Southern Collard Greens

Southern Collard Greens

These are the collard greens you grew up eating. Low and slow, cooked down in a rich pot liquor with smoked ham hocks until every leaf is tender and full of flavor. Tiger Life Gourmet Southern Collards Seasoning does the heavy lifting so you do not have to chase down a dozen individual spices. This is Sunday dinner. This is the holidays. This is the dish that gets passed around the table twice.

Author

Chef Braz

Ingredients

• 2 lbs fresh collard greens, cleaned & chopped
• ¼ lb smoked ham hocks
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth or water
• ½ yellow onion, small diced
• 2 tablespoons Tiger Life Gourmet Southern Collards Seasoning
• Smoked ham hocks (classic) or neckbones
• Smoked turkey legs or tails (lighter option)
• Smoked bacon (quicker cook time) sweat onions & greens in bacon fat then add broth or water
• Omit meat entirely and use vegetable broth for a vegan version

Directions

1. Pour chicken broth into a large heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a medium simmer over medium heat. Add diced onion and stir to combine. Add smoked ham hocks to the pot.
2. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour, or until the meat begins to pull away from the bone. This is your pot liquor and it is the foundation of everything.
3. While the ham hocks simmer, prep your collard greens. Remove the tough center stems by folding each leaf in half and stripping the stem away. Stack the leaves and chop into rough pieces. To clean collard greens, rinse with water and distilled white vinegar, agitating the water throughout the process so dirt and sand sink to the bottom. Repeat three times.
4. Once the meat is pulling from the bone, add the clean, chopped collard greens to the pot liquor in batches, stirring to submerge them as they wilt down. Season with 2 tbsp Tiger Life Gourmet Southern Collards Seasoning and stir well. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the greens are completely tender and deeply flavored.
5. Remove ham hocks, shred the meat off the bone, and stir it back into the greens. Serve with the pot liquor spooned generously over the top.