bwhite829
Senior Member
Posts: 176
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:02 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

ah, the pungent smell!

Right now the smell of turnips and mustards cooking on the stove is filling the apt. They are fresh from the garden, and soon I'll have some fresh from my garden greens to cook too. This is my 3rd or 4th attempt at cooking greens. Each time is improving slightly, and this time I am using a tip from my grandma about using sugar to cut the bitterness, except I used brown sugar instead because thats what I prefer. I hope they can be used interchangably! I'll let you know if this is at least edible. Every time I think I've tried to overfill the pot, I hope I didn't do it this time, but we'll see!

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kimbledawn
Senior Member
Posts: 225
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:18 am
Location: Memphis

I don't know if you are open to suggestions but a great starter for greens is water, salt, sugar, seasoning blend,a small chopped onion and about a teaspoon of oil(butter, shortening, olive oil). That's if you are vegetarian, if not a smoked turkey part adds a nice flavor or chicken stock. You'll know when you have enough sugar by tasting the stock. Kale are my favorite. My mom only mixes kale with collards or mustards with turnip greens. Good luck! :D

gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

MMMM, love the smell of greens cooking. I'll have some collards to cook by Thursday and can't wait. I've probably given away as much as I've cooked but the season is young and I just added 10 more collard green plants last week.

I pulled 30 ft. of soybean plants earlier today and will probably put in several more broccoli plants since the ones I put in earlier have already made their main heads and the side shoots are developing nicely.

bwhite829
Senior Member
Posts: 176
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2010 8:02 pm
Location: Pensacola, FL

I'm very much open to suggestions. This is my 3rd or 4th time cooking greens. the first time I had to throw out a whole pot because I underestimated the dirt's will to cling to the leaves. The 2nd(and possibly 3rd) time I had to choke it down because it was really bitter. This time its not bitter and kind of enjoyable. I am not a vegitarian by any means. I used sausage and the olive oil that I cooked that in, and caramelized an onion in the pot as the greens were being washed. I need to add more broth and more spices next time to get more flavor, but this time its not bitter at least. I might do a couple ham hocks in it next time :)

gumbo2176
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Posts: 3065
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:01 am
Location: New Orleans

bwhite, I'm a big fan of smothered greens. My favorite are collard greens for their milder taste as opposed to turnip and mustard greens. I'll eat the latter but prefer the collards. I saw in your first post about your attempts to tame the taste of mustard and turnip greens. Personally, I like the "bite" they give, but it is an acquired taste for some.

My recipe for smothering greens is real simple. After thoroughly washing them, I'll cut them in fairly large pieces (2"x2"), stems and all-----enough to fill a plastic 2 1/2 gallon container I use.

To cook them, I'll cut up about a lb. of good smoked sausage and brown it off in a heavy pot in a tablespoon of bacon grease, then I'll add a large onion diced and let this cook for several minutes till translucent then add about 5 toes of finely chopped garlic and let this cook for just a couple minutes. Next, I'll add the greens a little at a time and mix the ingredients together, adding the remainder of greens to fill the pot. I only add a half cup or so of water or chicken broth on the initial cooking and let the greens make the rest of the liquid as they cook down. I'll slow cook them till tender. I don't add salt or pepper to this until after it is cooked since smoke sausage has a good bit of salt already in it.

I have an 8 qt. pot on the stove right now and it was almost full when I started and now it has reduced to about 1/3 full and they still have to cook for an hours or so more. This time of year, we'll eat greens about 3 times a month and my wife loves them as much as I.



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