I'm rating this 5 stars, although I admit I made some adjustments, but this seemed like the closest recipe I found to my favorite restaurant's version of collard greens. They turned out great, and I didn't have more than 3 hours to cook 'em! I plan on letting them go longer when I reheat. My biggest alteration in the recipe was adding 4 Tablespoons of sugar for a big pot of greens. Perhaps it's not authentic- I don't know since I didn't grow up on collards- but it brought out a nice flavor. I added a bit more than 4 Tablespoons of regular white vinegar (not fond of the apple cider type), because I like the bite, and only added one ham hock because I'm not accustomed to cooking with them and I was afraid that they might overpower the dish. Only used 3 cloves of garlic b/c they were huge, and ground red pepper because that's what I had on hand. I had a bunch of collards from my CSA farm share. It was 6 enormous leaves, just in case anybody's wondering what a "bunch" is. This made a really big pot- maybe 2 quarts' worth or so. Can't wait to see how they taste tomorrow!
Your recipe made the best greens I've ever had!!! I have made them 3x already. 2x I used smoked neckbones and the other time I used smoked turkey wings instead of the ham hocks. I also used LAWRY's season salt where the recipe called for salt. My 11 year old who usually hates collard greens LOVES this recipe and calls them MG's, which is short for magic greens. She named them that because they are magically delicious LOL. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I can't wait to show it off at my next family function.
Excellent! My born-and-raised-in-the-South husband said these were some of the best greens he's ever had. I did put in extra ham hocks, but otherwise followed the recipe. As another reviewer mentioned, these do have a little more kick than usual. Thanks, Brian!
NOTE: 1 BUNCH COLLARD GREENS = APPROXIMATELY 2 LBS.
NOW....THIS RECIPE IS PERFECTION!!!! I have been making greens for years. I grew up on "bitter greens" as we kids called them - turnip and mustard greens with turnips in them, with no smoked meat (that's how my dad liked them - he hated collards). As a kid, i couldn't wait until Thanksgiving at my grandma's house, because she made "sweet greens" - collards with smoked meat. Growing up, I only learned how to make the bitter greens, and was left helpless when I married a man who hated turnips and mustards. I searched and tried many a collard green recipe, playing with seasonings, bacon, salt pork, ham hocks....and then BIG B'S COLLARD GREENS recipe crossed my path. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY PERFECT RECIPE I don't know how long Big B worked on getting the perfect mix of seasonings in perfect proportions to make such a luscious recipe. But thank you! I must admit I substituted smoked turkey tails for the ham hocks, only because we cut back on eating pork. TOO DELICIOUS!!!
Delicious! The only change I made was I did not pull the meat from the ham hocks as I used 4 small ones and they did not have enough meat to make it worth my time. Instead I let them season up the broth and pulled them out. Then I cooked some bacon chopped it up and sprinkled it on top of the greens when I served them. I love the heat from the red pepper flakes they add depth that other recipes don't offer. I made some corn muffins to serve along with the greens as well. These are so good I will be making greens a lot more now.:-)
didn't like the spice... also missing baking soda for tenderness
FANTASTIC! I have never attempted collard greens before these turned out great. Easy to make house smelled delicious all day long. I cooked a meal for people that were very familiar with southern/soul food and everyone said they were scrumptious!
Thank you so much for posting!!!! This was my first attempt at collards & they turned out great. My husband and I both loved the flavor & bit of spicyness. Success!
Perfect! This got my son to eat his greens! FYI I used a 2 pound bag of chopped fresh collards and used the same amount of seasonings except for the chili flakes of which I reduced to a scant teaspoon. It had a pleasant but not hot kick. Thanks Big B!
