I'm not a big fan of leafy vegetables, but know I would be healthier if I ate more of the darned things. Please school a Westerner on proper selection and preparation of greens -- collards, beet greens and such.

Don't forget the ones that require special handling [speaking of health ] like poke weed !

Mete, I had to look it up to find out that only the young leaves and stems are edible, after repeated boilings to reduce the toxicity. Poor old Poke Salit Annie had a lot of processing to do!

and she had to do it because a gator got her granny you rarely see beet greens in the south. it's generally collard and turnip greens, boiled with bacon or fat back for seasoning. poke salad greens are mainly found in Louisana and Miss.

Collard, turnip or mustard greens. Soak them in the sink to remove (as much grit as possible). In a large pot add bacon, a garlic pod and water. Boil til tender. Do NOT add salt (while cooking). Season w/ salt to taste only after fully cooked (per serving).
Make some (real) cornbread and enjoy.

I love greens. The best I ever had was in an East Texas prison, cooked by the inmates. I was having lunch with the Warden, who my "court appointed" client was suing. The warden regularly ate lunch in the regular lunch line. Lunch was good; my court-appointed client, not so much.

What everyone said, you can eat them raw ('cept the poisinous kinds, boil 'em, sautee 'em, etc.) If you boil or sautee them, I like to add a bit of vinegar after cooking; pepper of course.

You can also sautee in bacon grease and use as an addition to a salad or with a meat dish, but that's not exactly traditional.

Feel free to disagree. Of couse the key is the salt pork or bacon.

Does it take but a few minutes of boiling to make the greens tender? Seems like they would turn into a soggy mess (thinking canned spinach) right quick.

Using a mixture of collards and turnip greens, soak or rinse thoroughly to remove grit. Stack the leaves and split down the center along the stem line, then coarsely chop. Slowly render 4-5 slices of bacon or a chunk of salt pork. Add greens, one can of chopped tomatoes and one large sliced onion. Add several dashes of Louisiana hot sauce and cover with chicken stock or water. Simmer slowly for an hour or two. The greens will not become tender immediately, so a slow simmer is best. Serve with cornbread.

bacon/salt pork are the key and cornbread is a must!!

David W and jdollar know their greens. Onions of course. But I have a couple of issues. You can use fresh tomates instead of canned, just need to cook a little longer. Canned are probably best.

If you use salt pork (or bacon) brown it first in a skillet and use the grease.

Tobasco is good, but not enough vinegar in my opinion.

Thanks, gentlemen. I promise I have the cornbread properly covered.

had an aunt that could cook anything I brought over... squirrels, rabbits... fish... she had the stainless "waterless cookware".... she'd take salt pork, slice it thin, then fry it crisp... then toss in chopped up greens... turnip, collards, spinach, cabbage....just a tiny bit of water.... she'd put the lid back on and in a few minutes it was ready.....

Sounds good to me.

It is good + good for you as well.I recommend a bit of pepper sauce to make it perfect.

most people outside the south don't know what pepper sauce is and assume it is something like tobasco. at least in the deep south it is small mildly hot peppers put in a bottle, covered with vinegar, a bit of dill, and allowed to age a few months. then you use it as a seasoning during cooking( moderation) or shake it on the greens( as well as other green vegetables) at the table. most small restaurants in the deep south will have a bottle of pepper sauce on the table.

Jerry, thanks for the clue on pepper sauce. I, too, thought it would be something like Tabasco. Can you give me a brand to look for in a true pepper sauce that I might find here on the left coast?

the only pepper sauce i have ever seen was homemade in unlabeled bottles, even in small restaurants. it's easy to make, too. great on greens, peas, butter beans, green beans, squash- just about any vegetable for seasoning.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Jerry, thanks for the clue on pepper sauce. I, too, thought it would be something like Tabasco. Can you give me a brand to look for in a true pepper sauce that I might find here on the left coast?

Very common in mom and pop type restaurants in the South. However, that said, I can't recall a brand name. I'll get one for you.

A quick look on net finds "Louisiana" as one brand, Trappey's is another, same companies that makes several hot sauces, similar to Tabasco, but generally cheaper and not as hot. Best use is on raw oysters.

BUT it is so easy to make, as mentioned above, just get some small peppers, the hotter the better, and add vinegar and spices.

Gato, I'm pretty sure we have various "Louisiana" sauces here, and I think I have seen Trappey's too. Would jalapenos be hot enough for home-made?
I'm pretty fond of this stuff, made here in Oregon:

http://www.secretaardvark.com/

jalapeños would be fine if you like a hotter pepper sauce but usually a milder pepper( the small, skinny ones, don't know the name) is used.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Gato, I'm pretty sure we have various "Louisiana" sauces here, and I think I have seen Trappey's too. Would jalapenos be hot enough for home-made?
I'm pretty fond of this stuff, made here in Oregon:

http://www.secretaardvark.com/

Well, maybe, if you like a mild sauce. I'd try to find some hot ones. Jalapenos have more variation than any other peppers I know in their capsaicin (how hot, more=hotter)counts.

The peppers usually used are tabasco type and are fairly hot BUT, remember, it is diluted quite a bit in the amount of vinegar.

If you can find some hot serranos, very common around here in stores, they would work IMO. Thai (quite hot) would work too.

That Aardvark sauce looks really interesting. I may have to order some.

If you want hot for the sake of hot, I'd recommend chile pechins. These grow wild in South Texas. They are small, smaller than an aspirin tablet.

We used to crush them and rub them into someones eyes if we didn't like them. Old school pepper spray and before they came down on bullying. It was a great self-defense tool as well.

Two or three will season an entire pot of beans.

That brings back the good-old days.

We used to play in the chili fields in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Don't know what type pepper they were, but the first guy to throw one started a ten-way melee that didn't end until someone was crying, usually one of the smaller guys that took too many incoming.

I remember one kid that I guess we ganged-up on. His mother had him in the bathtub with ice a short while later. He reddened-up real fast, and took a quick trip to the hospital emergency room. All part of growing up. I guess he was allergic to being hit with peppers.

Life's a bitch.

Great stories guys. No peppers to speak of in the Pacific Northwest when I was a grasshopper. Now, I can tell you about strawberry fights ....

Great thread, very educational for someone who lives on the other side of the planet.

John,

I'd be glad to give you a tutorial on peppers. No need to grind them into your eyes to make the point.

Purely cooking, don't ya' know.

For those who like pepper but not hot you can make a nice sweetpepper relish.Just finely chopped sweetpepper ,small amount of finely chopped onion ,salt. Quickly Bring to a boil so it keeps.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
For those who like pepper but not hot you can make a nice sweetpepper relish.Just finely chopped sweetpepper ,small amount of finely chopped onion ,salt. Quickly Bring to a boil so it keeps.

Peppers are like women, if they're not hot, they ain't worth fooling with......

I like young first of the year dandelion greens cooked as described above. Add a drop of vinegar. Very astringent. Same goes for endive. Or just fry them in bacon grease.

quote:

Or just fry them in bacon grease.

Well that's a backup plan to everything! :-)

I'm not a southerner, but love greens.
I prefer collards, but they take a lot of cooking to make them tender. Maybe not traditional but I brown a ham hock in the pot before adding the collards. Trim the big veins out, chop, add onion and a little water. Cover and cook til really tender.

It's a bit annoying that we can't tell where folks are from.

On this thread especially. JMHO