Traditional Southern Greens (Mustard, Turnip or Collards)

Submitted by little_wing

"My family's way of "fixin'"greens. You can use any kind of green or a mix. So simple but so good. Serve with cornbread for soppin' up the pot liquor! Measurements are approximates."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 25mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 4 bunches greens
• 1⁄3 cup cold bacon grease (3 big spoonfuls)
• 1⁄2 cup ham stock or 1/2 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper
• 2 pinches sugar

directions

1. Fill sink with cold water.
2. Put in greens, making sure they have room to float.
3. The greens will rise to the top, while the dirt will sink.
4. Let greens sit in water for about 20 minutes.
5. Scoop out greens being careful not to stir up the dirt on bottom.
6. If they still look dirty, change water and repeat process.
7. Finish the cleaning by rinsing under running water.
8. Tear greens into pieces, throwing away thick veins and stems.
9. In a large pot, heat the bacon grease over med-high.
10. Add the greens and toss well with bacon grease for a couple of minutes.
11. Add ham stock, salt and pepper and sugar and stir.
12. Cover and simmer gently until very tender (DO NOT BOIL).
13. As the greens cook, they will produce a lot of liquid that will cook down. Add water as needed to prevent burning, but only use what is necessary so your pot liquor won't be watered down.
14. Cook time will vary but usually about 3 hours The flavor of collards is much better if you can cook for about 6 hours.

Reviews

[WokBurner]

Little Wing, you must have grown up in Tenn., like I did.. Your steps are dead on! Almost like grandmaw did it! Only problem is that grandmaw couldn't afford to throw away the stems...LOL Chop those up in 1.5 to 2 inch lengths, and stir fry them in the bacon grease for maybe 10 minutes before adding the tender leaves... Also, I love a slivered turnip thrown in at this time... Adds taste and texture... Grab that hunk of cornbread, and be proud of what you just fixed: You still understand what good food is!!!

 

[cajunhippiegirl]

Growing up in the South we ate our fair share of greens, and I have cooked them like my MawMaw did for years. This is very close to how she did it, only she added some "side meat" or Ham Hock to the water & let it boil before adding the greens & seasonings. I made Turnips this time and added some Turnip Roots also. I did add a little "side meat" I couldn't help myself LOL Thanks for posting, made for Side into Slides Event 2009 in the Photo Forum.

 

[Random Rachel]

Instead of just using bacon grease, I used a whole pack of bacon :0) I also added a small amount of apple cider, and I followed WokBurner's suggestion to cut up and saute the stems after I saw how much the greens shrank. I had a 10 quart pot full of raw greens, and it wound up making about 2 quarts after it finished cooking.

 

[Amber R.]

I loved it, was a huge hit in my house of 6.

 

[Meme C.]

This was my first time cooking Mustard Greens and my family loves it. This recipe is great. They had so much flavor to the Mustard Greens. Thank you so much . I actually added the Bacon to my greens to since I was using the bacon grease.