Collard Greens with Country Ham Hock

I use a big ole hunk of fat back to do my collard greens. Ham hocks are ok, and I like them, but I like the fat back the best. Dunk your cornbread in the pot "liquor" too!! I am from NC, born and bred.

Smoked hog jowls are great in collards too, as well as a pot of pinto beans, chile, and any other dish that shines with smoked pork as an ingredient. We've even fried it up thinly sliced when we didn't have bacon and it was just as good.

Must be a 6 degree of separation time of year. Was reading a local supermarket flier and collard greens are on sale for .59/lb. Then whilst enjoying the peace of my morning's tea stumbled on a new way to season greens:

Sam Stifton wrote:
For dinner tonight, I’m thinking that a smoky bowl of braised kale would be nice, either alongside Melissa Clark’s recipe for grilled sweet and spicy chicken breasts, or to accompany mac and cheese, or just to eat with rice.

You don’t need a recipe. (And you could make the dish with collards, if you like, or any big, leafy green.) Place a big heavy-bottomed pot with a lid over medium-high heat and put a few glugs of olive oil in it. When the oil shimmers, sauté a diced onion and a few cloves of minced garlic in it until they soften, then hit the mixture with a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste and a good, heavy shake of smoked paprika if you have any, regular paprika if you don’t.

Stir that together and cook until it all begins to darken, then add a couple of cups of stock or water to the mix, along with a splash of red-wine vinegar. As it comes to a boil, add to the pot as many stemmed and chopped greens as you need to feed your crowd, and cover the pot to steam. Stir the mixture a few times as the greens soften, then season with salt, pepper and red-pepper flakes and serve. Holy moly, it’s fine.

Chrisatthebeach wrote:
I use two cartons of chicken broth, add water to cover, a teaspoon of hot sauce plus the ham hocks. The chicken broth adds a rich flavor.

I am making a big pot for a family birthday lunch this Saturday plus I have two 10 lb pork butts ready to smoke on the Big Green Eggs, I will cook both low heat with hickory chips for 10-12 hours. We are going to pig out big time. That and a platter of deviled eggs made from the fresh eggs I get from my neighbors free range chickens will be a big part of the meal.

This is where I want to go for dinner! It gets no better then that! When I made the broth I used a roasted chicken carcass, couple stocks of celery, an onion, and couple cloves of garlic. Added the country ham hocks and let it go for 6 or so hours. Then I used the stock to make the collards. Boned out the hock, added some bacon and onion. Best ever!

Never made collard or mustard greens that smelt bad during the cooking process but maybe it's because I add vinegar to the pot.

Jim,

You are right about the smell, last time my sister visited collards were cooking and we were getting the boiled eggs peeled and cut to make deviled eggs and my sister came in for a visit and asked if I was alright.

My mom's recipe for collard greens: Small amount of bacon grease in iron skillet. Saute the greens until wilted. Add salt, pepper. Cover with water and simmer until tender. Add 2 tsps sugar. Stir. Cook another 5 mins. Yum!!
We save the ham hocks for the black-eyed peas.

Yum, yum. Collard greens and ham hocks. Add some cornbread, green onions to chomp on, and a little pepper sauce (peppers soaked in white vinegar) to pour on the greens and go to food paradise. Just don't worry about the smell when cooking collards, they stink, but taste is great.

I use two cartons of chicken broth, add water to cover, a teaspoon of hot sauce plus the ham hocks. The chicken broth adds a rich flavor.

I am making a big pot for a family birthday lunch this Saturday plus I have two 10 lb pork butts ready to smoke on the Big Green Eggs, I will cook both low heat with hickory chips for 10-12 hours. We are going to pig out big time. That and a platter of deviled eggs made from the fresh eggs I get from my neighbors free range chickens will be a big part of the meal.

Being from the south I'll tell you chitterlings are just pain nasty. So is boiled okra. I fully agree with the OP about a good mess of collards.