Robert Carter’s Braised Collard Greens

By Julia Reed

Total Time: About 1 hour
Rating: 4(36)
Notes: Read community notes

At one point, the only way people cooked greens was to boil them with a hamhock or a piece of slab bacon for hours until the house smelled so sour that it was indeed almost uninhabitable. But in this recipe, they aren't boiled to death, but braised for just 15 minutes or so in degreased ham stock. Not only is there no stench, but you get the great pork flavor that is such a compliment to greens without the fat.

Featured in: FOOD; Green Party

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings

1pound collard greens, cleaned and stemmed
2tablespoons olive oil
¼cup (about ¾ ounce) country ham, cut in thin strips
2tablespoons minced shallots
⅓cup aged sherry vinegar
⅓cup tupelo honey
½cup Smoked Pork Stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
¼cup butter

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Cut collard greens into chiffonade about ½-inch wide and blanch in salted boiling water for 10 seconds. Drain, refresh in ice water and squeeze dry.
Step 2
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté ham and shallots. Deglaze pan with sherry vinegar and stir in honey. Add stock and bring to a simmer.
Step 3
Add collard greens and cook at a healthy simmer until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove greens to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Heat cooking liquid and boil until reduced to about ¼ cup. Taste and adjust seasonings. (You may want to add a little more honey or vinegar.) Add butter, stirring constantly until it melts. Return greens to pan and toss to coat.

Tip

Tupelo honey is available at Gourmet Garage and Dean & DeLuca.

Ratings

4 out of 5

36 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

Suzanne6 years ago

If you have not tasted slow simmered chopped collards with ham or salt pork, you have no idea how good they can be. Practically speaking, it was a way to prepare collards without the time and waste of removing the stems and inner ribs. There is no way I would describe the smell of southern greens cooking as sour. That warm smell still transports me to my childhood home in 1940's Texas.

Diana6 years ago

Any ideas for a substitute green – we don't have collard greens in Australia...

Julie6 years ago

Kale or mustard greens would work.

SavvySue4 years ago

Try Turnip greens. (My recipe was different from this one, and both the greens and resulting pot liquor were excellent. ) Add 1 lb. cut-up, lightly smoked hamhocks to approx. 32 to 40 oz.. water in a slow cooker set on high. Cook on high 1 hr. Then add the greens, which have been washed & rinsed 3x, chopped (julienned), a bay leaf and some red pepper flakes. Cook 1 more hour reducing to low, after a boil. Serve with a good vinegar, ground pepper; salt if needed. Great cold weather fare.

Suzanne6 years ago

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