My Yankee tendencies came out big time today! I really am not a foodie anyway. Nothing like trying to do some deep southern cooking for the first time to snap you back to your roots.It was not too bad, just in the beginning, I was all wrong with my personal challenge to make a true southern dish. Collard greens. You see, I started my venture with this simple list:
• Collard greens
• Pigs feet
All wrong! (damn Yankee) I had it in my head that pigs feet is what I should cook with the greens. I was quickly notified by a couple I was chatting with at a local park that you cook Collard greens with Ham Hocks and Neck Bones. Say What!??
I first had to consult the above chart to see what part of the pig was the hock. The neck bone part was pretty much self explanatory, Needless to say,I was very happy to see and learn that the hock was far away from the rear end. So I set out on my mission.
And I adjusted my list:
• Collard Greens
• Ham Hocks
• Neck Bone
• Sugar
• Pepper
I got really lucky at the local farmers market. I met Fred and Kevin Sherman, a father and son team that happened to be selling Collard greens along with many other items. The Sherman's are from Thommasville Georgia. Fred was a very happy man, watching his son attend to the booth and conduct business while he spent some time giving me a great education on the proper preparation for collard greens.
First: Find the best greens available:
Check!
Then, Fred takes time out of his busy day and teaches me the best way to cut the greens.
Check!
Fred says you can’t have Collard greens with out Cornbread. Cornbread from scratch. So in my best Yankee tone I said, “oh you mean from the box?”
At that point Fred and Kevin looked at me and knew right away I “aint from round these parts” NO, said Fred, with Flower. I told him, for me, that is a totally whole new blog topic and that I needed to put all my energy into the task At hand-Collard greens.
Next: where do I find Ham Hocks and Neck Bones? Now, just for a moment, close your eyes and picture yourself in the middle of a big city, say Boston or New York. I mean the middle - traffic everywhere people hustling and bustling. Think of how it would be that in the middle of this, you go up to a random stranger and ask for the best place to buy Ham Hocks and Neck Bones. I would expect a look similar to this:
Here, any store will carry them. So I go local:
Macks meat store has been around these parts for a very loooong time. It made my day to ask, for the first time in my life- "Can you please tell me where your ham hocks and neck bones are?"
So, I get home and display my bounty like a true hunter, gatherer.
Ready to cook:
Cooking:
The finished product:
Wow! fantastic! These Collards rock baby! I just need to know what to do now with all these Ham Hocks and Neck Bones..I certainly am no going to eat THEM! or maybe.....I should at least try one?......nah.
My apologies to my wife AJ, my mother in law Muriel and to Burt up above for this topic and the use of pig parts in my ingredients. They are Jewish and can only watch from afar.
According to Jewish law, pork is one of a number of foods forbidden from consumption by Jews. These foods are known as "non-kosher" foods. In order for a meat to be kosher, it must first come from a kosher animal. A kosher animal must be a ruminant and have split hooves - therefore cows, sheep, goats and deer are all kosher, whereas camels and pigs (having each only one sign of kashrut) are not kosher.
I had a fantastic time learning about and cooking Collard greens today. I feel a little more southern after this, but think I may need to take the family out for some Brisket, gefilte fish and matza to make us all happy.
Oye!
