Collard Greens Soup and Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

I woke up this morning knowing I had a huge bunch of collards in the fridge and that they needed to be cooked...lo and behold - its rainy and gross and cold out today. *IDEA* SOUP!!

I have a couple different anecdotes regarding collard greens soup, but I'll make them fast!

The first time I was introduced to collard greens soup, I was working at a local sandwich shop called Wright's Gourmet in Dunwoody, GA. Mrs. Wright made this amazing soup with collards in it. Well, I thought collards were gross up until that point. Now I'm a collard greens eater for life! This recipe isn't her's. I'm sure its locked in some safe with all the other fabulous recipes they have. (Her pimento cheese is drool-worthy!) I highly recommend eating there if you ever get the chance!

Ok, so this next part isn't an anecdote, but whatever. I bought a bunch of collards at the store the other day because the bags were gigantic and I didn't need that much. Also, I like to buy the bunches when I can because then I can cut the stems and such off, which I'll show you in a bit.

And the cornbread got made because well.... cornbread is awesome and goes with soup! Plus the soup had to simmer for 45 mins and it was the perfect time to make the cornbread. :)

First things first. Prepare the raw collards. When you buy them, they will look like this:

Take a big knife and cut the entire bottom off, pretty much everything below where the leaves stop. Next you'll take each leaf individually, which looks like this:

Fold it in half and run the knife along the edge, cutting out the spine of each leaf.

You want to do this to the majority of leaves in the bunch. The recipe calls for 1 lb. of collards and I used all but 4 or 5 of the leaves in the bunch.

Once all the leaves have been cut, start tearing them up into large bite-sized pieces and toss them in a sink full of cool water. (These, unlike the bagged ones, need to be washed)


Give them several good swirls in the water to rinse off any dirt, etc that might be on them.

Once they are good and washed, transfer them to a large stock pot and add 10 cups of chicken broth and a ham hock (I already had some frozen ham necks in the freezer, so I used those. I added a 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke though to make up for the fact that the necks were not cooked.)

Put the whole mess onto the stove and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. The broth will not cover the collards fully until the collards wilt down a bit. Just move 'em around every now and then to help them out!

Once the collards have smooshed themselves down and the broth is boiling, cover with a lid and simmer for 45 mins. This is what they'll look like before you cover and simmer them.


Now this is when i started to make the cornbread, but to make this whole thing flow better, I'll do the cornbread in a sec.

So 45 mins have past..*whew* that took forever! lol :)

The collards are a deep, rich green now and bordering on being cooked to death, but that's a good thing. Remove the ham hock (or necks in this case) and give them to your dog once they've cooled or something. My cats won't touch them so I toss 'em in the round file, if you know what I mean.

Bones removed. Now add 2 cans of Great Northern Beans and 1 1/2 cups of cubed ham. (Use a centercut ham slice for its thickness.) Add cayenne pepper, garlic, apple cider vinegar and some salt to taste. Give it a good stir and cover again and let simmer for another 20 mins.

Once done, it should look a little something like this:


Ladle it out into a bowl and serve with the upcoming jalapeno cheddar cornbread!


NOW ONTO THE CORNBREAD!!

I didn't even know I had this recipe until I started flipping thru my "cookbooks". Who knew?!

Anyway, I've never made cornbread from scratch before and let me just toot my own horn here - it came out PERFECT! :) yay me!

First, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix all your dry ingredients into a large bowl. (flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder)

In another bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients. (eggs, milk, melted butter)

Slow stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones making sure to remove any lumps, but DON'T OVER STIR!

Add 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.


Once it has sat, transfer to a cast iron pan. I suppose you could use some other kind of pan, but I'm southern and use my great-grandmother's cast iron. Smooth out the top and sprinkle with cheese and a few scallions.

Pop that bad boy in the oven for 30-35 mins or whenever a toothpick comes out clean.

And *voila* this is what you get:


Serve it up with the yummy soup you just made! And you've got a delicious (somewhat healthy), warm-your-insides kinda meal!


ENJOY!!!

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Collard Greens Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound collard greens
1 ham hock
10 cups chicken stock
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 1/2 cups cooked, cubed ham
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional
salt to taste

Instructions:
Prep the collards by removing the spine, tearing up into medium-sized pieces and washing them in cool water.

Put collards into a large stock pot with with chicken broth and ham hock

Bring to a boil(stirring occasionally) and reduce to a simmer.

Simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove ham hock and add remaining ingredients.

Simmer for an additional 20 minutes.



Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cups shredded, extra-sharp Cheddar
1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
3 medium-sized fresh jalapenos, seeded and minced

Instructions:
Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter.

With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don’t over mix!

Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a large cast-iron pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheddar and extra scallions.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and cut. Serve warm or at room temperature.