T he K itchen Ga rden By Jan L eitschu h

Christmas Greens

Col d an d coll ards go t ogeth er

By Ja n l eit sChu h It’s the most wonderful

time of the year for many kitchen gardeners. Holidays are an opportune time to har vest, prepare and share the fruits of the late fall veggie patch — especially fresh collards.

About the time f rost k isses the November vegetable garden, k nock ing back the remnant pepper plants and gone-to -seed basil, the collard patch comes into its happy place. T hat happy place extends into December, indeed, usua lly a ll w inter. Jack Frost may be nipping at your nose, but he only does ver y good things for the unique flavor of collards.

W hen temperat ures drop dow n to about 26 deg rees Fa hrenheit, f rost can bur n the foliage of the collard ’s cousins such as broccoli and cauliflower. But the tough leaves of collards can take the cold dow n to 5 deg rees F. A deeply cold mor ning may flat ten your collard patch, a sad drooping sight, but af ter a few hours of sun they look st urdy and brand-new again. More than merely sur v ive cold weather, nutr ient-packed collards come through the cold even more flavor f ul — sweeter.

“Because of their high levels of glucosinolate compounds, collards of fer more nutr ition than a ll but just a few other vegetables,” says SFGate. “Freshly har vested collards top the char ts in nutr itiona l benefits, but by the time they are shipped long distances, up to 80 percent of their nutr ients are lost. In addition, time and distance cause sweetness to fade and bit ter ness to intensif y, so the tastiest option is to g row them yourself.”

T hat’s what we do — g row ‘em ourselves! No bugs in our w inter garden.

A member of the cabbage family, the substantive, leather y leaves of collards g row in a loose head, rather than tight ba lls like cabbages. T hus, the home gardener can har vest just a few leaves for supper or soup, or you can chop the whole shebang for a holiday cook fest.

T here are severa l ways to prepare collard leaves for cook ing. A quick and simple way is to tear the leaf y par t f rom the midr ib, then discard the r ibs. T he sof ter leaves can be rolled and cut into thin str ips for even steaming. By julienning, sma ller amounts of the tough leaves can be sw if tly and easily steamed, dressed w ith a lit tle Texas Pete or olive oil.

Discarding the st urdy midr ibs is wastef ul, however. A more traditiona l treatment is to go big, w ith pounds of collards prepped at one time. Tear the leaf f rom the midr ib, as above. T hen, snap the cr isp r ibs into 3 -inch pieces and place on the bot tom of a pan w ith about 4 cups of liquid.

In the South, those 4 cups of flavor f ul liquid are of ten the result of boiling t wo or three smoked ham hock s in severa l cups of water for 2 hours (you could use — sor r y, traditiona lists — chicken, or even vegetable stock if ham is of f your dietar y radar). Other common additions are a teaspoon or so each of sa lt and red pepper flakes. Oneha lf cup of apple cider v inegar helps the boiled meat break dow n and adds depth to the flavor but, be cer tain to use a non-reactive pot.

A f ter a 2 -hour simmer, the smoked meat should fa ll of f the bone. Cool the broth, chop the meat, and remove bones. Add about 5 pounds of washed and tor n collards, the snapped midr ibs at the bot tom of the liquid. T hen pile on the tor n leaves, w ith the thickest leaves near the bot tom. T he newer, more tender, leaves can go in near the top since they won’t be f ully submerged.

Cover the pot and simmer gently for another hour. R epeat, gently. L ow heat keeps the hea lthy sulf ur compounds in the collards f rom stink ing up the joint. T he br ight g reen leaves w ill darken to an olive g reen.

E at hear t y, share w ith f r iends, and f reeze the rest. Mer r y Chr istmas! PS

Jan L eit schuh is a l o c al gard en er, av i d e at er of fre sh pro du ce an d co foun d er of San dhills Far m t o Tabl e.