Collard greens are a real winter treat that I learned to cook when I worked at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. We didn't sell them of course, the restaurant that I worked in was VERY high end and would never have sold a plate of them to our clientele.
Most of our guests at Masons (that was the name of the restaurant) had very black and white ideas about food and ingredients. There were just some things that they refused to eat. Many of them had been children during the depression and had eaten so much of a few items during that time that they steadfastly refused to eat them at the restaurant.
Black eyed peas come to mind when I think about this. A comment from one guest about black eyed peas was something along the lines of "all we ate for three years was black eyed peas, god help me but even if I live to be 100, I will not eat them ever again!"
So our special with black eyed peas went down in the flames of our confusion.
We had a line cook at the restaurant named Will. A black man from the south. On New Years Day, he cooked black eyed peas and greens for the entire restaurant staff. All 600 of us. He said that black eyed peas and greens on new years day would bring good luck. This was the first time that I had eaten the dish and wow! It was great!
I talked to him about his recipe and he said that he didn't really have one, but he had some greens left over so he would show me what he did. The following is basically what he showed me with a few alterations of my own.
By the way, since I mentioned black eyed peas, I now want to eat some, so I'll do that soon.
Today for dinner I made collard greens for our vegetable. They used to be super cheap, but lately it seems that people have figured out how good they are...good for you and great tasting, so now, they cost more. Funny how that works.
I started with two large bunches of collard greens and separated the stems and thickest part of the ribs from the leaves.
Next wash them thoroughly in cold water and place into a colander to drain.
I had an end to one of my home made bacon pieces that needed to be cooked, so I cut that into medium sized chunks and started to render them in a pan.
The idea is to get the pieces a bit crispy and make them release some of the delicious fat. When they are a little crispy but also a little meaty still, add the onion.
If you don't have home made bacon, go and get some really good stuff. Not the packaged grocery store kind, go to a butcher or really good grocery store and get some thick cut smokey bacon.
I then added some diced red onion. The only reason I used red onion is because I had some lying about in the fridge, in retrospect, it was a perfect decision. I did it for efficiency, but a yellow onion would not have delivered as good a final product. So now I say, "use red onion, you will not be disappointed."
I sautéed this for a few minutes, maybe five? When the onions are slightly translucent, add the greens. It is fine if they are still a little bit wet. I use a very large sauté pan for this one because the greens are huge when they are raw.
I like to keep medium heat on them for a bit and turn them in the bacon and onions until they begin to wilt.
Add a little kosher salt, maybe 2-3 teaspoons, and cover with a lid. Turn the heat way down and let it roll for a while.
While the greens are cooking, they will release a fair amount of moisture. It is important to leave the moisture in the pan because this is one of the elements that cooks the greens and also this liquid is absolutely packed with flavor.
Remember to check the pan every 10 minutes or so to stir the greens so that none of them burn.
After the greens have been cooking in the pan for about 20-30 minutes, give them a taste. They should be tender by this time and most of the liquid will have evaporated.
Turn them off and hold them for service.
When it is time to serve them, remove the lid and turn the heat on low to let the rest (or most of the rest) of the liquid cook off. Taste them again and adjust the seasoning, they'll be delicious!
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