Post by Glen Carman aka Delmonico on Apr 6, 2019 19:53:40 GMT -6
Greens
In the past what are often called greens were an important food in the spring, because they were often the first fresh vegetable in the spring. In the days of limited and slow transportation this was important because people often were suffering from scurvy from a lack of vitamin C.
HFor those who are not familiar with the term greens, they are best defined as simply plant leaves, although it is more commonly thought of as plant leaves that are boiled, often with some smoked pork for flavor. Many of these can be cooked different ways or eaten raw as salad, but for this doc I am going to cover the plain and simple way as soul/hillbilly/redneck food or what other name you want to give it.
These plants can either be domesticated or wild. I will cover some of the common domesticated ones, if you wish to try wild ones you should do some research to find out the wild edible greens in your area. Having sampled several kinds of locally available wild greens I use the term edible loosely, edible does not always tastes good. Since at this point I don't expect to get lost for several days and have to live off the land I don't plan on eating many, if at all.
Perhaps the most well known is cabbage although many don't think of it as a green, spinach is also well known. Other ones, but not limited to, are turnip tops, radish tops, beet tops, mustard leaves. Any of the close
relatives of the common cabbage such as Brussels sprouts, califlower or broccoli can have the leaves thinned for greens as well as the odd twins called collards and kale. For those who don't know it collards and kale are in the same cultavar group and the biggest difference is kale has a curly leaf.
Ok, we really don't need a recipe, what we need a pot, kettle or dutch oven large enough to hold our greens.
Clean the greens well, removing an tough stems or damaged leaves as well as any insects or similar arthropods. Cut up and fry some bacon, ham or smoked hog jowls in the cooking vessel and when done added the greens, add a small amount of water, onions if desired, salt and pepper to taste. For collards/kale I like to add about a ½ teaspoon of vinegar of your choice to each quart of greens to reduce the slight bitterness of this type. Cider vinegar or spirit vinegar would be the most historical depending on region.
Bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to maintain a light simmer till the leaves are well wilted and tender.
Serve with vinegar and pepper sauce on the side.
In the past what are often called greens were an important food in the spring, because they were often the first fresh vegetable in the spring. In the days of limited and slow transportation this was important because people often were suffering from scurvy from a lack of vitamin C.
HFor those who are not familiar with the term greens, they are best defined as simply plant leaves, although it is more commonly thought of as plant leaves that are boiled, often with some smoked pork for flavor. Many of these can be cooked different ways or eaten raw as salad, but for this doc I am going to cover the plain and simple way as soul/hillbilly/redneck food or what other name you want to give it.
These plants can either be domesticated or wild. I will cover some of the common domesticated ones, if you wish to try wild ones you should do some research to find out the wild edible greens in your area. Having sampled several kinds of locally available wild greens I use the term edible loosely, edible does not always tastes good. Since at this point I don't expect to get lost for several days and have to live off the land I don't plan on eating many, if at all.
Perhaps the most well known is cabbage although many don't think of it as a green, spinach is also well known. Other ones, but not limited to, are turnip tops, radish tops, beet tops, mustard leaves. Any of the close
relatives of the common cabbage such as Brussels sprouts, califlower or broccoli can have the leaves thinned for greens as well as the odd twins called collards and kale. For those who don't know it collards and kale are in the same cultavar group and the biggest difference is kale has a curly leaf.
Ok, we really don't need a recipe, what we need a pot, kettle or dutch oven large enough to hold our greens.
Clean the greens well, removing an tough stems or damaged leaves as well as any insects or similar arthropods. Cut up and fry some bacon, ham or smoked hog jowls in the cooking vessel and when done added the greens, add a small amount of water, onions if desired, salt and pepper to taste. For collards/kale I like to add about a ½ teaspoon of vinegar of your choice to each quart of greens to reduce the slight bitterness of this type. Cider vinegar or spirit vinegar would be the most historical depending on region.
Bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to maintain a light simmer till the leaves are well wilted and tender.
Serve with vinegar and pepper sauce on the side.