Collards and Apples

“The best collards I’ve EVER had.” Yes, this is a profound statement/quote. These words were uttered by man-love last night over our “soul food” dinner in which I made collards. I commented that the collards were so good that I would put them against my mom’s collards. My mom is the best southern cook and her fried chicken and collard greens are legit (too legit to quit) but these collards last night were “off the chains good.”

The recipe originated from Southern Living but has been tweaked to mastery. I made them first for Christmas dinner and ironically while trimming the leaves my MIL-to-be said she made the same recipe for Thanksgiving and that she didn’t think they called for them to be cooked long enough. You see, a true southerner likes collard green COOKED down. The original results in a crisp green. After making them at Christmas I thought them to be heavy on the vinegar so adapted last night with that memory. All the edits resulted in collard perfection. I may grow a full collard garden next fall just to accommodate more occasions for this recipe.

Collards and Apples

Short list of ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 lb. collard greens

1/4 cup vegetable oil

½ cup to one cup of chicken broth

1 tsp salt

3 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 to 2 Fuji apples, peeled and cut into matchsticks

Directions:

Separate collard greens into leaves. Trim and discard tough stalk from center of leaves; stack leaves, and roll up, starting at 1 long side. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices; rinse under cold running water. Drain well. Stir-fry collard greens in hot vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat two minutes or until greens begin to wilt. 

Add chicken broth, salt, vinegar, and dried crushed red pepper; cook for 10 to 15 minutes until greens are tender. Gently stir in apples; cook, stirring often, 5 to 10 minutes.

Oh yea, that's homemade mac and cheese too!