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Greens on Thanksgiving? Yes, please.<\/p>\n
A Thanksgiving meal isn\u2019t complete without its sides, and in Texas, that often means a spread with a Southern touch and a pot full of collard greens. Simmered low and slow until tender, this leafy staple carries generations of flavor and family tradition, but even the classics can benefit from a little chef guidance.<\/p>\n
This year for Houstonia\u2019s 12 Days of Thanksgiving<\/a> series, we turned to two of Houston\u2019s culinary leaders\u2014Top Chef finalist Dawn Burrell and chef Chris Williams<\/a> of Lucille\u2019s and Late August\u2014to share their secrets for cooking collard greens, and a few tricks for their sharper cousin, mustard greens. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Burrell says it\u2019s essential to infuse the base with flavors, starting with garlic and onion. \u201cI saut\u00e9 them well to the point where they\u2019re releasing their sweetness,\u201d she explains. Then, Burrell adds the greens, letting them wilt slightly, then deglazes the pan with a rich stock\u2014a nonnegotiable step for her. \u201cI allow them to finish cooking in their own liquid and stock mix. That makes a really intense pot liquor,\u201d she says. When the greens are finally tender, Burrell adds an essential final flourish of apple cider or brown cane vinegar. \u201cYou must finish all your collard greens with vinegar,\u201d she insists.<\/p>\n While collard greens are a staple in most Southern homes for the holidays, Williams says mustard greens procured from his own garden in Kendleton, Texas\u2014a part of his sustainable collective Lucille\u2019s 1913\u2014are his newest fixation. \u201cThey have a really pungent, vegetal greenness to them that stands up through the long cooking process,\u201d he notes. Plus, \u201cthey cook in a third of the time the collard greens cook.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Burrell, he starts by seasoning the cooking liquid, then combines it with yellow onions, tomatoes, jalape\u00f1os, bell peppers, and plenty of garlic during the boiling process. \u201cThe most important thing is to let the liquid get seasoned,\u201d he says. \u201cWhatever your flavoring ingredients are in your aromatics, boil that for at least 20 minutes before you add the vegetables, then, after, you add the greens.\u201d<\/p>\n To maintain the greens\u2019 bright color while also tenderizing the leaves and reducing cook time, Williams adds a dash of baking soda to the pot (for collards, a squeeze of lemon can help break down the leaves faster and add a hint of acid). \u00a0<\/p>\n Williams\u2019s recipe for collard or mustard greens:<\/strong><\/p>\n Servings: <\/strong>8\u201310<\/p>\n Ingredients: <\/strong><\/p>\n 2 gallons of water<\/p>\n 20 bunches fresh collards or mustard greens (washed and roughly chopped)<\/p>\n 4 Roma tomatoes<\/p>\n 1 large yellow onion<\/p>\n 10 cloves of garlic<\/p>\n 1 jalape\u00f1o<\/p>\n 1 red bell pepper<\/p>\n 1 green bell pepper<\/p>\n 1 smoked turkey neck<\/p>\n 1 1\/2 cups kosher salt<\/p>\n 1 tablespoon baking soda<\/p>\n 1\/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice<\/p>\n Instructions from Williams: <\/strong>Fill a large stockpot with 2 gallons of water and add turkey necks. Boil for 20 minutes to season the water. While boiling water, add tomato, onion, peppers, and garlic to the food processor and process for 30 seconds. Then add the vegetable mix to boiling water and cook for five minutes. Right before you add the greens, add salt, lemon juice, and baking soda (be sure to turn off the heat while adding the baking soda, as the water will froth up and over the pot).<\/p>\n Once the last three ingredients have been incorporated into the cooking liquid, bring it back to a boil, add your greens, and stir until completely submerged. Cook for 10 to 30 minutes or until you’ve reached the desired tenderness (collards will take longer). Remove the pot from the stove and use a slotted spoon to transfer the greens to a serving dish. Add enough liquid to reach just below the top of the greens. Serve with pepper vinegar or quick pickles like they do at Lucille\u2019s!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greens on Thanksgiving? Yes, please. A Thanksgiving meal isn\u2019t complete without its sides, and in Texas, that often…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":362403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-362402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115509005469723585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}