Thursday, March 29, 2012
March 29, 2012
Nothing much going on, except I have to figure out how to link a TOC with text, no page #s. So what am I doing about that? Cooking a big pot of greens. I went to the farmers market in Penn Quarter this aft, got a big bag of delicious, tender, new Russian kale (saved for later) and about twice as much "Asian" greens, whatever they are. I'm cooking them "southern style." It's based on Alton Brown's "Mess of Greens" recipe. You add the greens to 2 quarts of water and boil them. I also added a whole chopped onion and a good tablespoon or so of sea salt to what must be a good two pounds of greens (chopped, with the stems removed). As an afterthought, I poured in the rest of a quart of organic chicken broth that I had left in the fridge from something I made last week. Smells quite good, actually, and it's been cooking about an hour with 22 minutes left to go. I have never cooked greens that long before, but that's how they do it in the South. This neck of the woods is the South, being as it's below the Mason-Dixon line, which is just above Baltimore somewhere. Cathy grew up here, and this is how her mother and aunts and grandmothers cooked their greens--boiled the heck out of them for a long time. The great bonus is the "pot likker," which is jam packed with calcium and other goodies. It's too late to help my own teeth, which are falling out at an alarming pace. But what the hey. I've lost FOUR of my grade school classmates and my youngest brother this winter/spring. Their teeth were in much better shape than mine, but what good did that do them in the end? I guess the best thing to eat these greens & pot likker with is corn bread, according to Southerners I know. I do have some biscuits I made this morning. Not corn, but regular flour. That'll do.
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That is, indeed, a long time to cook greens; but, you have to try it just once! I normally boil/simmer them for just a few minutes to set the color. When I'm ready to serve them, I put a bit of butter or olive oil (no salt or other seasoning) in the spider and throw the greens in just long enough to heat them. WIWAK, I recall our stopping along the highway to pick dock and poke. Mom cooked the bejabbers out of the greens. She probably didn't want to poison us. Good eating!
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CC: lemme tell you, these are delicious! I usually slice the destemmed greens into very thin ribbons and stir fry them just long enough to set the color--as you said. They are fabulous that way, but so many people here eat them after a long boiling time, and they love it. To each her own. I also love baked kale chips--destemmed, chopped, tossed with olive oil and a bit of seasoning salt, and baked at 350F in a single layer on a cookie sheet. FAbulous! Greens are very good for us, so the more we eat them, the better off we'll be!
ReplyDeleteMy favored green is chard - which, in weather such as we've had this past winter, overwinters. I did grow kale one year (and it, of course, overwintered); but, never found a way of preparing it that I found good enough to make me try it again. I'm lucky to get Hunky Husband to eat greens, at all; so, I stick to the ones that I prefer. I've seen ornamental kale plantings. Do you know if they are edible or whether they are strickly for show? Pretty!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try making chips (without salt) out of the old leaves on my chard plants. Thank you.
CC
Speaking of greens, I've just become more interested in raw foods, so this recipe will not be on my list. BUT, kale is one of my favorites, and now I'm reading about how to "massage" raw kale with avocado - this is supposed to make it easier to eat raw. I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteI'm also thinking about things Southern since I just watched Robert Redford's "The Conspirator" with Robin Penn Wright as Mary Suratt, the only woman in the group arrested for Lincoln's assassination. Interesting movie - I couldn't stop thinking about it afterward, and woke up in the middle of the night with pictures in my mind from the film. Too much. The D.N.
My MIL raised in Tenn. cooked veggies southern style -- boiling the heck out of them on high. Am sure she'd be unhappy with the cooked crispy ones today. I haven't been into cooking greens much, though did come to like spinach years ago. These recipes sound good.
ReplyDeleteI do like lots of green salads and started mixing in massaged kale earlier this year when I learned about it -- massaging makes a positive difference. Often had avocado anyway, so continue with it. I seldom use dressings, but have thought I'd start using a bit of olive oil. The owner of a historic olive ranch (Graber -- has website)in nearby Ontario, CA regularly had a bit of his olive oil with every meal -- he was hearty and healthy, living almost a century.