The most interesting, hearty, and most Southern of the greens must be the collards. I put four of them there transplants into the garden last fall and to my surprise they grew quite large without much ado.
I remember my mother-in-law cooking greens for hours and I couldn't understand why. Paula Deen of TV fame and Southern Cooking Bible cooks her greens for two hours. She adds various smoked meats for flavoring, but not at the same time, ya' all. I tried adding ham hocks to my greens but it failed to enhance the flavor.
While "shaking his manly body," the Guy Gourmet from Men's Health sautees sweet onions and garlic together, adds the greens, and finishes sauteeing with white wine for acidity. It is not clear whether he drinks the wine or uses it in his cooking; however, his greens are done in 20 minutes. I like the time it takes this gourmet to cook greens.
I cook greens in slightly salted water for no longer than 30 minutes and I encourage my dinner guests to drizzle a generous amount of pickle juice over the greens before eating. The collard greens are a simple and oh! such a nutritious green vegetable.
