I'm going to look into that waterless cookware, B.B.  It sounds great!

traditional  cooking  makes me suspect  that something was working...that there was a reason it was done that way, and not just to please the kids...tho now everyone says you shouldn't cook collards long...I wonder. There is a collard festival in east palo alto....I'm going to start a new thread to mention this.

Steaming collards or any vegetables in a food steamer produces tender and flavorful vegetables.  I like collards and kale cooked when they just turn bright green and are crisp--not overly done.

Alia

Thanks for the cooking info MoDon...I couldn't find your last post about it.. I grew collards for the fall and have been enjoying them the last few months... never realized how delicious the small ones were just raw... I tried your longer cooking with just water and they were so sweet tasting, just delicious!  Mom thought I had put sugar in them!

I've been thinking about the cooking time for greens like collards.  Some of you have mentioned putting them into salads, stir frying and lightly steaming.  I remember when I was young and we had the collards and other greens that were so good, and cooked for hours.  Those were BIG plants, I mean, very mature greens . . . none of these little tender, fresh, new leaves.  There is no way we could have eaten those big tough leaves without long cooking.  I don't know why they were so big, but when I would bring them in from the garden, they were almost as big as me!  

Maybe that's the difference in long cooking vs. lightly steaming or raw.

Has anyone tried cooking collards/kale/turnips in a crock pot. Since long slow cooking is needed I was just wondering if anyone had tried this and if so how did they turn out.

excellent! )

What kind of time are we looking at 4,6,8 hrs? I am assuming low temp.

yes.....I leave them overnight. 8 hours and low temp......but also add meat and bones.

What kinda meat. Most people put pork but being that it is an avoid what is the best choice. Also since I like potatoes cut up and cooked in the greens and since that is a no- no how about rutabaga. They are very close to potatoe as far as taste and texture. In fact once I had rutabage in cabbage and did not know that it was not potatoe.

I find that if I put two cloves of garlic in a lot of water, boil ten minutes, then add the kale or collards, it improves the dish.  To get stuff to cook quickly, after you wash them off, roll the leaves longwise and slice in thin ribbons (about 1/8 inch across), then pop in the boiling water.  It will take far less time, and cook "soft".  I have not timed it, however.  A smallish bunch of kale, cooked that way, will make two medium sized servings on a plate.  It all bunches together, like spaghetti, and one gets it down without a volume struggle.   Delicious, just fewer leftovers.

Lamb or beef, with lots of meaty bones.  Go with what's compatible with your bloodtype.  Even turkey with lots of bones would work.

A small bunch of collards with relatively young and small leaves does not need alot of cooking time--regardless of cooking method.  I find these bunches to be sweet tasting, as well.  

I remember in years past seeing some very big collard bunches at a conventional grocery store and I purchased one bunch; I believe more 'mature' collard bunch would require a longer cooking time.

Alia

Does anyone put duplins in their kale, collards, or turnips. They are made of flour. Not sure of the other ingredients. This is very popular in the south.


I mean Dumplings. Sorry for the misspelling. In response to Lola

do you mean dumplings?

that's a southern thing? Darn, that sounds so good....but hey, flour. wrong balance, better to go with meat.

Which you may use corn mill for the dumplings. I will ask one of my friends about the ingredients in these.

Oh Yeah!  I was raised on Chickens and Dumplings, and how fine it was!!

(Of course, little did I know that I was steadily poisoning myself!)  My body let me in on that fact, a few years down the road.

I am sure the recipe can be adjusted to meet the BTD. Mainly, flour(spelt), cornmeal, and water. If milk is needed use soy, almond, or rice.

I believe they are made like cornbread but boiled in with greens instead of baked or fried.

It's basically a biscuit type dough, shaped into little balls and boiled in chicken broth, with plenty of shredded meat also in the broth.

If you really wanted dumplings you could make them out of nutflour

Let's do this if someone makes collards and says hey, this is great! post what you did here, like MoDon did

Laura is nut flour the same thing as i.e. almond meal ? Do you use it the same as flour? Thanks!

Almond meal is nut flour.  It has no gluten, so take that into account if you are baking with it.  

I really don't think it would make a very good dumpling, dumplings being soft and light at best, heavy and dense, not good .....I don't suggest the nut flour. (hope I'm not dashing anybody's hopes....I'd go with a compliant flour) (apologies to Laura P)

How 'bout just not calling them dumplings, so the expectations won't be there....

Thanks for the thread, guys, I've been thinking about adding collards &/or kale to our diet, but hesitating out of fear & ignorance!

BTW, can I be just completely opinionated? The "waterless" cookware just sounds gimmicky to me, vegetable water has so many uses. I'm not saying it's not a clever way of cooking, just missing the pleasures of broth. Otherwise, I'm sticking to my stainless steel no-special-care, no-fuss cookware.

Look forward to trying above-mentioned recipes & cooking hints!