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New Year's: Traditional Stewed Collards

Source of Recipe

From "Beans, Greens & Sweet Georgia Peaches" by Damon Lee Fowler


Recipe Introduction

"These are the collards that are traditional New Year's Day fare in most Southern households, usually prepared with black-eyed peas or hoppin' John for luck and prosperity."

List of Ingredients

• 1 pound lean country ham in 1 to 2 large pieces, or a country ham hock
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, trimmed, split lengthwise, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 whole hot pepper
• 2 large heads collards
• Salt and whole black pepper in a peppermill
• Turbinado "raw" sugar, optional
• pepper vinegar
• Cornbread


Recipe

Brown the ham or hock in the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (preferably enameled iron) over medium heat. Remove it, add the onion, and sauté it until it is golden, about 5 minutes. Add 2 quarts water and the hot pepper (left whole) and bring slowly to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat as low as possible, and let simmer for at least half an hour - 1 hour will only improve it.

While that simmers, wash, stem, and cut the greens. Raise the heat under the broth to medium-high and bring it back to a rolling boil. Drop in the greens by large handfuls, bring it back to a boil, and reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Cover and cook until the greens are tender, about 20 minutes for young, tender greens or those that have been frost-nipped, as much as an hour for mature greens.

Taste, adjust the salt, and add a few grindings of pepper. If they're not naturally sweet, you may also add a spoonful or so of turbinado sugar. Simmer a few more minutes to allow the flavor to blend. Remove and discard the pepper pod and serve with pepper vinegar and corn bread passed separately.

Serves 4 to 6