You may think I am obsessed with green vegetables. Last year I wrote about collards, and last issue it was broccoli. Well, I’ve just recently learned something new about cooking collards that I want to share with you. (Actually I had heard of the practice but didn’t think it credible.)
The thing is that Annie Cole’s recipe, which was given to her by her sister, uses vegetable oil. I always thought it was in the U.S. Constitution – or certainly in the Constitution of the Confederacy – that collards had to be cooked with fatback, salt pork, or, as a poor substitute, bacon. This new information comes from Mrs. Annie Cole of South Main Street Baptist Church in Greenwood. The church had a sadness in recent months when its pastor Phil McMinn was in a fatal auto accident. At present, Kevin Russ is filling the pulpit until a new pastor is called.
Mrs. Cole has been a member there since 1945, and pretty much knows most everything about the church. For 28 years, she worked in the Sunday school with young people from nursery to 6th grade “primaries,” as they used to be called. She also was part of the choir and worked in the church office for seven years.
Now that she has seen a lot of calendar pages turn, she isn’t quite as active as formerly, but goes regularly to the senior members group. She enjoys being with the group, and she says they always have a good lunch! She attends Sunday school when she can.
Mrs. Cole and her late husband Eugene had one daughter, Pat, who is married to Mike Maffett. They live in Greenwood and have two sons, Kin and Tim – who with his wife Kathy have a daughter, Miranda Leigh Maffett.
The late Eugene Cole liked fishing and metal detecting, Annie said. One of his best finds with the metal detector was a man’s belt buckle at Star Fort. The buckle is now in a museum in Canada, where it was made.
Collards and cabbages are both good for you and are excellent sources of vitamin A, iron, calcium and vitamin C – and a fair source of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin, with collards having slightly more of these.
Annie says there is no “collard cooking” odor in the kitchen when this method is used. This method is similar to the panned collards, where the vegetable is parboiled, drained, and then cooked in a skillet.
Cooked collards keep well in the refrigerator so you can (1) prepare the leaves, place them in a plastic bag in the fridge and cook them on Sunday or (2) cook the collards or cabbage on Saturday and reheat them after church for a nutritious … Sunday Dinner.
Collards and Cabbages
1 bunch of collard greens, or 1 head of cabbage
1½ cups water
2 cups water
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
To prepare: Remove each leaf from the main stem. Save the small bunch of white tender leaves on the inside. Working with each leaf, remove the green part from the white stem and cut or tear into bite-sized pieces. Cut the stem into 1- to 1½-inch pieces. One bunch of collards or one head of cabbage will produce about 2½ pounds. The weight doesn’t have to be exact. Wash the collard pieces through two or three sinks of water, lifting them from the water each time.
Put in large pot, and add the 1 1/2 cups water. Let water come to a boil and boil 1½ minutes. Drain.
Add the 2 cups water, the sugar, vegetable oil and salt and stir well. Bring to a boil then cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 30 minutes. About 15 minutes before the collards are done, add the small, white tender part that was in the center of the collard.
If needed, add a small amount of water during cooking to prevent sticking.