greens!
Now we need to get that big old tough spine out of them. If you fold the leaf in two and hold it, it will easily tear right off the spine. If you can’t manage this, just tear it off or cut it off, whatever works for you is just fine!
You just want to end up with a nice bowl of collard leaves like this one.
Now take a bunch at at time and just coarsely chop them up a bit. Don’t worry about making them too small, they will shrink a lot when cooked anyway. We’re just going for big pieces rather than huge leaves here.
Once that is done, put them in a large pot. In your pot, pour about two quarts of water, 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 cup of salt. You may put more or less salt to taste but I would wait and let them cook a bit before you decide. If it is too salty, drain some of the water and add fresh, unsalted water. If it isn’t salty enough, just add a bit more. This isn’t rocket science so don’t fret over whether or not you are doing it right. If it tastes right to you, its perfect 
. Cook these on medium heat for about two hours, or until tender.
Notice how they aren’t covered with water? There is already two quarts of water in that pot, they are just kind of piled in there but see what happens after about half an hour…
Now they are all sunk down in the water and cooking nicely. These still have over an hour to go. If your water starts getting too low, add some more while these are cooking. If you REALLY want some good greens, add you in a ham hock or some country ham slices while these cook and then shred it up and put it back in after the collards are done. I don’t have any ham hocks today so we’re doing these this way…
Now lets make some pepper sauce..I LOVE the pepper sauce!!
You’ll need: Vinegar, minced garlic, sugar, hot peppers, and salt.
In a pot, place all of your ingredients (recipe at the bottom). Give it a stir and bring it just to a boil. Then, reduce heat and simmer until it is cooked down by about half. By that I mean, look at the level it is at now and when it is half that amount (thanks to evaporation), your sauce is done!
Drain greens and place in a serving bowl after cooking them for about two hours. Drizzle individual servings with the pepper sauce… This sauce is great for so many vegetables!
Decide how rich you want to be in the new year and eat greens accordingly!
Collards
3 bunches collard greens
3/4 C cider Vinegar
2 quarts water
1/4 C salt
Ham Hock, Ham bone, or pieces of country ham, optional
Rinse greens well. Remove spines and chop coarsely, place in pot. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until collards are tender, about two hours, adding more water if needed. Serve warm with hot pepper sauce.
Hot Pepper Sauce
3 C water
1 C white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 hot peppers from jar, whole
1 tsp minced garlic
Combine all in pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until amount is reduced by half. Drizzle over greens or other vegetables. Refrigerate remainder.
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Thank you all and Happy New Year!
Gratefully,
Christy
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I love fresh greens! I wish that I had a tutorial like this the first time I made them. I didn’t know you had to wash them about 10 times (especially the ones you get from the produce stand)! Or remove the spines… Or cut them so much. They’re a lot of work, but they’re worth it!
I never thought about making homemade vinegar sauce. I’ve just always used it straight from the bottle.
I knew you were going to post a collard green recipe before the New Year! It’s my favorite part of New Year’s Eve….my mama’s(used to be my grandmama’s) collard greens with a side of black eyed peas. I plan on making a big pot on New Year’s Day, just for the smell. Now I have a new recipe I can try!
My daddy had a wholesale produce company for years. He also had a little farm land in the country to grow his own produce and eliminate the middle man sometimes. When winter came around.. here came the greens! He tied 3 to 6 bunches together and I’d have 30 or 40 of those a day waiting on me to wash in a washtub. Dang it was cold work! We lived in the city and if he planted any in the backyard.. we’d have stranger’s knocking on the door wanting some. You could tell the country raised people in the city cause they would just come on in the house without knocking.. I guess they figured that anyone who grew greens was country too and therefore a neighbor lol.
Daddy’s getting out of the hospital tomorrow. I think I’ll have a mess of greens and some buttermilk cornbread waitin on him when he gets home.
I’ve never heard of adding vinegar to the cooking water. We just add a ham hock or hog jowls and salt. I’ll have to try it your way…I’m sure it’s delicious. Thanks!
I have only cooked collard greens once. See this way of cooking them, I know I did not do them correctly. I had planned never to do them again. Maybe, I will give them another try later. Lois
I love greens. Turnip and collards are my favorite too. I like to fix ‘em with cornmeal dumplins’. Yummm
OMG – I love collard greens! Love them – love them – love them!
-Darius
http://www.everydaycookin.com
Yum, those look good!
Sonya You are so right, they are a lot of work but well worth it!
Oh Sonya, that homemade stuff is AWESOME!! You gotta try it!! Lol
Amiyrah hehe, I’m so glad I didn’t let ya down!! We are actually eating these on New Years day as well. One of the things about having Southern Plate means I have to cook everything early for holidays! Lol I really appreciate you taking the time to comment!!
Bill YAY! I am so glad to hear about your father! I loved hearing your story about the produce company, but the good news about Bill’s Daddy overshadows it all! Do give him our love (and some good food will definitely help). Bill, I am so glad to hear he is okay now. You take care of you, too. I know you’ve been worried and likely not sleeping well. Maybe a little takeout to give you a break…
WillowDee I love it with some ham hock or hog jowl added! I just didn’t want to drag both kids to Piggly Wiggly today- I’m so lazy! Lol Thank YOU for taking the time to read and comment!!!
Lois I bet that one time they were good, too!! If you give them another shot, let us know how they turn out!
Rebel Oooh I am soooo eating at your house!
Darius You like all the good stuff! One of these days you are soooo cooking for me, too! Lol
Mary I ate a big old bowl for lunch and I just LOVE them with that sauce!!!! lol
Thank you all so very much for taking the time to comment, I LOVE to hear from you!!
Gratefully,
Christy
Don’t ever try to buy the condiment made of pickled hot peppers anywhere approaching the Mason-Dixon or beyond–
Just don’t.
Stay where you are and enjoy your “hog feed” of grits and greens and peas and suchs afely in your own backyard, away from the scrutiny and criticism!
wait, no bacon?
I’ve made greens a few times and really enjoyed them. I actually even like them cold
lol, didn’t have any on hand, Olga! lol
caught me!
Christy
I’ve never been a big greens lover either growing up, but I think I had better start if nothing else than to be healthy and get the same doctor’s report you got!
Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmy! Love Greens!
Happy New Year Christy… just wanted to come here let you know how much I have enjoyed getting to know you over the last few months. Your blog is awesome, your food incredible… and you are a true Southern Gem. You always know how to make me smile and you are as sweet as they come. *hugs* I hope 2009 is the best year ever for you and yours
We don’t get collard greens over here in Ireland (so I guess I’ll never get rich that way!) although I do cook cabbage with red wine vinegar and apple, which sounds like it’s at least somewhat similar in spirit to your greens (so maybe there’s some hope for me
)
Happy New Year! I am away at the hunting club with my husband. But, we still had the required meal for the day. I cooked black-eyed peas, mixed greens (both seasoned with smoked hog jowl), mashed pototoes (homeade of course), cornbread, jumbalaya and pork chops. Everyone came to our camper and ate. They love country cooking!
FYI! I have hunted for 16 years with hubby and I finally got my first buck yesterday. Tenderloin is on the menu for tommorrow evening!
Have a great New Year!
So glad I found this recipe-I adore greens but I have never been able to make good ones. I have a problem though in that I am allergic to apples and so I cannot eat cider vinegar-I find that subbing a straight ampount of white vinegar in recipes is NOT the same-any sugestions? And oh horrors-I am allergic to tea too-sometimes I just crave it!!!