I made these with Thanksgiving dinner because my husband loves his fathers soul food but especially his collard greens. I thought I would try to give him a little touch of his father who was not able to be with us for Thanksgiving. He commented that these were better than his fathers. Kootos to SouthernGirl3! The only thing I did different was put the liquid in a crock pot on low the night before with the ham hock. It made the meat so tender and you really get a lot of extra flavoring. Other than that, my recommendation is to make extra because they were so good.
This is an excellent recipe I have been doing it for years. The only thing I do differently is add about 1 TBSP honey, or syrup or even brown sugar. This gets rid of all bitterness from the greens. Everyone I have cooked them for loves them even the ones who say they don't eat collards.
I'm not a Southerner but I love me some greens. This is a great recipe for collards. none of the recipes I've seen on this site stress the neeed to wash the greens throughly. It takes a while and is the worst part of making them but very necessary.I also add somecoarsely chopped onion and red pepper flakes. Serve with hot sauce and cornbread, mmmmmmmmmmmmmm gooood!
Perfect. To reduce the smell of the collards while they cook add one pecan (shelled). Seriously it helps.
I love greens and was dying to make my own. This recipe was great. The only thing I did differently was boiling the ham hocks for a while before adding the greens. I was very satisfied with the results and will use this recipe often.
The ingredients are right on, but not the cooking directions. First, wash your ham hocks off and put them in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for about fifteen minutes and pour the water off. Then, start a fresh pot with water to cover and cook until almost tender, but not quite done. It could take as long as three hours. It depends on your cookware, your fire, etc.. You can boil them on high heat, but watch them and add water if necessary. Then, when they're almost tender, but not too tender, add your remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. You won't need too much salt and I always use crushed red pepper, a white or yellow onion, quartered, a few cloves of garlic, chopped and even some cajun seasoning. Simmer about an hour, or until the greens are the way you like them. Some people like them chewy, so take a few out after about 45 minutes and taste them for tenderness. These steps are necessary to keep from having your greens too salty or overcooking them. Serve with vinegar and hot sauce, like Louisiana Hot Sauce. Yummy!
I have been trying to duplicate the collard greens I had at a friend's house a long time ago without much success. This recipe did it! I added a heaping tablespoon of sugar to the recipe to provide a hint of sweetness and found the flavor I had been searching for. The vinegar cuts the bitterness and really cuts the odor while cooking. Thanks for the recipe!!
I've always had the worst time making greens. However this one came out amazin'! I cooked the ham hocks in the liquid for half an hour prior to adding the greens. I also added 1 tablespoon of sugar and half an onion(chopped). Came out quite tasty!
These were great! I used smoked turky necks, since I don't eat pork. I also used 1/2 broth and 1/2 water. They were flavored well. I fixed some cornbread and ate them with it....SO GOOD!
