Salty Collard Greens

There is a good reason that I call these collard greens salty. As I was preparing the greens, I was quite excited about the potential of them. Knowing I wanted to cook some southern BBQ, I saved the bacon fat from the morning's breakfast. The onions and garlic were giving off the most succulent scent. I was gathering my ingredients and I was seriously giddy when I added the ham hock to the pot. I went to add some sea salt and the container was being a bit stubborn. I tried to measure the salt using a teaspoon, but it was not going fast enough. I decided to just add a few "shakes" to the pot. Big mistake! As I was shaking the sea salt container, the top fell in the pot, and the ENTIRE container of salt fell into the collards. The entire container. Of course I screamed! Ben ran out of the bathroom panicking, shaving cream around his face and all. His solution was to simply "add more collard greens." Really Ben?

I ended up salvaging the batch by rinsing the entire pot through a colander. I got rid of the salt, but was worried about the flavor. I started a new batch from scratch using the old collard greens. In the end, they turned out to be quite alright.

I have lived in Georgia for just about 6 years now and I have grown to love collards. For a girl who grew up in the Midwest, I think that they would be approved by any southerner.

Need
1 lb bag of collard greens
3 tbspn bacon grease
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 smoked ham hock
1/2 can of tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 tbspn honey
1 tbspn apple cider vinegar
1 tspn salt
1 tspn black pepper

Prepare

Using a large pot, melt down the congealed bacon grease on medium heat. Add the chopped onion, garlic, ham hock, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add half of the chicken stock to the pot and turn to high heat to boil. Once the liquid is boiling, add half of the bag of collard greens. Allow the greens to cook down and add the remainder of the chicken
stock and collard greens.










Once all of the collard greens are cooked down add the half can of diced tomatoes. The tomatoes really do not add too much to the flavor. I just like the color. Finally add the honey, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Make sure your salt cap is on!

Allow the collard greens to simmer for about 4 hours. The longer they simmer, the better!