Sunday Collards Recipe
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, peanut oil, or canola oil
- 1 smoked ham hock or smoked hog jowl or ¼ pound slab bacon, diced
- 8 cups water
- 3 dried chile peppers or 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 ¾ pounds collard greens (about 72 leaves, or 3 bunches), ribbed, washed, and cut into 1-inch-wide strips
- Pour the oil into an 8-quart stockpot over medium-high heat and swirl it around so it covers the bottom. Score the ham hock with a small sharp knife, and when the oil begins to shimmer, set it in the pot. Sear the hock all over as best you can and allow it to render some fat, about 6 minutes (since a hock’s shape is so oblique, it will become spottily browned, but that is fine).
- Pour the water into the pot; it will hiss and pop for a few seconds. Add the chiles and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes, until the stock is deeply flavored with smoke and spiciness.
- Add a few handfuls of the collards to the pot. The greens will float on the surface, so stir them frequently, submerging them with the spoon, until they have turned a bright Kelly green (3 to 5 minutes) and become floppier and more compact, so you can add more handfuls. Continue adding handfuls of collards, stirring and submerging them, until all the greens are in the pot (6 to 10 minutes). Turn the heat to low and simmer very gently for 1 hour. The greens will be a very dark matte green and completely tender.
- Place on plates with a slotted spoon, and pass a cruet of Pepper Vinegar at the table. Killer Leftover-Collard Greens Egg Drop Soup:
- Killer Leftover-Collard Greens Egg Drop Soup:
