Exploring the African Presence in Modern American Cuisine: Twice-Cooked Collard Greens

Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but Mutability.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

I can handle change.  It's my friends' constant reminders of change that give me pause.

"You've lost your southern charm.  You're kind of abrupt... slightly aggressive... and just a little rude.  You've become a true northerner!"

"Do you remember in college when you said you would never live above the Mason-Dixon Line?"   (For the record, Baltimore is actually below the Mason-Dixon Line)

"Do you still consider yourself a southerner?" 

"What!?!?  You don't eat meat?  You've lost your southern roots!" 

Hmph! I often think of myself as a cultural ambassador for the Deep South, showcasing the hospitality, style, quirkiness, wit and culture of the region through every fiber of my being.  I defy all those trite stereotypes about southerners, and I'm hospitable and kind.  While that may be true, I'm also a changed man.

In my stretch of the rural South, we have an open-door policy and it's completely acceptable for people to stop by my parents' house unannounced (Yeah, that's not gonna happen in Baltimore.  Let's schedule a time to get together so I can plan accordingly).  Some people come to chat.  Some people ask to borrow tools.  Some people come to pick a "mess o' greens" from the garden.   See, my dad would always plant rows and rows of mustards, turnips and collards, and the garden would be like a palette, overflowing with different shades of green. We would eat 'em, preserve 'em and let church members/relatives/friends of the family pick 'em, too.  It was like a psuedo community garden and my parents were doing their small part to nourish the community.

Collard greens are a true delicacy and staple of southern cooking.  In fact, they are the official state vegetable of South Carolina.  The dark green leafy vegetable originates in the eastern Mediterranean, but it was the African slaves who popularized their consumption in America.  White plantation owners at the time considered greens to be weeds, so it was one of the few vegetables that slaves were allowed to grow and harvest.  The slaves took the greens and ham hocks--relatively humble ingredients; scraps--and slowly cooked them down with a broth.  This cooking technique resulted in the rich flavorful broth known as pot likker, and the practice of drinking the nutrient-dense pot likker is truly African in origin.  For a more detailed history of collard greens, check out the following links:

http://www.pauladeen.com/article_view/whats_in_season_collards/
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/as-american-as-collard-greens/
http://www.cutnclean.com/history-of-greens
http://www.gracelinks.org/blog/1798/real-food-right-now-and-how-to-cook-it-collard-greens

In these recipes, I make some healthy changes (hopefully, that's okay with my critics) by skipping the pork, which is loaded with salt, fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, and packing on flavor with lemon, fresh herbs, garlic, onion, and sauteed mushrooms.  The collard greens are first braised (the traditional cooking technique) in a lemony, herbal broth and then sauteed (in a pan) with mushrooms, onions, hot sauce, sugar, crushed red pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper.  They are deliciously divine and completely vegan.  Dare I say, they're the best collard greens I've ever had.

Twice-Cooked Collard Greens

Braising Method
Ingredients:

• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 lbs collard greens (washed, stems removed and roughly chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic, whole

Directions:

Heat the vegetable broth and water in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Season with the next 11 ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer.  Adjust seasoning, if desired.   Add the collard greens and garlic cloves, stir to combine and cover.  Cook until greens are tender, approximately 35 to 45 minutes.  Remove garlic cloves and bay leaves.  Enjoy.

Sauteing Method
Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb baby bella mushrooms
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 lbs cooked collard greens (about 6 cups), drain the pot likker and eat like soup
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• Louisiana hot sauce, to taste
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Stir together lemon juice, soy sauce, honey and Worcestershire sauce.  Heat a 14- or 15-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until very hot.  Add the olive oil and saute the mushrooms for about 2 minute.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Add the garlic, butter and soy sauce mixture.   Stir to combine.   Saute, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are golden brown and a nice sauce has formed in pan, about 3-4 additional minute.  Set aside mushrooms and reserved sauce and allow to cool.  

In the same skillet, add the collard greens and onions.  Saute until the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and reserved sauce, sugar, vinegar, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to the collard greens mixture and stir to combine.  Saute for 2-3 additional minutes.  

Cook's Note: For a gourmet meal, these greens pair well with a pan-fried firm white fish, white wine and toasted French bread.  For a more casual preparation, pair them with your favorite protein, beer and cornbread.

Shrimp and Crab Gumbo with Black-Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

You should know what's being cooked in the kitchen otherwise you might eat a forbidden food.
- African Proverb

Patience is not my strongest virtue.  I'm fiercely loyal, honest, creative, resourceful, compassionate, cool as a cucumber but I'm just a little, wee bit impatient at times.  Don't judge me.  With that said, I thought I'd jumpstart my Black History Month series a week early (Translation: I honestly tried, but I just can't wait ALL the way until next week.  After all, the elders did always say don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today.): Exploring the African Presence in Modern American Cuisine, where I'll highlight the presence of foods and techniques of African origin in modern American cuisine.  First on deck is okra.

Okra is my favorite vegetable.  My family planted the heat-loving vegetable in our garden every summer and it was a staple in our household.  Historians have identified the plant's origin as Africa, and evidence suggests that African slaves brought it to the United States by way of New Orleans.  According to agricultural experts at Alabama Cooperative Extension:

Okra "can be traced to the Nile basin in Egypt where Egyptians have cultivated it for centuries, according to accounts of the crop in the thirteenth century.  Okra spread through North Africa from the Nile basin and on to the eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor, and India, spreading to the New World from Brazil and Dutch Guiana."*   

To recap, African slaves brought okra to the United States by way of New Orleans, and one of the primary uses for okra in New Orleans is gumbo.  Gumbo combines ingredients and cultural influences from the French, Spanish, Germans, Choctaws, and West Africans.  There's reason to believe gumbo's etymology and preparation may have respectively derived from traditional West African languages and West African native dishes.   For a detailed history of this Louisiana dish, visit the Gumbo Wikipedia page.  For now, let's have some pot stirring fun and do the gumbo!  It doesn't matter if you're young or old.  I'm gonna show you how it goes.  Stir to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right.  Stir to the left, to the left, to the left, to the left.  Now mix, now mix, now mix, now mix.  Now, stir it by yourself.  Now, stir it by yourself.  Who said you couldn't do a cooking remix to the Cupid Shuffle?  Most definitely not me.

For this gumbo, I used renown chef Donald Link's recipe for Shredded Pork Gumbo with Black-Eyed Peas and made the following substitutions:

1. One pound of shrimp & 1 pound of crab substituted for 1 1/2 pounds of pulled pork.  Seafood cooks rather quickly.  Do not add the shrimp and crab until the last few minutes of cooking; otherwise, it will turn rubbery and be inedible.
2. Whole wheat flour substituted for all purpose flour
3. One container of white button mushrooms (washed, sauteed in olive oil, set aside to cool, and then chopped) substituted for 4 pieces of bacon
4. Two pounds of okra instead of the 1 1/2 pounds of okra called for in the original recipe
5. I eliminated file powder from the seasoning mix since I don't like the taste of it.  Hence, more okra to thicken and flavor the gumbo since I love the taste of okra

* http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0959/

Spicy Southern Collard Greens w/ Aunt Fadrie's Chow Chow

It's the end of another busy week and I'm beaming because I have something special in the refrigerator--collard greens.  I mean, honestly, there is no greater comfort than a bowl of spicy collard greens with my Aunt Fadrie's homemade chow chow.  I make it my business to pick up a jar of this delicious sweet, spicy goodness every time I go home.  I make several versions of collard greens, but today's recipe is most traditional and my personal favorite.

This recipe is one of the few times I commit pesceterian heresy and cook with meat.  I've tried smoked paprika, imitation smoked bacon bits, and liquid smoke several times for smoke flavor, but there just is no replacement for the smokiness of smoked meat in a pot of greens.  Since I wasn't cooking for anyone else in particular, I had plenty of leeway so I took the leap and grabbed some smoked turkey necks while shopping at the market.  

Right after cooking these, I came across this Commercial Appeal article on the most "southern" of all foods.  I was just as surprised with the foods mentioned on the list as I was with the ones omitted.  When their extensive panel weighed in, there seemed to be an overwhelming consensus that greens, potlikker, fried green tomatoes, okra, cornbread, barbecue, pork, chicken and dumplings, biscuits, and grits were the most southern of all foods.  I was very surprised that more people mentioned greens than any other food.  While I love greens and tend to associate them with southern food, I always thought they were eaten all over the country.  I was also quite surprised that there was no mention of catfish considering the South's dominance in catfish farming.  My list would also include chitlins, chow chow, sweet potato pie, sweet tea, pecans, muscadines, and fried chicken.  

Spicy Southern Collard Greens

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons canola or olive oil 
• 1 lb smoked turkey (any cut)
• 1 red onion, halved
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
• 2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 lbs fresh collard greens, washed, stews removed, rolled, and chopped
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the smoked turkey and brown on both sides, about 6 minutes.  Add the onion havles, cut sides down, and brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Stir in the vegetable broth.  Season with chili flakes, salt, vinegar, and garlic powder.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer.  Adjust seasoning, if desired.  Add the collard greens and minced garlic.   Stir to combine and cover.  Cook until greens are tender for about 45 minutes.  Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with a teaspoon of chow chow.  Enjoy! 

Cook's Note: The longer your greens cook, the more nutritious the potlikker/broth/liquid becomes (assuming you haven't loaded it up with salt).  It's best to sop it up with cornbread or lap it up with a soup spoon.