ISO: Re: ISO: SOUL FOOD

Both my husband and I have roots in southern/"soul food" cooking. Here's a good recipe for Collards:

2-3 bunches of collards, washed, large stems removed, leaves folded over into quarters and chopped
1 large hamhock, preferably sliced
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
garlic powder (to taste)
1-2 tbs vegetable oil
chopped onion (optional)

Wash and clean greens as per above. Put them in a large pot or slow cooker. Add seasonings, hamhock and oil. If using a slow cooker, add 2-3 cups of water, turn onto high and cover. Let come to a boil, then turn down to lo heat and continue cooking until greens are soft and a dark olive-green in color. If cooking by stove, add 3-4 cups of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil and turn to medium heat and cover, checking occasionally to keep the greens cooking at a gentle boil. Add more water as necessary to keep greens from sticking. Chopped onions can be added in lieu of the onion powder. Greens are done when soft and dark olive-green in color.

During last 40 minutes of cooking, preheat oven to 400 F and whip up a batch of Jiffy Mix Cornbread mix (unless you are ambitious and want to make it from scratch.) We use our cast-iron skillets for baking our cornbread. You can add chopped onions, hot peppers, bacon bits, whatever to your cornbread batter. We prefer ours plain.

To serve: slice hot cornbread into eighths. Spoon collards and juice over the cornbread. Enjoy.