Southern Collard Greens with Smoked Ham Hock — The Food of Endurance

Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The library held its annual event, which I now oversee rather than organize, and the distance from the event — the administrative remove — made me miss the intimacy of standing in the room, choosing the readings, watching the faces of the people who came to listen. Leadership, I am learning, is the art of building things you don't get to inhabit. You build the room. Someone else stands in it.

James asked me about Daddy again this week — not the philosophical questions of last year but practical ones. "What did Grandpa think about Martin Luther King?" he asked over dinner. I told him the story of Daddy meeting King in Atlanta in 1963 — the small man who made the room grow — and James listened with the attention of a young man who is constructing an identity from the materials available: his name, his family, his history, the books on the shelves of the house where he grew up. I gave him the materials. He is building the structure. The building is his.

The move is three weeks away. Robert has finished the room preparations — Joy's bookshelf is installed and stocked with her stuffed animals (brought from Beaufort last weekend), and Mama's room has her curtains hung and her bed made with the quilts from the parsonage. The house is becoming a different house — not the four-person Blackwood house but the five-person Blackwood-Simmons house, a multigenerational family under one roof, the kind of household Mama grew up in and that I am now, at forty-seven, creating in reverse.

I made collard greens for King Day — the tradition, the statement, the food of endurance. Four hours at the stove, the ham hock rendering its smoky richness into the greens, the pot liquor darkening with time. I served them with cornbread and hot sauce and thought about Reverend James, who would have been at the pulpit today, preaching about a dream and a dreamer and the unfinished work of justice, which is always unfinished, which is always work.

This is the recipe I made that afternoon — the collard greens I stood over for four hours while thinking about Daddy meeting King in Atlanta, about James building his identity from the materials I’ve given him, about Mama’s room being readied three weeks before the move. You don’t rush collard greens. You let the ham hock do its slow, quiet work, the same way you let a family come together: with heat, with patience, with time you can’t shortcut. If you’re looking for a recipe that honors the tradition, this is the one I reach for every King Day.

Southern Collard Greens with Smoked Ham Hock

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 4 hours | Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 large bunches collard greens (about 2 pounds), stems removed, leaves torn into pieces
• 1 large smoked ham hock (about 1 pound)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth (or water)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Hot sauce, for serving
• Cornbread, for serving

Instructions

1. Wash the greens. Fill a clean sink or large basin with cold water. Submerge the torn collard leaves and swish vigorously to release any grit. Lift the greens out, drain the water, and repeat until no sand remains at the bottom — usually two or three washes. Set greens aside to drain.
2. Build the base. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, stirring so it doesn’t burn.
3. Add the ham hock and liquid. Nestle the smoked ham hock into the pot. Pour in the chicken broth and add the apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper. Bring everything to a boil.
4. Add the greens. Add the collard greens to the pot in batches, pressing each batch down with tongs as it wilts to make room for more. Once all the greens are in, stir to combine.
5. Simmer low and slow. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar, and let the greens simmer for 3 to 4 hours. Stir occasionally. The greens are done when they are very tender and the pot liquor has turned a deep, smoky broth. The longer they cook, the more flavor the ham hock gives up.
6. Finish and serve. Remove the ham hock and pull any meat from the bone. Shred the meat and stir it back into the greens. Taste the pot liquor and adjust salt, pepper, or vinegar as needed. Serve the greens in bowls with a generous ladle of pot liquor, a splash of hot sauce, and warm cornbread on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 145 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 780mg