I grew up with southern cooks.
My mother hailed from Maysville, Georgia, and my father was born in Fort Myers, with a maternal side hailing from the Panhandle.
My father always claimed to be “more southern” than my mother, because he was born farther south of the Mason-Dixon line.
One of the things I observed through the years is that much southern cooking doesn’t involve using a recipe. Instead, it is passed down, as one cook shows another how to make a dish.
In my family, that’s true of such things as collard greens, dumplings, cornbread — and anything that’s fried.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a southern vegetable without including a ham hock, ham bone or some salt pork.
Indeed, every part of the hog can find its way into southern cooking.
My great-grandmother made some of the best “cracklin’ ” (fried pork skin) cornbread you’ve ever tasted, and I could go on and on with stories about our family’s southern culinary delights.
One of my favorite southern meals includes collard greens and ham hocks.
I am fortunate to have a neighbor who grows collard greens in his backyard, and every year we have the mandatory New Year’s Day meal of ham, collard greens, rice, black-eyed peas and stewed tomatoes. The collard greens and black-eyed peas are for luck and money.
Here’s my recipe for collard greens and ham hocks.
Collard Greens and Ham Hocks
4 pounds collard greens (best if cut fresh from the garden)
2 precooked smoked ham hocks (a Honey Baked ham bone is a nice substitute, if cooking more collards)
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Water
Rinse your greens several times under cold water to remove dirt or sand. After cleaning the greens, remove the leaf from the stem in strips — using your hands or kitchen scissors.
Place collards in Dutch oven and cover with water. Add sugar.
If all of the greens do not fit, just add more greens, as they boil down.
Place ham hocks on top and heat water to boiling, and then reduce to simmer.
Cover greens and continue to simmer for about 1 hour, until greens are tender.
Stir your greens often, and keep sufficient water level, so all the collards simmer.
About halfway through cooking, add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with ham, rice and black-eyed peas and cornbread.
(Those who like additional seasoning can add some pepper sauce, to taste, once the meal has been served).
By Sandy Graves
Published October 7, 2015
