Collard Greens Ham Beer Braised Recipes

BRAISED COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot with a lid over medium-high. When hot, add ham hocks. When they're sizzling, flip and crisp the other side.
• Add the onions and stir so they are coated in the fat and nestled under and around the hocks. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Add the garlic, paprika, cumin, cayenne, salt and brown sugar, and stir until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock and hard cider and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours, until the ham hocks are very tender.
• Remove the ham hocks and allow to cool slightly. Skim the fat off the surface of the stock. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bone (discard the fat and the skin) and chop into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces and set aside.
• Bring the stock back to a boil, then add the greens in large handfuls, pressing them down to wilt in the hot stock before adding more leaves. Add the reserved ham hock meat.
• Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the greens are silky and tender. Season with salt and serve with hot sauce and a splash of apple cider vinegar, if desired.

ALE-BRAISED COLLARDS WITH HAM

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened and just starting to color, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Add 1 teaspoon salt, the red pepper flakes and the brown sugar; stir to combine. Add beer and cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
• Add 2 cups water, the apple cider vinegar, the ham hock and the collard greens; stir to combine. Cover pot, raise heat to high, and bring to a rolling boil. Stir collards thoroughly to incorporate flavors, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring every 30 minutes, until collards reach desired tenderness, at least 30 minutes but preferably up to 2 hours. Remove ham hock; pull off and chop meat and return to pan, or discard if desired. Season with salt and pepper.

BRAISED COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the Cajun seasoning and cook 30 seconds. Add the ham hocks, chicken broth and 4 cups water. Increase the heat to high and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the ham is tender and falling off the bone, about 2 hours.
• Remove the ham hocks from the liquid. Remove and discard the skin and bones. Roughly chop the meat into bite-size pieces. Return the meat to the cooking liquid along with the collard greens and vinegar. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve the collards with some of the liquid.

BRAISED COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Place ham hocks, salt pork, onion, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and sugar in a large pot with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 30 minutes.
• Stir collard greens into the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, or until greens are tender. Season with red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

COLLARD GREENS WITH HAM HOCKS

Steps:

• In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the vegetable oil. Add the ham hocks and sear on all sides. Meanwhile, prepare the collards by ripping the leaf away from the spine. Pile the greens on top of each other and cut into long strips; then cut the strips to make squares. Set aside.
• When the ham hocks are lightly browned, add the onions and garlic to the pot; stir and sweat them until the onions are translucent and tender, 2 minutes. Add half of the greens and a cup of stock so the greens begin to wilt. Season with a pinch of salt (which will also help the wilting process) and stir to combine. Then, add the remaining greens and another cup of stock and cover to steam, about 2 minutes. Add 1-2 cups more stock, to just cover the greens and ham hocks. Season with more salt and pepper, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook, 1-1½ hours.
• After 1-1½ hours, use tongs to remove the ham hocks to cool (they'll be falling off the bone). Add another ½ cup of stock, the cane vinegar, and the cane syrup to the greens. Stir, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary. When the ham hocks have cooled, pull the meat off the bones, chop finely, and add back into the greens. Serve in a bowl with bits of ham hock and plenty of the "potlikker."

COLLARD GREENS WITH HAM HOCKS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
• Add chicken stock, water, ham hocks, vinegar, and peppercorns to the pot. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
• Strain solids out of the pot and increase heat to high. Add collards and return to a boil. Add bacon and reduce heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer until greens are tender, about 1 hour.
• Ladle collards into bowls with a little stock and serve.

BRAISED SMOKED COLLARD GREENS WITH PEPPER VINEGAR

Steps:

• To make the pepper vinegar: Bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil and stir to dissolve. Add the chiles and cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours to overnight.
• Smoke the collards in 2 batches: Preheat the oven to 200°F. To create a smoker, use two large aluminum pans. First, heat the wood chips in a cast-iron pan over hight heat, until they begin to smoke. Remove the cast-iron pan from the heat and place the hot wood chips in one of the aluminum pans. Then, using a small but sharp knife, punch holes in the bottom of the second pan and place it on top of the first pan with the wood chips inside. Add the collards to the top pan, place in the oven, and smoke for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• In a Dutch oven, sweat the red and white onions, leeks, and shallot with 2 cups of the olive oil and a nice pinch of salt. Add the smoked collards in increments until they cook down, then add more. Once all of the collards are in the pot, add the remaining oil and 8 cups of water. Cook, covered, on low heat, until done, about 1½ to 2 hours.
• To serve: Dress the collard greens with the pepper vinegar to taste.

BRAISED COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Strip the collards off the stems and tear into pieces. Discard the stems.
• In a large stock pot, sauté the diced bacon over medium heat until it has rendered out most of its fat and has browned.
• Add the onions to the pot and sauté until browned.
• Add the greens a handful at a time, and sauté over medium heat, while stirring. Once one handful wilts, add the next handful. Continue until all the greens are wilted.
• Add the sliced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds - just until it becomes fragrant.
• Add 1 quart of the stock. If this is not enough to cover the greens, keep adding stock (or water, if you don't have any more stock) until the greens are covered.
• Add the bay leaves, sugar, pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt. A NOTE ON THE AMOUNT OF SALT TO USE: I use home made ham hock stock to make this, and the saltiness of the stock depends on the saltiness of the hocks they are made from (this can vary considerably). Because of this it is important to always taste the stock you are working with before adding any additional salt to the dish. If you are using store bought chicken stock, I would not add any salt at this point. I would cook the greens for 2 hours, and then taste to see if you need any additional salt. Store bought chicken stock is very salty, even the "less sodium" kind. You can always put more salt in, but you can't take it out, so go easy here.
• Bring to a boil and stir well. Lower the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.
• Remove the bay leaves and taste the greens. If you think they need more salt, now is the time to add it.
• IF YOU ARE MAKING THE GREENS AHEAD OF TIME:.
• Leave the bay leaves in the pot. Taste and add more salt IF NEEDED. Refrigerate for up to 2 days. When you are ready to serve, re-heat the greens on the stove over medium heat. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

QUICK COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine ham hock, collard greens, and 8 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until collards are very tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove ham hock, and discard. Add vinegar, and season with salt and pepper. Serve collards with their broth, and, if desired, hot sauce.

SLOW-COOKER COLLARD GREENS WITH HAM

Steps:

• Spray 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In 12-inch skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat until hot. Cook ham bone in oil 4 to 6 minutes, turning several times, until browned on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker.
• Add remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil to same skillet. Add onions and pepper flakes; cook over medium heat 2 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown. Add garlic and brown sugar; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth; heat just to simmering. Stir in greens, a few handfuls at a time, until wilted slightly.
• Pour mixture around ham bone in slow cooker. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or until collards reach desired tenderness. Remove bone; chop ham from bone, and stir into greens. Stir in vinegar.