I've got soul but I'm not a soldier

Blog updates were derailed by an extremely busy weekend. To my faithful readers, I apologize. And by faithful readers, I mean hi Mom.

Back to soul food.

Who knew it was such a PROCESS to make collard greens?! However, they turned out extremely delicious. I am pretty sure that the fact the greens percolate in fat back negates most of the nutritional value of collard greens, however, they taste way, way way better than any greens I can ever remember eating! I received validation from Danny so I know it's not chef bias. I proudly delivered leftover greens to my soul food mentor, Jamie, the next morning at work. She was skeptical of my "healthy" mac and cheese side (see below recipe, passed on from Vivienne) but gave me two thumbs up. My collard green skills have been confirmed legit. Although she did complain they were cut a little big. Apparently the size of collard green cuts is very important. They fit just fine in my mouth so I didn't see what the big deal was.

Here's the low-down:

2 bunches collard greens (rinsed twice in the sink) or one big-bowl-full
1 orange habanero pepper, cut in ½ and deseeded
Smallest pkg of fat back (this was the stuff I had to use the phone to call for)
2 pork neck bones (pretty sure you can't find this in the midwest, just a guess, but you can find it at Safeway in DC in the "weird looking meat section")
2 cans Swanson chicken broth

• Wash neck bones
• Fill soup pot ½ way with water, put neck bones in
• Boil bones rapidly for 1 hour, until falling off
• Fry fat back in skillet
• Wait for water to be about 1 inch deep, then add fat back grease to soup pot
• Add chicken broth, boil about 20 minutes
• Add pepper, boil another 5 min
• Meanwhile, roll up greens and slice (about one inch thick)
• Add greens, stirring occasionally until tender (about 5 minutes)

Note to self. DO NOT deseed habenero pepper with your bare hands, and then put on rubber gloves to wash the dishes. I thought my fingers were going to go up in smoke. They literally burned for over 5 hours. At one point I dunked my hand in milk in a desperate attempt to make neutralize the pain....no go.

Also, the neck bones really freaked me out. I guess you are supposed to pick the meat off the bones but it was too salty (and freaky) for me, so I didn't eat much of the meat. Definitely necessary for flavor though.

I paired the collard greens with another soul food favorite, mac n' cheese. I used this recipe for baked homemade mac and cheese and added a box of frozen spinach, button mushrooms, and broccoli florets.

Delish all around! I actually found myself wishing I had bought more greens, the two bunches were enough for about 3 servings. I could have cooked more greens but you have to do it in batches.

I totally planned to do a St. Patrick's Day theme last week but work has been crushing my energy levels. And cooking takes a surprising amount of energy. However, I will make up for it by making TWO recipes next week/weekend, and one will be a belated St. Patrick's recipe. I have a hard time believing anyone will turn down Car Bomb Cupcakes even if it's not St. Patty's. Yes you read that right!