Greens on New Year’s Day are an important tradition here in the South. It’s a wish for prosperity in the new year, you see, greens representing the foldin’ money you hope to have in your pocket. Collards are a traditional green and here you can add a little wish for some jangly change in your pocket too with the golden coin-like dumplings. Serve them with some black-eyed peas, and you are in for a year full of good luck.

I know many people who turn their nose up at collards, and I agree that a flavorless collard is not worth the time, so you need to make a nice smoky, porky stock to cook them in, so the greens are well flavored, and the potlikker is mighty tasty too. So here’s a little primer on cooking collard greens. Fresh whole collards are readily available here in the winter. I buy mine at the special Winter Farmers Market, though the good produce stores have them too. A bunch is usually a little bit over a pound. Prepping collards takes a little love, but then doesn’t all good food? I fold my collard leaves in half, cut out the stem from the middle and discard it, the roll up stacks of leaves and cut them into strips, about an inch wide. I drop all these in a big colander and submerge the colander in a sink of cold water. Swirl the greens around, pick up the colander and let the water drain out, then drain the sink and repeat the process three or four times. Shake most of the water off the collards, then they are ready for the pot. Ok, I’ll concede here. Nowadays you can find washed and chopped collards in the bagged salad department at the grocery. I don’t live in your house, so I am not going to know. Though I’d give these a rinse too. If you really can’t find either of these options, look for frozen collards and thaw them according to the package.

Smoked ham hocks are a natural with greens, producing the right smoky pork flavor. You’ll find ham hocks in the smoked meat section of the grocery (usually near the sausage, with the salt pork etc.). Or ask the butcher. I am fortunate to have some really good local farmers that provide naturally smoked ham hocks, which are ideal. Read the labels, some “smoked” hocks really just have smoke flavoring added and these are not very good, as they produce a sort of metallic taste. If you can’t find real smoked ham hocks, use real smoked bacon or hocks that have not been smoked. I love field peas and beans cooked in smoked pork stock, so when I get my hands on some good smoked hocks or bones from smoked ham, I make a big batch of stock (just cooking the meat and water) in a slow cooker and freeze for use whenever I want that great Southern flavor.

So if any of this seems like a lot of work on New Year’s Day, never fear. You can make the pork stock a day ahead (or months, as I said above). Cool and refrigerate the stock with the hocks still in it, then reheat, remove the hocks and proceed. You can prep the collards a day ahead too. Trim, cut and wash them, shake out the water and put them in a plastic bag with the top loosely tied in the crisper drawer.

Corn bread is the traditional accompaniment to greens, but I also like to make a nice golden dumpling to simmer in the luscious potlikker. The dumplings just soak up that flavor.

Green and Gold Collards

For the Collards:

2 nice big hunks of smoked pork hock (about a pound)

8 cups water

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Lots of fresh ground black pepper

1 bunch of collard greens (a little over a pound), cleaned and cut (see above)

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

For the Dumplings:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup buttermilk

2 Tablespoons shortening or lard, melted

Pepper Vinegar, for serving

For the Collards:

Drizzle a tiny bit of oil in the bottom of a 7- quart Dutch oven and heat over high. Add the ham hocks and brown the sides as best you can. Hocks are a funny shape, so this is not a perfect science. When you’ve got some nice brown, pour in the water and scrape up and any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the diced onion, red pepper flakes and a really nice grinding of black pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for about two hours, until the meat is falling off the bones of the ham hocks. Remove the hocks to a plate.

Turn the heat up under the hock stock, and when it begins to boil, add the greens by big handfuls, stirring each addition until the greens turn bright green before adding the next handful. When all the greens are added, bring the pot to the boil. When the stock is bubbling and the collards are shakin’ in the pot, reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes.

Mix the vinegar and sugar together, and after the greens have cooked for 30 minutes, stir it into the greens and cover the pot. Continue cooking for about another 15 minutes, but if your collards are not going nice and soft and dark green yet, add 10 more minutes or so until they do. Make the dumplings at the end of that cooking time.

For the Dumplings:

Sift the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the buttermilk and melted shortening and stir just until everything is combined and moistened.

Take the top off the collard pot and bring the stock back up to a boil. Drop heaping tablespoons of the dumpling batter into the pot, cover and cook another 15- 20 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through.

While the dumplings are cooking, pull the meat off the ham hock bones and shred it with a fork, removing any skin. Stir into the collards right before serving. Add a little salt if you want, though that hock does a lot.

When ready to serve, scoop the collards and dumplings into big, deep bowls and spoon over the potlikker. Pass a bottle of pepper vinegar or some hot sauce.

Serves 6

Try this Pink-Eyed Pea Pepper Pot recipe with black-eyed peas if you want a non-pork accompainment to these collards.

I am tempted to say that this is an old family recipe, but my family has no connection with French Canadians whatsoever.  But it is a recipe my family has been making for years.  The story goes like this: my grandparents had tourtière on a trip to Canada, and enjoyed it so much, that my aunt wrote to Gourmet magazine to ask for a recipe.  Gourmet did not print her request in the magazine, but did send her a recipe.  It has been a family standard ever since.  It is actually a meal my brother and I would request – equally and with no ugly arguments.

After I was well and truly gone from her house, I would occasionally request that my mom make tourtière, but eventually she refused and handed the treasured recipe card over to me.  I have tinkered with it over the years, but it is essentially the same.  And it is amazing that so few simple ingredients produce such a richly flavored and delicious dish. Believe me, my photographic skills don’t do this pie justice, though it is all about flavor and not about looks. I have made this for friends, but no one else had ever heard of tourtière.  But I have come across the recipe since my early days making it, and read somewhere along the way that this is a traditional meal for French Canadians on Christmas Eve.  And I can totally see that.  It is easily made ahead, simple fare but richly flavored.  It is the kind of meal to eat with friends and family, in front of a fire, cozy and together.

There is a real added benefit to this recipe – it makes two pies.  One pie serves six, and trust me, everyone will want a generous slice, so you can feed twelve people out of the preparation time.  But even better, it freezes beautifully, so you can make it well ahead, or eat one pie and freeze one for later.  That’s what my mom did.  She always had one in the freezer in case we behaved especially well and were deserving of a treat.  On the original recipe card, my aunt even makes the notation – “many Canadians think it is best cooked, cooled, frozen and reheated.” 

And a note about pie crust.  Sometimes I am in the mood and make my own, but I have no problem with the bought, ready-rolled crusts available today, and it does make things easier and quicker.  If you plan to freeze the pie, consider making it in a foil pan, or make it in a tart pan with a removable bottom. Refrigerate until cold then slide it gently out of the tart pan onto the plastic wrap and foil and carefully wrap.

Tourtière

French Canadian Meat Pie

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

2 celery stalks

2 carrots

3 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 bay leaf

1 cup hot water

salt

pepper

pastry for 2 double crust pies (your favorite recipe, or bought, ready-rolled)

1 egg

Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery (I do this in the food processor).  Melt the butter with the oil in a Dutch oven or large pot.  Add the vegetables and cook until soft and wilted, but not browned, about 7 minutes.  Add meats and cook until browned through and no longer pink, breaking up the meat.  Drain the fat thoroughly from the meat and return to the heat. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat.  The meat will start to stick together and no oil will be left in the pan.  Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaf, crumbled very finely.  Add the hot water and stir well.  Lower the heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.  The meat should be fragrant and cooked through with just a bare hint of sauce clinging to it.  If there is more fat rendered, add a bit more flour and stir and cook through.  Season generously to taste.  Cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator until cold.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line two greased tart pans with removable bottoms or pie plates with pastry.  Fill each pastry with half the meat filling, spreading it to the edges. Top with a second pie crust, sealing the edges.  Cut slits in the top of the crust.  Mix the egg with a little water and brush over the pastry top.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 degrees and cook an additional 35 – 40 minutes.  You want the pastry golden, but if it starts to get too brown, cover with foil.

To freeze, cool the pies completely.  Wrap them in plastic wrap tightly, then in foil.  The pies will keep for two days in the fridge or up to three months in the freezer. Unwrap the pie completely and place the pie plate on a baking sheet.  Bake until cooked through, about 25 minutes.  Let sit for a few minutes, slice and serve.  If frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight before re-heating.

Each pie serves 6

This recipe includes some of my favorite fall flavors – maple, pork, and Calvados apple brandy. It was born from the desire to combine these flavors in the most delicious way.  It’s perfect for autumn nights at home, but is an equally elegant dish for friends.  The sauce is rich and silky and complements the pork beautifully, and the salted caramelized apples add an extra touch.

Brining the pork chops keeps them nice and juicy, so don’t skip this easy step.  I use Calvados in all sorts of ways – as I would brandy, but for an apple-y kick - but look for small bottles or “airplane” bottles if you wish.

Pork Chops with Maple Calvados Butter Sauce

For the brine:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup kosher salt

2 cups apple juice

4 center cut pork chops

For the Sauce:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 shallot

2 Tablespoons Calvados

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grade B amber maple syrup

6 Tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

generous dash sea salt

For the Caramelized Apples:

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Granny Smith apple

1 Tablespoon Calvados

3 Tablespoons light brown sugar

Salt

Mix the sugar, salt, apple juice and water in a small pan and heat until dissolved.  Cool to room temperature.  Place the pork chops in an airtight container and pour over the brine.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 2 days.  Overnight is good if you can manage it.

When ready to prepare the pork chops, finely chop the shallot and add to a saucepan with the olive oil and sauté until soft and translucent. Take the pan off the heat and add the Calvados.  Return to the heat and continue cooking until the liquid is almost evaporated.  Add the apple juice and bring to a boil.  Cook until the juice has reduced and is glossy and syrupy.  Add the cream and the maple syrup.  Over medium heat, simmer the sauce until it is reduced and almost caramel like.  Remove from the heat and whisk the butter in a Tablespoon at a time, allowing the butter to melt and incorporate between each addition.  Whisk in the vinegar, and salt to taste.  Set aside.

While the sauce is reducing, melt the butter in a skillet and slice the apple.  Place the apples in the butter and cook until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes, turning occasionally.  Add the Calvados. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and a generous pinch of salt.  Sauté until soft and glazed with the sugar.  Set aside.

When ready to serve, heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry.  Generously pepper the pork.  Heat a large oven safe skillet and brown the chops on both sides.  Transfer to the oven and bake the chops until a thermometer registers 150 degrees, about 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pork. 

Remove from the oven and tightly cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes or so.  Gently reheat the apples and the sauce.  Serve the pork with apples on top and the sauce poured over. 

Serves 4

When I was growing up in Memphis, there were really only two fancy, sit-down, white tablecloth, special occasion restaurants.  An old-school, white-jacketed waiter, New Orleans-style place and an elegant Chinese restaurant.  My Dad is a big fan of Chinese food, so it was his choice for special meals.  My brother and I loved the egg drop soup, which had tiny little carrots floating in it cut in the shapes of ducks and bunnies.  The owner told my mom that the chef carved the whole carrot into the shape and thinly sliced the whole into paper-thin floaters.  To this day, as my kitchen obsession grows, my mother frequently asks when I plan to learn to properly carve carrot bunnies.

I was probably twelve or thirteen before any other Chinese restaurant opened, and we ate there a lot.  Sesame Chicken, Egg Drop Soup, Fried Wontons, Lemon Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Mu Shu Pork.  The standard fare in this area, on the menus of the many subsequent Chinese restaurants to open.  When I went off to college in Connecticut, my friends and I ordered Chinese food from the local, college-friendly delivery joint.  This group of folks were all from the New England and they took over the ordering, choosing their standard choice of dishes.  When we laid it all out on the floor of the dorm room, I was flummoxed.  Everyone was digging in heartily and I didn’t recognize some of the dishes.  Sure beef and broccoli was there, but I’d never seen cold sesame noodles (now one of my favorites) or dumplings before.  It had never occurred to me that ethnic food could be regional not just in its country of origin but in its transplanted incarnation as well. 

Dumplings have made their way onto Chinese menus in Memphis as totally standard fare now.  My nieces are big fans.  It never crossed my mind that dumplings were something you might make at home until I stumbled across a magazine article about the process.  I didn’t save the article, but it stuck with me for weeks until I just had to try it for myself.  I use packaged dumpling wrappers and make a flavorful filling.  I like to make a big batch and freeze them to pull out and cook when I’m in the mood.  I have to say, I am rather impressed with myself for this accomplishment.

Chinese Dumplings

1 pound ground pork

1 medium carrot finely grated

4 green onions, finely chopped

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Chinese five spice

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon ground Szechuan peppercorns (optional)

1 package wonton or dumpling wrappers

Place all the filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.  Your clean hands are the best tool for this.

I find it easiest here to set up a little assembly line. Place a small bowl of water in easy reach. Lay some of the wonton wrappers out on the counter, and place about a teaspoon of filling in the center of each wrapper.  Wet your finger with water and run it around the edge of the wrapper.  Fold the wrapper over the filling and press the edges together, pressing any air bubbles out and sealing completely.  Keep going until you have used up all the filling. You should end up with 35 – 40 dumplings.

Place the folded dumplings on a baking sheet or plates lined with waxed paper.  Place the dumplings in the freezer until solid, at least an hour, then transfer to a plastic freezer bag or container.  I like to divide into portions of six or seven dumplings in individual bags.

There are several ways to prepare these dumplings: 

For fried dumplings: Thaw the dumplings in the fridge. Heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the dumplings until crispy and golden. Remove the dumplings to a paper towel lined plate to drain and serve with soy or ponzu sauce to dip.

For pan-fried dumplings:  Thaw the dumplings or cook from frozen.  For each 6 – 7 dumplings, bring 1 ½ cups of chicken broth and one tablespoon of oil to a boil.  Add the dumplings and continue to cook until the broth has evaporated.  The dumplings will cook and brown on the bottom in the residual oil.

Makes 35- 40 dumplings

Familiar is good.  A good, juicy burger with melty cheese on a soft bun.  Maybe some fries on the side.  But different is good too.  And this pork, sage and apple burger fits that bill perfectly.  Juicy pork kept moist with tart green apples and tangy onions – a brilliant combination that will make a difference in a weeknight meal, or impress your friends with an exciting burger twist. And kids will love these too.  A side of sweet potato fries are a good match.

Pork, Sage and Apple Burgers

I love these served on an onion roll with caramelized onions, and maybe some melted fontina cheese.  This recipe makes 8 burgers, but they freeze beautifully if that’s more than you need.

2 pounds lean ground pork

1 medium Granny Smith apple

1 medium red onion

6 Tablespoons plain bread crumbs

1 large bunch fresh sage

salt and pepper

Put the pork into a large bowl – it is easier to work with if it is not too cold from the fridge.  Grate the apple and the onion together (this can be done in the food processor).  Add to the pork in the bowl.  Add the bread crumbs to the mixture and work together with clean hands until everything is well blended. 

Finely chop the sage and add to the mixture with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper, and continue working until completely mixed. 

Divide the mixture into eight equal portions and form into patties.  Refrigerate until ready to use, or wrap each tightly and freeze for up to 3 months.

To cook, brown on both sides in a skillet.  Transfer to a 375 degree oven and cook until done through, about 20 minutes.

Makes 8 burgers