My first collard greens

Long a soul food lover, I've never actually made any. I guess as a northern raised urbanite/suburbanite, I never thought I had the "soul" required to make soul food. But this was my second Christmas in a row at my house, and although last year's fish with mango salsa was a hit, it wasn't quite the traditional fare that everyone in my family or my boyfriend's family is used to. So I decided to kick it up a soul notch and make that soul food staple: collard greens. Those, some easy stewed cabbage, baked mac and cheese provided by my bf's mom, and a huge honey glazed ham made for my first holiday soul food dinner.

So here is what I did:

As a rule of thumb, I'd say one large bunch of greens will serve six to eight people.

First, I bought two raw pork hocks, weighing about 1.2 pounds together.

Some people use smoked. I only used raw because the grocery store I went to didn't have smoked. They had smoked turkey necks, but I don't like seeing necks in my food. Don't ask me what a hock is - it just looks more palatable. Besides, greens ain't greens without pork. In the end, my mother said she preferred the raw hocks because you get more pure pork flavor and less smoke flavor. So that accident worked in my favor.

I boiled the hocks for two or three hours. There is no set time - you just have to keep checking on them every 45 minutes or so. They are done when the meat falls away from the bone. Take the skin off the hocks about halfway into cooking, or whenever it looks ready to fall away from the meat. It's so fatty and if it's not smoked, it's really pretty gross. As the water evaporates, simply fill the pot back up with water.

When the (skinless) hocks are ready, tear the meat away from the bone and break it up into pieces. I left the bones in my greens. I think they add more flavor.

While the hocks are cooking, you should empty and clean your sink, separate the greens leaf by leaf, and soak them in cold water. Drain the sink, fill it again, and give them a second good soaking and rinsing. This is to get rid of any soil that may be left on the greens.

Take about five or six leaves, roll them up, and slice them into 1 or 1.5 inch slices.

Then, put the sliced greens right into the pot with the water and the hock meat and bones. They should wilt down somewhat quickly, allowing you to put more greens in as they do.

Once all the greens are in, it's pretty easy. Cook them until they're done to your desired tendency. Some people like them cooked all the way down until they are soupy and soggy. Some people like them a little more crisp. I like them somewhere in the middle. So I cooked them for about 45 minutes to an hour, over medium or medium-low heat.

The key to tasty collard greens is SEASONED SALT (SS). At least it was for me. The brand I used was Spice Classics Seasoned Salt. You can get this in the dollar store and it tastes better then Lawry's Seasoned Salt, which is the most well-known brand. I cannot tell you how much to use. The way I seasoned the greens was every fifteen minutes, I would add about five or six shakes of SS, wait five minutes, then taste the greens. I found that they were to my liking after about four rounds of this.

Make sure you have hot sauce on hand - preferably Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot - for those who like to heat up their greens before eating. Take the greens out of the water and put them in a bowl for serving, but don't empty that pot! One of the most delicious treasures is in there - pot likker. It's a soup made up of the flavored water, ham hock bits, and collard green shreddings left over from the making of the greens. A bowl of this as an appetizer is great and it is superb on a cold, cold day, especially when you've just come in from shoveling the walk.

My collards were a hit. It was the only dish that was completely gone by the end of the night. Maybe I didn't make enough, but everybody wanted seconds.

My next soul food mission is baked macaroni and cheese and a dessert - perhaps peach cobbler? Nope - sweet potato pie. My favorite.