Collard Greens

Even though the New Year is well underway, I love making collard greens. For some reason I always end up making these on Sunday, especially in the winter. Collards "is" one of my favorite comfort foods. My Aunt Joan taught me to make these. Actually, her name is pronounced "Joanne," and believe it or not, my mother's oldest sister, Aunt Bea is the only one in the family that calls her that. I suppose in Appalachia, my Granny Gree wasn't sure how to spell it.
Once again this is one of my fondest memories of all time revolving around food. My Aunt was home one week in the fall, and I asked her for her collards recipe. She told me she'd never written it down. She'd have to just show me. We spent the entire afternoon making this wonderful dish. My mom never liked greens, so we never ate them very much growing up in South Carolina. However, my grandmother had a garden of some sort year round well into her 80s. This would be her "recipe." I have made this dish many times, and most people that claim to dislike collards almost always say even they like mine. I made them for a church function once, and the group said they were even better than Paula Deen's at The Lady and Sons in Savannah. When I was asked for the recipe to publish in a local cookbook, I had to write down the way they are prepared. So after making collards for over 25 years this is the recipe. It seems labor intensive, but well worth the effort. In a pinch you can buy the chopped collards pre-washed and cut in a bag, but they are better if you start from the big bunches so abundant most of the year. I always think of my Aunt Joan when I make them, and I especially remember that year we washed the greens side by side in the sink that cold fall afternoon. It was so much fun, and the memory associated with it will never leave me. And that is why I share it here. I hope my idol Paula isn't upset, but afterall, I didn't name them. They were named while sharing them with some close friends: another good memory associated with good food! Enjoy!

“Better Than Paula’s Collards”-as named by FBCC Singles

Salted fat back-about 8 strips
3 large bunches of collards
½ cup apple cider vinegar
5 T salt
2 T black pepper
½ cup sugar
Water

Cut stems of collards up to the leaves. Fill one side of sink with water and submerge greens to wash. Strip leaves from the stems and any large veins. Discard stems and any unwanted “spots’ in greens. Move stripped greens to another sink of water. Repeat this with remaining bunches of greens. Continue rinsing collards by moving from sink to sink of fresh water about 4 times.

In two large pots render the fat from the pork by frying the meat on medium heat until brown and crisp. Add greens turning to coat with grease from the fat back. Cover with water and the salt, half to each pot. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to medium low.
Continue “turning” greens, pulling the dark, wilted greens to the top. After collards have reduced in volume, combine them in one pot a little at a time, reserving “pot liquor” from the empty pot. Using this liquid keep collards covered and turned for about 3 hours. Add the vinegar and half the sugar. Continue cooking this way for 2-3 more hours adding the rest of the sugar and black pepper for the last 30 minutes.

"Aunt" Grace's Pound Cake

I thought it only fitting for my first post to be a recipe from my dear "Aunt" Grace who passed away a few years ago. Some of my fondest memories of life involve sitting around her table with our two families at the beach and eating delicious food. She was a home-ec education graduate from Winthrop College, so she knew her way around the kitchen. She taught me a lot about cooking on my family's visits to her family's home. She and her husband met my parents as struggling students at Clemson College in the early 1950s and remained friends through all these years. Her daughter is like a sister to me, and we grew up calling each other cousin, as we do to this day. "Aunt" Grace and my father have both passed away, but the memories of the food and delightful times we all shared will be with me for the rest of my life. I dedicate this post to the two of them.

This pound cake is dense and very moist. I usually use 1 tsp almond extract, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp butter extract for the flavoring. Butternut flavoring works well too, but it is delicious as detailed in the recipe with the lemon/vanilla mixture.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

6 eggs
2 sticks butter
3 c. sugar
3 c. cake flour (sifted)
1 c. sour cream
¼ t. baking soda (added to the sour cream)
1 ½ t. vanilla
1 ½ t. lemon (optional)

Let butter soften to room temperature. Cream butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour and sour cream alternately beginning and ending with flour. Add flavoring. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan for 1 hour 25 minutes at 325 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes on a baking rack, and then remove from pan by inverting it on a plate and then again onto the rack. Cool completely, though it is good right out of the oven as well. Cover loosely with wax paper if you want to leave it overnight to cool.

Starting Cooking with Roman

I decided to start this blog because so many people have asked me for cooking tips, recipes, and general ideas about food, presentation and serving. So, as a result of doing a blog for another project, a cooking/food blog became appealing to me. I hope you will find something useful here, and maybe even decide to subscribe. So please read and enjoy.

I love all things food, and I am excited about beginning a new project related to it. I have been cooking for many years and do some formal and informal caterings from time to time. Most of my recipes are from family and friends and things I've tweaked or just made up. I have some Aunts that were great cooks, and I learned a lot from them. I've also worked in several restaurants from lunch counter type places to 5 star fine dining. Mostly though, I cook for pleasure and the pleasure it brings others. I love all types of food, from comfort foods to fine cuisine to fusion. Please feel free to leave comments as well. I will moderate them to reduce spam, but I will check in as often as possible to update the blog and the comments.

So, for now, Cooking with Roman has begun!