Recipe: Stewed Collards with Ham Hock in Potlikker
Chef and restaurateur Vivian Howard, star of the Peabody Award-winning PBS series "A Chef's Life" and author of the New York Times bestselling cookbook "Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes From My Corner of the South" (Little, Brown), says there is something to the popularity of soups and broths as a curative culinary art.
Howard offered "Sunday Morning" several recipes for dishes that nourish and satisfy, slurp for slurp.
Stewed Collards with Ham Hock in Potlikker
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 ham hock
3 quarts water
1 medium yellow onion, diced
½ tsp red chili flake
¼ tsp black pepper
2 pounds Collards, large stems removed
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs. sugar (optional)
Directions:
In a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven or pot, combine ham hock, water, onion, chili flake and black pepper. Cover. Bring to a boil and cook covered, 30 minutes.
Add the collards and lower heat to a heavy simmer. Cover and cook for an hour-and-a-half.
Scoop the greens into a bowl and add picked smoked morsels from the hock.
Save the liquid - this is your Potlikker!
Using a collard chopper or knife, roughly chop greens and meat together. Stir in salt and sugar (optional).
To serve, stir in potlikker and add a dash of hot sauce or hot pepper vinegar.
Reserve remaining potlikker for good health!
See also:
For more info:
- vivianhoward.com
- "Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South" by Vivian Howard (Little, Brown), in Hardcover and eBook formats; Available from Amazon
- "A Chef's Life" (PBS)
- Chef & the Farmer Restaurant, Kinston, N.C.
- Boiler Room, Kinston, N.C.
- Benny's Big Time Pizzeria, Wilmington, N.C.