3 hour Collards

These beauties came about when I was making the traditional New Year's Day meal of black eyed peas, cornbread and collards. All of my pork products were being channeled into my bacon wrapped pork tenderloin (see pic below), so I opted to make my collards vegan. We were not disappointed; they were so tender and flavorful. Yes, the cooking time is long, but don't be daunted by it. It doesn't take much tending, just a quick stir every once in a while. 

I had almost forgotten how good these were (I was busy posting about bacon pecan brittle, spicy salmon cucumber bites, and apple butter cinnamon rolls) until I spotted the Food 52/GOOP contest alert and what was the ingredient? You guessed it, greens. And, here they are. Easy, delicious vegan collards for your eating pleasure. Enjoy!

3 hour Collards

serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 medium bundles collards, chopped and stems removed
• 1 large spanish onion, medium dice
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• salt

Directions

In a large heavy bottom pot, preheat olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Add collards and vegetable stock. Cover and drop heat to lowest setting. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2 and 1/2 hours. Remove lid, add vinegar and cook for 5 more minutes. Check seasoning and serve.

Bacon Pecan Brittle

Over Christmas I made batch after batch of my salted pistachio brittle. It's truly awesome candy, but could the flavor combo be improved? Cue the bacon grease and luscious pecans. The bacon flavor is subtle. The pecans add a soft textural element that the harder pistachios didn't. It's a winner in our house. 

The original recipe comes from Bon Appetit. Use it as your base recipe to launch into different flavors. Our next combination will involve cayenne and spiced pecans!

Bacon Pecan Brittle

serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 cup raw pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Coarse sea salt (such as fleur de sel or sel gris)

Special Equipment

• A candy thermometer

Directions

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat; set aside.

Mix the sugar, corn syrup, and 3 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Fit saucepan with candy thermometer, bring mixture to a boil, and cook until thermometer registers 290°, 5-7 minutes.

Using a heatproof spatula, stir in pecans, bacon grease, and kosher salt (syrup will seize initially, but will melt as it heats back up). Continue to cook syrup, stirring often, until thermometer registers 300° and mixture is golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Caramel should be pale brown (it will darken slightly as it cools). Remove candy thermometer. Sprinkle baking soda over and stir quickly to blend caramel thoroughly (mixture will bubble vigorously).

Immediately pour caramel onto prepared baking sheet. The mixture will spread on its own, do not spread out, or you will lose the honeycomb effect. Sprinkle sea salt over and let caramel cool completely. Break brittle into pieces.

Brittle can be made 1 week ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.