I got a mess a greens to clean!

*282*

This post is going to be short today because I have a bunch of work to do. I am doing better since yesterday and the whole thing with Monster. I do not want to talk about him because I start to cry every time I do and I do not have time for that. I am sitting here waiting for the Advil to kick in (my foot). I know it is Un-Thanksgiving in my house on Thursday but I had made a promise a couple months back that I intend to keep. I have found a great recipe for collard greens and I am actually good at it. Fred loves them. I had served them to my friend A once and she loved them. Then another friend J..and now my friend D. wanted some because I gave them to J. ROFL She got all perturbed that I did not think of her. So I am making some and bringing her a batch to her job on Thanksgiving morning (she has to work). Then A found out via Facebook and she told me that she wanted some too. LOL So this morning I went to the grocery store and picked up three more bushels. All the greens are selling for only 69c a lb right now. So I even bought some Kale. Chelsea makes a really nice crunchy kale that she sprinkles on top of some meals. Yummy! I thought I would share the recipe for the collard greens that I am using. It is no big secret anyway. I found it on Allrecipes.com

Big B`s Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 1 quart chicken stock (I use 2 quarts)
• 3 small SMOKED ham hocks (i use 6 because they do not yield alot of meat)
• 1 large onion, chopped (2 onions)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• water
• 1 bunch collard greens - rinsed, trimmed and chopped (Lord..I have 6 bunches)
• salt to taste
• hot pepper sauce to taste (no hot sauce, that is for the eater to add themselves)

Directions

1. Pour chicken stock into a large pot, and add ham hocks onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, vinegar, black pepper, and enough water to cover ham hocks. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 1 to 2 hours to create the broth.
2. Remove ham hocks from broth. Pull meat from hocks. Add meat and collard greens to the broth. Simmer for 1 to 5 hours, depending on the texture you prefer. Salt to taste, and serve with hot sauce.

Now this recipe does not tell you how to prepare the collard greens. You have to pull the leaves for the center spine on each leaf (discard spines), then you want to grab like 6 leaves, roll like a cigar, and chop small..it is called chiffonade.
*Chiffonade is a cooking technique in which herbs or leafy green vegetables (such as spinach and basil) are cut into long, thin strips. This is generally accomplished by stacking leaves, rolling them tightly, then cutting across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine ribbons.*
   Then you want to fill a sink with cool water. You are going to put some of your greens in there and give them a bath. You want to wash all the sand out. Empty sink, and then fill it up again. With 6 bunches of greens, I can do this two times in the sink. I would usually then time this event at the same time that that hocks and broth are ready. Then I would just pop into a large pot, put a lid on, and cook on low for at LEAST 3 hours.  You can go in there a stir a little bit every once in awhile but as long as the heat is low, it will be fine.  I am going to be cutting and cleaning ahead of time, so after I wash them, I am going to put them into the salad spinner, bag them, and put them in the crisper until tomorrow afternoon. If you do not like ham hocks or cannot get them, you can use smoked turkey leg. It is the smoked part of the meat that is really what you are after. I guess you could use liquid smoke but I never think of that. I like having the little bits of meat in the greens. Mmm! I think I may make some deviled eggs also.
After you are done, you will have a nice steamy pot of collard greens to share or keep all to your self.

I am sharing. A promise is a promise.