OKRA AND GREENS

Okra and Greens

What you need

• one onion, chopped
• two tablespoons of palm oil or any cooking oil, (palm oil gives the most authentic taste)
• one cup water
• one pound greens, cleaned, stems removed, ,and shredded: cassava leaves, kale, collards, or similar
• twenty okra
• two cups palm butter or nyembwe sauce, or canned palm soup base -- peanut butter can be substituted
• two or three chile peppers, chopped (or cayenne pepper)

What you do

• Heat oil in large pot. Saute onions until clear. Add water and bring to boil.
• Add all remaining ingredients. Cook until all is tender, stirring often.

COLLARD GREENS

The Best Collard Greens

4 lbs collard greens, cleaned and cut
1 lb bacon ends, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 large onion, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 large jalapeno pepper, sliced
2 to 3 tbsp of white distilled vinegar


Place the bacon ends in a pot, and place the pot overmedium heat.
Brown the bacon then add in the diced onions, and cook until the onions start to sweat.

Add in the minced garlic,then cook for 1 minute.
Pour in the chicken broth, and turn the heat up to high and let boil for 20 minutes.

Pour in the 2 cups of water, and turn the heat down to medium.
Start adding in the collard greens into the pot.

Once all of the greens are in the pot, sprinkle in the seasoning salt and ground black pepper.

Add in the sliced jalapeno, and the vinegar and stir the ingredients.
Cover the pot, and let simmer for 1 hour and 10 minutes over medium heat. Be sure to peak in and stir periodically.

CREAMED COLLARDS

Creamed Collards

8 to 10 servings

4 lb. Fresh collard greens

1 lb. Bacon, chopped

1/4 cup butter"]

2 onions, diced

3 cups chicken broth

½ cup cider vinegar

1 tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Pepper

Bechamel Sauce

Rinse greens. Trim and discard thick stems from bottom of collard green leaves. Coarsely chop collard greens.

Cook bacon, in batches in a stock pot over medium heat about 10 12 minutes or until just crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserving drippings in the stock pot. Add butter and onions to dripping in skillet. Add butter and onions to dripping in skillet. Saute onions till tender, about 8 minutes. 

Add collards to pot and cook, stirring occasionally 5 minutes or until wilted. Stir in broth, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add all but 1/4 cup bacon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally until as tender as you like-about 15 minutes. 

Drain collards, reserving 1 cup of the broth-use the rest for soup or drink it. Stir in bechamel sauce add the reserved cooking liquid 1/4 cup at a time to reach desired consistency. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the reserved 1/4 cup bacon.

Use the packaged already trimmed and chopped collards if you like, they usually come in 1 lb. Packages, use two of them.

Bechamel:

½ cup butter

1 medium French Shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup flour

4 cups milk

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Melt butter. Add shallots and garlic and saute 1 minutes. Whisk in flour. Cook 1 minute, whisking. Increase heat to medium. Gradually whisk in milk; cook, whisking 5 to 7 minutes or until mixture is thickened and bubbly, add salt and pepper and nutmeg.

Oyster Dressing:

Your favorite cornbread/bread dressing. Use liquid from oysters as well as broth to moisten it. Add a pound of chopped oysters and half a cup of parmesan or Romano cheese. C’est tout!

　

SOUTHERN GREENS

Southern Greens

Use a smoked turkey wing instead of bacon, it's just as good. Buy those big bags of greens they sell year round in the markets these days. You can use any or many varieties of greens, collards, turnip, mustard, beet greens or even poke salet (my favorite). Righteous greens are a revelation. The turkey wing idea came by way of the Abyssinian Baptist Church's Health Ministry.
Yields 8-12 servings

4 lbs turnip greens- starting weight before washing, trimming and chopping (note: may need to add batches of greens as they are cooking down)

4 ounces Smoked Bacon
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sorghum syrup
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
6 cups water (note: add water if needed so the liquid meets the surface of the cooked greens in the pot)

Roughly chop raw bacon and render in a large stockpot over low heat for 5 minutes before adding chopped onion. Increase to medium high heat and cook until onions are translucent. Add crushed red pepper, brown sugar, sorghum, vinegar and water and bring to a boil. 

Add cleaned and chopped greens and simmer for approximately four hours, stirring occasionally and adding extra water if needed. Once greens are fully cooked and tender, taste for seasoning and add salt if desired.