Oh, how I miss the South! So, the only other thing I can do to keep from being homesick is cook Southern food, especially since we’re up here in this bleak and bland land they call Kansas. So far, Kansas City BBQ is good and our local BBQ is good, but there hasn’t been a lot of other great tasting food to speak of. (We haven’t been impressed with Midwestern casseroles.) However, we did enjoy Indian tacos once at a pow-wow.
There’s only one way to make this dish, and I will share it with you, just this one time.
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch of collard greens (chopped into 2-4″ squares – I don’t de-vein mine – and lightly parboiled),
- 1 cup dried black-eyed peas (rinsed),
- Smoked pork jowl (finely chopped – the equivalent to 4 pieces of thick-cut bacon),
- 3 fresh garlic cloves (minced or pressed),
- 2 shallots (finely chopped),
- 3 cups of water,
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste, and
- Cast iron skillet.
Directions:
- Bring the water to a boil and add the peas. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until peas are tender. Drain off any remaining water.
- In the skillet, at medium heat, fry the pork, shallots, and garlic until the shallots are translucent.
- Add the gently parboiled greens, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir until combined. Reduce heat and cook until veins in greens are slightly tender, but still al dente. Be careful not to overcook or the peas will get mushy. (You want the greens to stay al dente, so still pretty bright green, not that sickly olive green color, or they will be mushy, too.)
- Enjoy and savor every bite.
This recipe is adapted from a Southern Cast Iron recipe.
