Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Comforts on a rainy day

There's been a lot of stress within my community recently, and today's downpour did not help the mood. It was time to break out the big guns, aka some comforting foods to battle the blahs! It was time for some collards and biscuits. The biscuits were storebought (Immaculate Baking Company), but the collards were slow-cooked completely from scratch. The beauty of the collards is that they're really inexpensive to make, even if you buy organic.

You could add some kind of meat if you want, but I did these after having some totally yummy and vegetarian collards. They are very satisfying.

Here's how to make them:

Anne Lane's Collards
- 2 bunches of collard greens, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 2 small yellow onions, chopped as fine as you'd like
- 1 quart vegetable stock or broth
- crushed red pepper flake, to your taste (I do about 2 tsp., crushed in my palm to release their flavor)
- olive oil and butter-- combine according to your dietary needs, what you have on hand, and what you prefer!
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed
- salt and pepper, to taste
- apple cider vinegar, about a quarter cup (to taste)

Begin by heating the olive oil and butter in a minimum 3.5 quart pan that has a lid. Throw in the chopped onion and saute until it's translucent. Throw in the pressed garlic and saute until you can smell the garlic.

Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, throw the chopped collards and tomatoes into the pot, followed by the red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.

Bring the pot up to a boil, then reduce the heat to about medium. Cover the pot and simmer until the collards are tender, about 60 minutes. Check them every so often (I do every 20 minutes), adjusting the seasoning as needed. They'll only get better the longer they cook!

Add the apple cider vinegar about halfway through, adjusting the quantity to your preference. Finish with a pat of butter if you desire.

Serve in a bowl for best effect with some kind of bread to sop up the pot liquor. Enjoy!


The beginning is the very best place to start!

As promised, here is the very first post on my cooking blog! I am strictly an amateur, home cook who does it out of love for cooking and for eating. Please send me any recipes you enjoy, and I look forward to sharing my culinary adventures with you!

Peace,
AL