Collard Greens

All props to the team at Turkey and the Wolf - vegetarinaized

(Turkey and the Wolf), New Orleans, LA

Louisiana inspired collards. Hard to make a bad decision on ingrediants with these, with the keys being vinegars, the touch of sugar, the Louisiana spice and a good broth or bullion of choice. Cooking times are up to you. Pressure cooker can speed things up, but time is always a friend in a recipe like this and permeates your home with wonderful scents.

• 2 bunches collard greens (doubling and tripling is easy, just need a pot sized for it. Increase other ingredients by 50% for each 1x in collard greens. So 4 bunches, add 50% more of all other ingredients). Washed, trimmed of thicker stems, sliced into ribbons.

• 3 tbl unsalted butter. Use 1.5 tbl of oil of choice if vegan is desired.

• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped or sliced (not super small mince)

• 1 tbl sugar (could try brown, or honey here)

• 1/3 cup of rice vinegar or other “gentle” white vinegar. (champagne, etc.)

• 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar.

• 3 cups vegetable broth. I really enjoy the Better than Bullion brand to make this. If NOT vegetarian, you can use chicken broth here, which is more to the original recipe. If using pressure cooker, reduce liquid by ~ 1/3 (so 2 cups).

• 2-3 tsp of Louisiana / Creole seasoning (Spice House). Smoked paprika + thyme + oregano works as well.

• Pinch red pepper flakes

• Salt

• Pepper

• Louisiana hot sauce - your choice

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Now what?

1. Heat butter/oil in large pot. (Cast iron is a fave for this)

2. Sauté garlic for 30 seconds to take the edge off and flavor the oil. Do not let the garlic brown.

3. Add vinegars and sugar. Take care, splattering and vinegar steam can be adventurous. Stir briefly (15-20 seconds)

4. Add remaining ingredients except greens, salt, pepper and hot sauce.

5. Bring to a simmer and mix well.

6. Add collard greens, salt, pepper, and just a few dashes of hot sauce. I like to leave the hot sauce amount to the table. If you’re a fan of it, add what you like within reason. If not, skip it entirely.

7. Bring to a vigorous boil, stirring down the collards, and then reduce to a low simmer. Slightly cover, and cook to your heart’s content. 1 hour likely minimum. 2-3 hours is also possible. IF using pressure cooker, you can prep to this point, and cook under medium pressure for 20 minutes.

8. Adjust salt/pepper/hot sauce and serve. If using a pressure cooker, use 10-15 minutes to reduce the liquid a bit.

9. Serve with additional hot sauce on the side.

Serve as you wish. Last time was over some black beans on toast. Turkey and the Wolf uses in a reuben-style sandwich that is to die for. Over some sticky rice would also be excellent.

Variations:

• Go Asian. Use all rice vinegar, soy sauce instead of hot sauce, skip Louisiana spice mix and hot sauce. Thai chilies would be interesting for heat.

• French - champagne vinegar instead of rice (but use the red wine vinegar). 1 cup white wine instead of sugar (boil off alcohol before adding greens). Thyme only instead of Louisiana spice. Could try herbs de provence as well. No hot sauce.