mustard greens?

Jennyanniedots said:

I'm not sure what to do with them - I guess I'd either steam them in
chicken broth or stir fry them as a first stab. I've read a few
southern recipes involving slabs of bacon fat, which I'm not inclinded
to try. (Don't get me wrong - I love a good slab of bacon - but I like
that they look so healthy and flavorful on their own.) So I'm
wondering, do you guys like to stir fry them, boil them.....and what
kinds of sauce do you like on top?

If you just want to enjoy the greens for their own sake, pull the
leaves from ribs in pieces and wash. With nothing but the water from
the washed leaves (don't bother to drain) put them in a pan w/ lid and
let them cook at low heat for about 1 to 1-1/2 hrs. Add a little
water if original water completely evaporates. When done, add salt &
pepper or some hot sauce and enjoy.

nb

On 11 Sep 2005 15:50:12 -0700, "Jennyanniedots" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi everyone,
I recently bought some mustard greens at the local Asian supermarket,
and I'm not sure what to do with them. I'm not sure if there are
varying degrees of mustard green age/bitterness, so I'll describe -
they're very bright green (lettuce colored), fairly tender looking
stalks.

I'm not sure what to do with them - I guess I'd either steam them in
chicken broth or stir fry them as a first stab. I've read a few
southern recipes involving slabs of bacon fat, which I'm not inclinded
to try. (Don't get me wrong - I love a good slab of bacon - but I like
that they look so healthy and flavorful on their own.) So I'm
wondering, do you guys like to stir fry them, boil them.....and what
kinds of sauce do you like on top?

Thanks in advance,
Jen

I'm from the south, so keep that in mind as you read this.

First, you have to wash them. Fill the sink with water. Your sink is
spotlessly clean isn't it? *ahem* Toss in the greens and agitate the
lot. A lot. Haul the greens out to a colander or something, look at
the grit that washed out, and drain the sink. Then do it again. And
maybe again. As needed. Gritty greens are not good. I know. I've
had them. After you've de-gritted the greens, slap them on a large
cutting board and give them a rough chop treatment. Put a little
olive oil in a deep pot and add about half an onion, diced. Cook the
onions till they start to brown and toss in some seasoning meat.
Bacon is good. So is tasso if you have it. I know you didn't want to
use pork fat, but even just a little adds depth and deliciousness to a
mess of greens. Anyhow, tasso is always very lean. Next add the
chopped greens and a few cloves of garlic (minced) and some salt and a
little water. You don't have to cover the greens with water; they'll
cook way down. Like spinach does. Way down. Cover the pot and
simmer the greens for about 35 minutes. You need to check the pot now
and again to be sure it doesn't cook dry. They'll get tender and
tasty, but they need to cook longer than more tender green stuff like
spinach to get that way.

Serve them warm with some hot pepper vinegar on the side for folks to
use as they see fit. Trappy's makes good pepper vinegar, but you can
make it, too. Gather and wash some fresh hot chiles like serranos
(the classic is green cayenne, but that's not a likely score at most
stores); fill a jar with them. Salt them liberally. Bring some apple
cider vinegar almost to a boil and pour it over the peppers. Let it
cool. Cover it and refrigerate overnight. A splash of the juice over
mustard greens is really good.

modom

Jennyanniedots said:

Hi everyone,
I recently bought some mustard greens at the local Asian supermarket,
and I'm not sure what to do with them. I'm not sure if there are
varying degrees of mustard green age/bitterness, so I'll describe -
they're very bright green (lettuce colored), fairly tender looking
stalks.

I'm not sure what to do with them - I guess I'd either steam them in
chicken broth or stir fry them as a first stab. I've read a few
southern recipes involving slabs of bacon fat, which I'm not inclinded
to try. (Don't get me wrong - I love a good slab of bacon - but I like
that they look so healthy and flavorful on their own.) So I'm
wondering, do you guys like to stir fry them, boil them.....and what
kinds of sauce do you like on top?

Thanks in advance,
Jen

I had a friend who made a very successful mistake using mustard greens.
He was preparing ordeurves (?) for a large company party, something he
had never attempted before, and wanted to have the classic spinach dip
you used to see so often at parties. He went to the store and bought
what he thought was spinach, went home and made up a huge bowl of what
he thought was spinach dip from a recipe he found somewhere. As he was
cleaning up, he picked up the cellophone wrappings from what he thought
was spinach, (see a patterne here?) and noticed he'd used mustard
greens instead of spinach (surprise!) He freaked out, but tried the
dip. It was delicious! I had a lot of it at the party, thought it was
odd tasting spinach dip (good odd), and asked him about it after, when
he told me the story. I've always thought about making some someday,
but never have. It certainly was delicious, and the whole huge bowl got
devoured without any complaints.

salgud said:

Jennyanniedots said:

Hi everyone,
I recently bought some mustard greens at the local Asian supermarket,
and I'm not sure what to do with them.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks in advance,
Jen

I had a friend who made a very successful mistake using mustard
greens. He was preparing ordeurves (?) for a large company party,
something he had never attempted before, and wanted to have the
classic spinach dip you used to see so often at parties. He went to
the store and bought what he thought was spinach, went home and made
up a huge bowl of what he thought was spinach dip from a recipe he
found somewhere. As he was cleaning up, he picked up the cellophone
wrappings from what he thought was spinach, (see a patterne here?)
and noticed he'd used mustard greens instead of spinach (surprise!)
He freaked out, but tried the dip. It was delicious! I had a lot of
it at the party, thought it was odd tasting spinach dip (good odd),
and asked him about it after, when he told me the story. I've always
thought about making some someday, but never have. It certainly was
delicious, and the whole huge bowl got devoured without any
complaints.

Now there's a "cooking mistake" that turned into a success story! I like
stories like this one! Thanks for sharing it.

Jill

salgud said:

Jennyanniedots said:

Hi everyone,
I recently bought some mustard greens at the local Asian supermarket,
and I'm not sure what to do with them.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks in advance,
Jen

I had a friend who made a very successful mistake using mustard
greens. He was preparing ordeurves (?) for a large company party,
something he had never attempted before, and wanted to have the
classic spinach dip you used to see so often at parties. He went to
the store and bought what he thought was spinach, went home and made
up a huge bowl of what he thought was spinach dip from a recipe he
found somewhere. As he was cleaning up, he picked up the cellophone
wrappings from what he thought was spinach, (see a patterne here?)
and noticed he'd used mustard greens instead of spinach (surprise!)
He freaked out, but tried the dip. It was delicious! I had a lot of
it at the party, thought it was odd tasting spinach dip (good odd),
and asked him about it after, when he told me the story. I've always
thought about making some someday, but never have. It certainly was
delicious, and the whole huge bowl got devoured without any
complaints.

Now there's a "cooking mistake" that turned into a success story! I like
stories like this one! Thanks for sharing it.

Jill

I think perhaps what I have is "baby mustard greens." They are very
light green and tender, and they do not resemble spinach. They would
cook in a very short amount of time (not 1.5 hours as someone
previously mentioned). I bought them at an Asian market.
-jen

Jennyanniedots said:

I think perhaps what I have is "baby mustard greens." They are very
light green and tender, and they do not resemble spinach. They would
cook in a very short amount of time (not 1.5 hours as someone
previously mentioned). I bought them at an Asian market.
-jen

Obviously you've never had "normal" Southern cooking. I don't mean the
stuff you get in gourmet cookbooks, but the stuff you get served in the
little cafes in the tiny towns off the beaten path. Everything which
isn't fried in 50W motor oil is cooked for at least an hour and a half,
then put on the plate with the puddle of grease from the fried food.
"Hell, them's damn fine vittles y'all!"

"salgud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Obviously you've never had "normal" Southern cooking. I don't mean the
stuff you get in gourmet cookbooks, but the stuff you get served in the
little cafes in the tiny towns off the beaten path. Everything which
isn't fried in 50W motor oil is cooked for at least an hour and a half,
then put on the plate with the puddle of grease from the fried food.
"Hell, them's damn fine vittles y'all!"

My wife's from Texas; I've always kidded her (and her family) about
the Ultimate Southern Dish being something along the lines of
salt-encrusted chocolate-covered deep-fried pork rinds, with a side of
fried okra...

Bob M.

Bob Myers said:

"salgud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Obviously you've never had "normal" Southern cooking. I don't mean the
stuff you get in gourmet cookbooks, but the stuff you get served in the
little cafes in the tiny towns off the beaten path. Everything which
isn't fried in 50W motor oil is cooked for at least an hour and a half,
then put on the plate with the puddle of grease from the fried food.
"Hell, them's damn fine vittles y'all!"

My wife's from Texas; I've always kidded her (and her family) about
the Ultimate Southern Dish being something along the lines of
salt-encrusted chocolate-covered deep-fried pork rinds, with a side of
fried okra...

Bob M.

Yes! One of my Southern favs. It's really delicious if you know how to
cook it right.