Recipe from Dora Charles
Adapted by Kim Severson
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- 4(38)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A good Southern kitchen relies on thrift and layers of flavor, and this dish is an example of both. Dora Charles, who put this recipe in her book, “A Real Southern Cook: In Her Savannah Kitchen,” says a lot of people she feeds won’t eat greens the first time around but love them in this dish, which uses the leftovers. You can add extra meat on the second cooking to make the dish more satisfying. Ms. Charles uses converted, or parboiled rice, but you can substitute any rice you have, including leftover Chinese takeout. Serve the greens with pepper vinegar or red pepper flakes and red wine vinegar to season at the table. —Kim Severson
Featured in: Dora Charles Moves On From Paula Deen, and Makes It All About the Seasoning
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- ½pound smoked pork neck bones and fresh pigs’ tails, or smoked turkey wings, or a pork chop or ham hock
- 1tablespoon Dora’s Savannah seasoning (see note)
- 1teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2tablespoons bacon grease
- 5tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1large bunch collards, about 1 pound
- ¼Vidalia onion, cut into half moons
- 2cups cooked white rice
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
357 calories; 27 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 20 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 9 grams protein; 34 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add neck bones and pigs’ tails, or smoked turkey wings or pork chop or ham hock, plus Savannah seasoning, red pepper, bacon grease and 4 tablespoons of butter. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
Step
2
Meanwhile, remove the collard stems by holding each leaf in one hand and stripping the leaf down with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Discard the stems.
Step
3
Stack 7 or 8 leaves on top of one another, roll them up tight like a cigar and slice into ½-inch-wide strands. Repeat until you have cut all the leaves. Then wash the collards twice, shake them and drain in a large colander.
Step
4
Add the collards to the stock, cover and simmer until they are tender. In the summer, they will cook in 45 minutes to an hour, but in winter, they will take only 30 to 45 minutes because the first frost will have tenderized them. Keep a close eye on them; you will know they are done when they are tender but not mushy. Near the end of the cooking, check the amount of liquid left in the pot. If there is too much, more than 1 cup, uncover the pot to cook down the liquid a bit.
Step
5
Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones. Return the meat to the greens and transfer to the refrigerator overnight.
Step
6
The next day, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet set over medium heat and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until it just starts to soften, then add the greens, meat and cooked rice. There should be more greens than rice. Sauté over medium-high heat until the dish is heated through.
Tip
- To make Savannah seasoning, combine ½ cup Lawry’s seasoned salt, ¼ cup kosher salt, 2 scant tablespoons granulated garlic or garlic powder and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper. Use on eggs and vegetables, or sprinkle over chicken or pork before cooking. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar.
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Cooking Notes
Jeannie
This preparation works with turnip or mustard greens, even kale, and they cook faster, but spinach goes slimy like this. For those who didn't grow up eating collards, the bit about them being tenderized by frost is crucial information. Frost cuts the bitterness too.
I'm vegetarian. In lieu of the smoked meat, I sautée a mixture of chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil, add my greens, then simmer in a low sodium, no MSG vegetable stock. Nirvana with a side of cornbread.
Donneek
Just like I would make it. I've done something similar for years with smoked turkey wings and brown rice, you can substitute chard, mustard or spinach.
Ferguson
This was WAY too salty for us. I would use just a teaspoon of the Savanah seasoning if I made it again. I also ended up cooking the collards with the lid off to get 3 quarts of liquid down to a cup.
Susan
"Summer" collards? Two tricks to help get rid of
the bitterness:
After washing, de-stemming & chopping, place in bag
(paper, plastic or fabric) & put in freezer for an hour
or more -- giving the leaves a bit of frost to tenderize --
or blanch leaves in boiling water one or two times, rinse &
proceed with recipe.
Bobdude
Didn't have bacon grease. Cut butter to 4 Tbsp. My bunch of collards weighed in at 2 lbs. before stemming. Don't know from Lawry's seasoned salt, so made mixture with sea salt, onion and garlic powders, celery seed, cayenne, and black pepper. Leftover smoked turkey worked like a charm.Cooking technique spot on, except way too much "pot likker" results. Saved this precious broth for use in other dishes. Used a whole onion sliced into half moons and olive oil, not more butter. Yumbo result!
Susan
"Summer" collards? Two tricks to help get rid of
the bitterness:
After washing, de-stemming & chopping, place in bag
(paper, plastic or fabric) & put in freezer for an hour
or more -- giving the leaves a bit of frost to tenderize --
or blanch leaves in boiling water one or two times, rinse &
proceed with recipe.
Meta
A nice alternative to greens and cornbread. Did not add the butter, which I didn't see the point of given the bacon grease and cured meats.
Ferguson
This was WAY too salty for us. I would use just a teaspoon of the Savanah seasoning if I made it again. I also ended up cooking the collards with the lid off to get 3 quarts of liquid down to a cup.
Lisa
Looks really good. Too bad my children are picky. :( I find it hard to cook something that they will eat, however I recently purchased Family Friendly Fat Burning Meals recipe book, so I can enjoy really delicious meals without worrying about calories. And the children love them :) Take a look inside the book here: http://www.reviewsbylisa.com/family-friendly-fat-burning-meals-review/
Jeannie
This preparation works with turnip or mustard greens, even kale, and they cook faster, but spinach goes slimy like this. For those who didn't grow up eating collards, the bit about them being tenderized by frost is crucial information. Frost cuts the bitterness too.
I'm vegetarian. In lieu of the smoked meat, I sautée a mixture of chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil, add my greens, then simmer in a low sodium, no MSG vegetable stock. Nirvana with a side of cornbread.
Joan Bowers
Sounds like a great way to adjust this recipe (reduced sodium, no meat)! Thanks.
Gigi
That is a great substitution. I have, in the last couple of years, drastically cut back on meat - trying to go, well, at least pescetarian. I find that sauteed mushrooms and cut cherry tomatoes, in brown butter, makes an incredibly flavorful addition to grits (in place of bacon). I wouldn't have thought of adding ginger, but I love that idea. Thanks!
Donneek
Just like I would make it. I've done something similar for years with smoked turkey wings and brown rice, you can substitute chard, mustard or spinach.
Gigi
I think the type of smoked meat one uses very much reflects the area of the country they are from. For instance, I grew up on a farm along the FL/AL line and we always used ham hocks or smoked pork chops, along with a bit of bacon grease. I'd never heard of people using turkey wings until long after I was an adult and found out that is pretty common a little further west. Very interesting! :)
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