Greens With Pot Likker

Serves: 10-12

• 4 pounds fresh young collard, mustard, or turnip greens
• 5 strips bacon
• 1 smoked ham hock
• 5 cups water
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Wash the greens well, picking them over to remove any brown spots or blemishes. Cut away the thick stems and tear the leaves into pieces.

Cook the bacon over low heat in a heavy saucepan until it is translucent and the bottom of the pot is coated with rendered bacon fat. Add the greens, the ham hock, and the water and cook over low heat until the greens are tender. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve the greens hot, with dishes of chopped onions and hot peppers in vinegar on the side. Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce and wine vinegar are also traditional accompaniments (Jessica B. Harris, Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons, Atheneum, 1989).