Next-Day Fried Greens

Name: Next-Day Fried Greens
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: southern
Ingredients: 1/2 pound smoked pork neck bones and fresh pigs’ tails, or smoked turkey wings, or a pork chop or ham hock; 1 tablespoon Dora’s Savannah seasoning (see note); 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper; 2 tablespoons bacon grease; 5 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 large bunch collards, about 1 pound; 1/4 Vidalia onion, cut into half moons; 2 cups cooked white rice

Recipe from Dora Charles

Adapted by Kim Severson

Next-Day Fried Greens — Dylan Wilson for The New York Times

Total Time: About 2 hours, plus overnight chilling
Rating: 4(39)
Comments: Read comments

A good Southern kitchen relies on thrift and layers of flavor, and this dish is an example of both. Dora Charles, who put this recipe in her book, “A Real Southern Cook: In Her Savannah Kitchen,” says a lot of people she feeds won’t eat greens the first time around but love them in this dish, which uses the leftovers. You can add extra meat on the second cooking to make the dish more satisfying. Ms. Charles uses converted, or parboiled rice, but you can substitute any rice you have, including leftover Chinese takeout. Serve the greens with pepper vinegar or red pepper flakes and red wine vinegar to season at the table. —Kim Severson

Featured in: Dora Charles Moves On From Paula Deen, and Makes It All About the Seasoning

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

½pound smoked pork neck bones and fresh pigs’ tails, or smoked turkey wings, or a pork chop or ham hock
1tablespoon Dora’s Savannah seasoning (see note)
1teaspoon crushed red pepper
2tablespoons bacon grease
5tablespoons unsalted butter
1large bunch collards, about 1 pound
¼Vidalia onion, cut into half moons
2cups cooked white rice

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add neck bones and pigs’ tails, or smoked turkey wings or pork chop or ham hock, plus Savannah seasoning, red pepper, bacon grease and 4 tablespoons of butter. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
Step 2
Meanwhile, remove the collard stems by holding each leaf in one hand and stripping the leaf down with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Discard the stems.
Step 3
Stack 7 or 8 leaves on top of one another, roll them up tight like a cigar and slice into ½-inch-wide strands. Repeat until you have cut all the leaves. Then wash the collards twice, shake them and drain in a large colander.
Step 4
Add the collards to the stock, cover and simmer until they are tender. In the summer, they will cook in 45 minutes to an hour, but in winter, they will take only 30 to 45 minutes because the first frost will have tenderized them. Keep a close eye on them; you will know they are done when they are tender but not mushy. Near the end of the cooking, check the amount of liquid left in the pot. If there is too much, more than 1 cup, uncover the pot to cook down the liquid a bit.
Step 5
Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones. Return the meat to the greens and transfer to the refrigerator overnight.
Step 6
The next day, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet set over medium heat and add the onion. Cook for a few minutes until it just starts to soften, then add the greens, meat and cooked rice. There should be more greens than rice. Sauté over medium-high heat until the dish is heated through.

Tip

To make Savannah seasoning, combine ½ cup Lawry’s seasoned salt, ¼ cup kosher salt, 2 scant tablespoons granulated garlic or garlic powder and 1 tablespoon ground black pepper. Use on eggs and vegetables, or sprinkle over chicken or pork before cooking. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar.

Ratings

4 out of 5

39 user ratings

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Comments

Jeannie7 years ago

This preparation works with turnip or mustard greens, even kale, and they cook faster, but spinach goes slimy like this. For those who didn't grow up eating collards, the bit about them being tenderized by frost is crucial information. Frost cuts the bitterness too.

I'm vegetarian. In lieu of the smoked meat, I sautée a mixture of chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil, add my greens, then simmer in a low sodium, no MSG vegetable stock. Nirvana with a side of cornbread.

Donneek7 years ago

Just like I would make it. I've done something similar for years with smoked turkey wings and brown rice, you can substitute chard, mustard or spinach.

Ferguson7 years ago

This was WAY too salty for us. I would use just a teaspoon of the Savanah seasoning if I made it again. I also ended up cooking the collards with the lid off to get 3 quarts of liquid down to a cup.

Bobdude2 years ago

Didn't have bacon grease. Cut butter to 4 Tbsp. My bunch of collards weighed in at 2 lbs. before stemming. Don't know from Lawry's seasoned salt, so made mixture with sea salt, onion and garlic powders, celery seed, cayenne, and black pepper. Leftover smoked turkey worked like a charm. Cooking technique spot on, except way too much "pot likker" results. Saved this precious broth for use in other dishes. Used a whole onion sliced into half moons and olive oil, not more butter. Yumbo result!

Susan7 years ago

"Summer" collards? Two tricks to help get rid of
the bitterness:
After washing, de-stemming & chopping, place in bag
(paper, plastic or fabric) & put in freezer for an hour
or more -- giving the leaves a bit of frost to tenderize --
or blanch leaves in boiling water one or two times, rinse &
proceed with recipe.