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I love smoked meats and nothing pairs better with them than real southern collard greens. I also find that out in the campground I can smoke a good pork shoulder on a grill. If you’re into ribs you’ve gotta go check out Meatheads perfect ribs. I’ve used his technique for years and have never been disappointed.
Collard greens are a cheap southern delicacy. The acidity of the vinegar in which they are cooked cuts through the fatty smoked pork to pair perfectly! They add fiber to a meal comprised of fat and protein and that’s just gonna make everyone a whole lot happier.
Real Southern collard greens have a reputation for poor folk food. That’s okay with me. I find that the best tasting food on the planet usually has that same reputation. Once you learn to cook it, you’ve got a super cheap, high nutrition, restaurant quality meal. That’s the holy camper kitchen trinity!
Lets make em!
To make these amazing collards you need a stout sauce pan, (I love my 3-quart All-Clad saucepan!) a sharp knife, a good cutting board, tongs, and some time. If you’re making them to pair with smoked pork, then you know you’ve got hours to kill. Time shouldn’t be a factor. One of the great things about greens is that they generally only use one pot so you’ve got only one of your camper kitchen burners being used.
The first thing I do after my mise in place is ready is trim the collards. Now I know not everyone does this and if you want a a more rustic green skip it and go right to rolling them up and slicing them in a big fat chiffonade. Stack the leaves up on top of each other and roll them up like you’re rolling a giant cigar. Then with them tightly rolled, you simply slice your collard cigar and the leaves are perfectly cut to size. Give them a liberal salting and set them aside in a bowl while you get the other mise en place in order.
Dice up and onion and mince some garlic. You’re gonna need those in a minute.
The meats where the flavor is
Here’s where we may differ. If you don’t have any problem with pork then go ahead and dice up a few strips of good thick cut bacon or, if you really wanna get southern, a slab of salt pork. I’ve used smoked turkey legs for this to some success, but I just prefer the beautiful mix of smoke and salt flavor that bacon brings. For all you vegetarians out there, you’ll obviously skip this step.
The bacon is your fat, so toss it in a heavy bottom pot on a medium lo heat to start rendering out all that goodness. If you aren’t using a bacon, drizzle a couple Tbsps of neutral oil in your pot. Don’t use EVOO! Stop using extra virgin anything here! You’re just ruining an oil. Olive oil has a specific flavor that doesn’t always match what you’re cooking and extra virgin olive oil is best eaten raw. Yes. Raw. Don’t cook it. Don’t cook with it. It’s a waste and we all know in a tiny home like this, waste is a luxury that we just can’t afford.
When your bacon is good and rendered, (or your oil is shimmering) saute your onions until translucent. This will take a couple minutes but not too long. Don’t drop the garlic in yet. I know you want to. I do too. There’s nothing quite like the smell of onions and garlic cooking together in bacon fat, but its gonna burn the garlic and ruin the collards.
Go green!
Toss in the collards. Then using your tongs turn them over and over until they are well coated with fat and are wilting. Your pot will probably not hold the volume of greens you cut up while they are raw. That’s okay. As the greens cook and wilt, they drop pretty dramatically in volume. You can continue adding fresh on top and continue stirring them in until all the greens are wilted.
Set it and forget it…not really
Once the greens are wilted and bright, toss in the garlic. After that you deglaze the pan with apple cider vinegar. Let the vinegar reduce until its almost gone and add in your stock. Stir in some honey to balance out the astringency of the vinegar and some chili flakes to add some heat. Bring the whole thing up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer away until the greens are tender and the liquid is almost gone. Your greens are done and hopefully you’ve time it just right to pair with some BBQ!
Other stuff
If you’re looking for something lighter in the summer try my Summer Strawberry Salad with Seared Salmon
Real Southern Collard Greens
Equipment
- 1 Stout Pot
- 1 Good sharp knife and cutting board
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Tongs
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Fresh Collard Greens
- Bacon or Salt Pork
- Garlic
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Honey
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- Kosher Salt
- Yellow or white onion
Instructions
- Trim the collard greens off the stems, roll, and slice into large chiffonade
- Salt the greens liberally and set aside
- In a large pot over medium heat, render the fat from the bacon or salt pork, stirring until the meat is crispy
- Add the onions and sweat them out until the onion begins to become translucent .
- Add the collard greens and with your tongs turn and twist to coat well with the fat. As the greens wilt add more until they are all in the pan.
- Pour in the vinegar to deglaze the pan, stirring up any bits that are stuck on the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook, reducing the vinegar to almost dry
- Add the garlic, honey, red pepper flakes, and stock. Bring it up to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook until the stock is reduced and the greens are tender.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, adding honey to balance any strong acidity from the vinegar.
Rating: 1 out of 5.
