Fresh Collard Leaves Right from the Flower Beds

Well Paul and I just had a smoked turkey sandwich with fresh collard leaves out from a plant in our flower bed! Why do we even plant flowers when we can get such delicious food right from planter boxes?

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Yvette Freeman loves collards!

Yvette Freeman, best-known as nurse Haleh Adams on the long-running TV drama "ER," gave us permission to include one of her recipes in The Collard Patch along with her bio.

She grows vegetables in her back yard. Quoting her website:

Among them are budding eggplants, lilac peppers, collard greens, red onions, kale, tomatoes, zucchini and watermelons, which are still producing after a long, hot summer. Herbs, including rosemary, basil, oregano, mint and thyme, are grown in containers in a shady nook near her kitchen.

This quotation is also from Yvette Freeman's website:

Since adopting her healthy lifestyle, Freeman has discovered new ways to incorporate favorite vegetables into home-cooked meals. She uses collard greens, for example, in her own version of Greek roll-ups.
"I use collard greens instead of grape leaves and stuff them with mushrooms and rice instead of meat," she said, adding she's also learned to propagate them by planting a leaf in the ground and watering it.
Now she dreams of having "collard trees," she said, chuckling.

http://www.yvettefreeman.com/television.html

The Collard Patch, http://www.CollardLovers.com

Cooking Collards during the Evening News on KTVE

News

May 17, 2006, 5:00 p. m.

Paul Elliott and Mary Cheatham cooked with Stephen Webster on "Supper with Stephen" featured on the KTVE (West Monroe, LA) on the evening news.

They demonstrated preparing and cooking collards. Paul and Mary showed five collard green dishes during the segment on the 5:00 news and fed the congenial KTVE staff.

Drop a note to admin@collardlovers.com to receive an e-booklet of these recipes.

For news about The Collard Patch, the new collards story book, go to

CollardLovers.com

For news about Flavord With Love, Third Edition, the expanded and revised story cookbook about Mary Lou's Family and friends, please visit

FWLCookbook.com

Collard Green Sandwich

From the NPR site:

Collard Green Sandwich
by Vertamae Grosvenor

Talk of the Nation, November 25, 2004 · Frequent NPR commentator Verta Mae Grosvenor, author of Vertamae Cooks in America's Family Kitchen, offers up a recipe:

Vertamae's Collard Green Sandwich

Ingredients:

Collard Greens (2 or three leaves per sandwich. Choose the small leaves, the nice tender sweet ones... not the big fan leaves)

White Bread (not too thick or thin)

Optional ingredients:

Mustard

Cheese

Thin sliced meats

Thin sliced tomatoes or onions

Spice a pot of water or broth to taste and bring to a full boil as if you were preparing pasta. Once the water is boiling, throw in the collards and boil for five minutes. Remove collards and immediately plunge in ice-cold water. That keeps them green. Bring the water to second boil and throw the collards back in ten minutes. Remove the collards and drain and dry with a paper or cloth towel.

Now you can put your sandwich together and here's where you get creative. Prosciutto works well, or your favorite cheese. My personal favorite is thinly sliced red onion with Dijon mustard. I found that mustard works better than mayonnaise. I also like to add a thinly sliced, real good tomato... not the watery kind please.

Forty-Five Free Recipes

Hello!

I've just finished assembling some of the recipes that appear online at FWLCookbook.com. I placed them in an electronic cookbook.

The title is Forty-Five Free Recipes. Write me at mcheatham@cox-internet.com for your free copy.

LSU AgCenter . Vegetables for South Louisiana Series

LSU AgCenter . Vegetables for South Louisiana Series: "Collards
Collards

Recommended Varieties
Morris Heading, Vates, Georgia (Creole), Champion
Cultural Practices
Planting Dates


March 15 to October 1
Seed to Plant -- 1 packet (100 ft row)
Planting Practices

Plant 1/8 inch deep, for plants 6 to 12 inches apart

Fertilizing

5 to 6 lbs 8-8-8 or 8-24-24 (100 ft row). Side dress with 1/4 to 3/4 lb nitrogen 3 to 4 weeks after planting and again in 2 to 3 weeks. Side dressing after the first harvest will help the plant produce a second crop in 3 to 4 weeks


Harvesting


Days to harvest -- 75
Collard greens are harvested by cutting the tops out of the plants. However, any of the leaves may be harvested
Insect and Disease Control
Aphids -- Malathion (57%EC) 2 tsp/gal water, 7 days before harvest
Caterpillars -- B.t. (Thuricide, etc) according to label. Use weekly with wetting agent in spray
Comments
Plant some collards (6 to 10 plants) each month during the growing season to provide a continuing source of tender greens"

THE COLLARD PATCH

The Collard Patch is our new story cookbook. The printer is running a proof of the cover and the text today! If you would like to be one of the first to own this book, drop me a note. I'll make you a really good deal.

Paul Elliott and I have co-authored this unique cookbook. On the Internet there are hundreds of recipes for cooking collards, but I honestly do not know of another book focusing on the subject. Here are some of the things our book contains:
Some really good stories
The Most Popular Collard Greens Recipe in the World!
Cornbread Recipes to Go with the Collards
Heart Health Recipes
288 Big Pages of 214 Remarkable Recipes!

Write me at MaryCheatham@fwlcookbook.com for more information about the cookbook.

Easter Recipes E-Book

My son-in-law Mike has a very easy way to prepare ham. It's perfect for Easter. In fact, I have an entire set of recipes for a great Southern Easter meal. If you will e-mail me at admin@fwlcookbook.com, I'll send the recipes to you.

Get This Amazing Southern Cookbook, Flavored with Love, Now!

Dogs

Hello from Foxy, the standard poodle, and Chloe, the cocker spaniel.

Melchiorra’s Spaghetti

Here is one of the new recipes that will be appearing in the third edition of Flavored with Love.
Melchiorra’s Spaghetti Sauce

Brown:
Large pieces of lamb (the size a little larger than a fist)
Large pieces of beef (can use neck bones, or joints)
Large pieces of vealOlive oil
Parsley
Oregano
Garlic (fresh)
Celery
Onions
Other - like mushrooms

Squeeze fresh whole tomatoes (can be from cans) in a bowl.

Add to a pan (with the tomatoes):
1 (or how many you think is necessary) can of tomato sauce
1can of tomato paste

Simmer on low for 2 to 3 hours. Stir frequently so that the sauce does not char on the bottom.

Remove meat from sauce and place in a separate dish.

Spaghetti
Boil a pan of water (how much depends on how many are being served), and add olive oil while boiling and some salt (taste water to see if not too salty).

Add spaghetti, either whole or halved, into the water

Sample the spaghetti after about 10 to 15 minutes:
CAUTION: don't make too SOFT! (Spaghetti is eaten the best when it's al dente—a little hard.)

Remove water through colander, add spaghetti to a pan (without sauce), add some olive oil (to prevent sticking), and mix.

With the sauce and spaghetti made, you are now ready to serve.

Paul Urso’s Notes
1. You can replace the lamb, beef, and veal with pieces of chicken (or fowls) if you want chicken tomato sauce.
2. If you want Marinara sauce - do not use meat of any kind.
3. If you want meatballs, take some chopped meat (of any kind) brown the meatballs in a frying pan with olive oil and add to the sauce above while simmering.

Mary Lou, this is my mother’s. ,Melchiorra Garufi Urso (of course she's deceased) was a peasant woman from the mountains of Fiumedinisi, Sicily, born in 1886. She was named after one of the Magi. There was no one better than my Mom.

The making is in the SAUCE. It takes a while for the sauce, but you can make a whole bunch. It seems to last forever. You can even freeze it, and it never loses its taste. Spaghetti is quick and easy to make.

Mom was an illiterate Italian peasant woman, and when she cooked she never used a book (couldn't read), and heated the pot so long, put in a pinch of this and a pinch of that, broiled, baked, grilled, and NEVER fried.

She was extremely bright even though she never went to school. She did all the grocery shopping, and, although some of those smart aleck Italians in Brooklyn tried to cheat her. THEY NEVER COULD! God bless you.

Mary Lou’s Note
Paul Urso, PhD, is a sweet, gorgeous man, who looks like Tony Bennett. He has published over 100 articles in scientific publications, and he also has published several poems of literary merit.

This recipe does not include specific amounts. There is no way to tell you exactly how much of each ingredient to include. You will have to taste it and work at it.

http://www.fwlcookbook.com/Order.html Get This Amazing Southern Cookbook, Flavored with Love, Now!

Recipe for Super Bowl XL: Super Bowl Sundae

Here is a great snack to enjoy eating while you watch the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers Fans in the Super Bowl XL.

Prepare the dish in a 9 X 9” casserole dish.
1 can of Pace® refried beans 1 large tomato 1 small bottle of black or green olives Guacamole (homemade or tub) 1 small onion (optional) Shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1 (8ounce) tub of sour cream
First spread the can of refried beans in the bottom of the dish.
Then add desired layers like the guacamole; then olives, onions, tomato; then the shredded cheese, and finally the sour cream.
(I use the Tostitos® brand of chips to dip with.)
Then sit back and cheer on your favorite football team while eating your Football Sundae! GO TEAM!!

Thanks, Elizabeth!

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Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers Fans!

Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers Fans, or anyone interested in the Super Bowl XL, keep watching here I've found an excellent gameday recipe and will post it soon.

Oh, yes. I've heard about some of the commercials that will be aired, and they can be as interesting as the game. Take a good look at GM's Pontiac Solstice (Google Pontiac) and Mazda's MX-5.

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Bavarian Roast Turkey

Clean and season a fat turkey. Stuff with 3 raw potatoes, 2 apples and 1 onion grated. Mix with a lump of butter and 1 cup of bread-crumbs; add 1 egg. Season with sage, thyme, salt and pepper; then put in a dripping-pan. Pour in 1 cup of water and dredge with flour. Let bake in a hot oven until done.

Mary Lou's Easy and Tasty Fried Chicken

Each of us has his own way of cooking chicken. My method is one I learned from my mother when I grew up in south Mississippi.

My sister Ruth and I often had the job of slaughtering a chicken from the yard. The chicken and the sisters suffered great pain. Usually I didn't want to eat the chicken by the time it made it to the table.

Here's my method:Buy a chicken. That way you can be noble like Brutus and have someone else commit the poultry murder. Buy it previously cut up or cut your own chicken.

My mother always cut the chicken so that she had a large piece containing the wishbone--we called it the pulley bone. My brother Buddy and I would have a negotiation over that piece. I usually won.

If you cut the chicken, use a sharp knife. Cut it into halves, then cut it into fourths, and finally cut the pieces fourths into eighths. Cutting a chicken is not, as we thought when we were children, rocket science. I'll let you decide whether you want to remove the skin.

Be sure to trim the globs of fat off the chicken pieces.Wash the chicken, everything that touches the chicken, and your hands with care.

Marinate the chicken covered and stored in the refrigerator in buttermilk overnight.The next day wash the chicken and drain it on paper towels.Dredge it in a mix of self-rising flour that has been seasoned liberally with your favorite seasonings, such as seasoning salt, black pepper, ground red pepper, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, rosemary, and salt. Or you may prefer a spicy south Louisiana blend.

Pour enough oil to halfway fill a heavy Dutch oven or very deep iron skillet. You want the oil to cover the chicken. Heat the oil until it is really hot.

Place the chicken in the oil one layer at a time. You will want to place the pretty sides down.

Fry it until no blood oozes out if you stick it or until it is 180 degrees inside the biggest pieces.Drain it on a rack.

Serve it with some garlic mashed potatoes or some rice and homemade gravy.

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South Louisiana Collard Greens, Stir Fried with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Stir-Fried Greens
2 bunches greens, collards if possible
¼ pound bacon,
diced1 red onion, sliced thin
Rice wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1. Remove stems, then cut greens into thin strips.
2. Wash thoroughly.
3. Render bacon until crisp, add onion and cook onion until onion is done.
4. Add greens and toss in pan.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste, then add vinegar and toss in pan.
6. Remove from heat and keep warm.
7. Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce (recipe below).

Note: Words are inadequate to tell you how good this sauce is. There is extra sauce, which I use on everything from carrots to Brussels sprouts. These recipes are for restaurant amounts and are quoted exactly as the chefs wrote them.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
6 cups sugar4 cups red wine vinegar3 cups teriyaki sauceChopped garlicChopped gingerChopped cilantro3 cups ketchupCornstarch
Mix sugar, vinegar, teriyaki, garlic, and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil.Add cilantro and ketchup and return to a boil.Thicken with a little cornstarch mixed with water. Serve warm. Armand’s, a deliciously decorated new restaurant in deep French country, is housed within Chris’s Flowers & Gifts located at 313 Main Street, Gramercy, LA 70052. Behind the main dining room sits a New Orleans style courtyard, where on special occasions there is enjoyable live music— not too loud.Call Jim Rooker, Armand’s executive chef, at 225-869-8440 to reserve space for a party or have him cater something extra special for you.When I asked him to give me his favorite recipe, he gave me two that he received from John Martin Terranova, deceased, the former executive chef of the Castle, an exquisite restaurant located in the old stables of historic Dunleith Plantation, Natchez, Mississippi.Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Stir-Fried Collards are featured with Creamed Sweet Potatoes on the Castle’s dinner menu. Jim shared his treasured recipes with me, and I’m giving them to you.Jim’s intimate restaurant will rank among the best in the New Orleans area when the connoisseurs of fine cuisine find it. You can beat the city crowd there and avoid the New Orleans traffic for an unforgettable dining experience.
http://www.fwlcookbook.com/Armands.html

RECIPES: My Favorite Christmas Recipes

HOW TO COOK AN OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS DINNER WITHOUT RUINING YOUR CHRISTMAS DAY

Imagine the way Christmas was when you were growing up--when a mixture of unforgettable aromas wafted from the kitchen.

My favorite recipes to create the old-fashioned aromas of Christmas are the ones I'm sharing in the e-book, MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS RECIPES. This collection of recipes would fill too much space if I published them as a group here on the Collard Patch blog, but I'd love to share them with you. For that reason, I have placed them in an e-book that I want to give you.

These recipes will help you have an extra special Christmas dinner. You can prepare many of the dishes ahead of time. The secret is to plan ahead.

Even though you may not have an opportunity to cook all these recipes, you will experience the joy of an old-fashioned Christmas as you read my electronic Christmas gift to you.

Please share these recipes with your friends. All I ask is that you include your name and e-mail address so people will know where the recipes came from.

Write me at admin@fwlcookbook.com, and I'll send you a free e-book of Christmas recipes you are sure to enjoy.

Merry Christmas,
Mary

RECIPE: Weese's Nut Cake

David from the low country requested a recipe for nut cake, and I'm sending him my mother-in-law's mother's recipe. Mom says this cake is wonderful.

Does anyone else have a nut cake recipe you'd like to share?



Weese's Nut Cake

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
1 cup bourbon
1 pound raisins
2 pounds pecans
4 cups cake flour
½ pound butter
6 eggs separated
2 cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder


1.Soak spices in whiskey overnight.
2.Coat raisins and pecans in a small amount of flour.
3.Cream together butter, egg yolks, and sugar.
4.Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture.
5.Add raisins and pecans.
6.Next add whiskey and spices.
7.Fold in egg whites, stiffly beaten.
8.Bake at 250°F for 3 hours in tube pan.

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BIOGRAPHY: Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray



Rachael Ray was born into cooking. "My first vivid memory is watching Mom in a restaurant kitchen. She was flipping something with a spatula. I tried to copy her and ended up grilling my right thumb! I was 3 or 4," says Rachael. "Everyone on both sides of my family cooks."

Rachael's maternal grandfather grew and cooked everything that his family of 12 needed for sustenance, and her dad's family was steeped in the food-rich traditions of Louisiana. The Ray family was also in the food business, owners of a family restaurant in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Eventually the family relocated to New York, where her mother went to work as the food supervisor for a chain of upstate restaurants.

Rachael's career started at Macy's Marketplace in New York, first at the candy counter and then as the manager of the fresh foods department. After Macy's, Ray helped to open Agata & Valentina, the prestigious New York gourmet marketplace, where she was the store manager and buyer. Though this New York City food fast track was exciting, Rachael decided she wanted to return to the lifestyle of the Adirondacks.

Once upstate, Rachael managed pubs and restaurants at the famed Sagamore resort on Lake George and was then recruited by Cowan & Lobel, a large gourmet market in Albany, to be its food buyer. Rachael turned the job into dual positions as food buyer and chef. As a way to increase grocery sales during the holidays, Rachael began a series of cooking classes.

The "30 Minute Meals" classes became so popular that the local media sent a feature reporter to cover the phenomenon, and the following week, an Albany TV station asked Rachael to do a weekly "30 Minute Meals" segment for the evening news. Nominated for two regional Emmys, the show was a major success: A companion cookbook sold 10,000 copies locally. Rachael's TV work grew to include a series of travel segments following the same theme of living a rich life without having to be wealthy. Today Rachael's work continues on Food Network's 30 Minute


Rachael Ray

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Meet Willie Crawford, Internet Genius and Soul Food Cookbook Author

Autobiography of
Willie Crawford

I grew up on a tobacco farm in Fairmont, North Carolina. My two younger brothers and I were raised by my grandmother (Mary Alice Jones). From as early as 5 or 6 she started teaching us to cook. At first - simple things like grits, eggs, and toast. Later things such as cakes from scratch and stuffed turkeys. Part of her motivation may have been due to the fact that by the time I was 6 she was already 65. Anyway - she wanted us to learn to take care of ourselves. So she taught us to cook, iron, sew, do laundry, etc. at a very early age.

Since we were very poor, we also learned to work at an early age. In fact, we were so poor that if you looked up "poor" in the dictionary, you did not see our picture. Nobody owned a camera at least until we were teenagers. We were helping neighborhood farmers with their tobacco and cucumber crops as early as 6 years of age.. We were also doing chores for relatives at a very early age. My aunts and uncles had me doing things like feeding their livestock after school, unthawing their electric water pumps, and doing yard work. This was good because this was how we paid for our school clothes and supplies. We bought the majority of our school stuff, and the government provided us with free school meals. The school lunch program fed a major portion of my neighborhood.

At home, we grew much of our own food. We had a large garden with tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, collards, turnips, okra, peas, string beans, butter beans, squash, strawberries, and whatever else we cared to plant. We froze many vegtables for winter although collards and turnips would continue growing half-way through the winter. Relatives (slightly better off) also frequently gave us food they had canned or frozen for the winter. The sweet potatoes my Uncle Thomas stored in potato hills were probably my favorite.

We also had livestock. I personally raised pigs and rabbits. I tried raising chickens but without much success. The chick were very frail and few survived the drafty chicken pen I put them in. The hogs I raised did well and I periodically sold one at the local stock yard for what was big money back then. I fed my hogs commercial livestock feed when I could afford to. In the summer it was more often weeds I pulled from nearby fields. In the fall I often gathered corn left behind by the mechanical combine to feed my pigs. This lasted into the winter at times. The winters were fairly mild, my hogs did well and provided food and a little money.

When I was about 14 or 15, my grandmother bought me a 22 rifle with my money. I used that to hunt rabbits and squirrels after school. I was a good shot and frequently brought home squirrels. An old squirrel with rice made a very tasty treat. Me and my relatives were all fairly good shots. I learned to shoot by shooting pecans off our trees with my bb gun. Sometimes I could even hit a grasshopper sitting on the clothes line - although this was more luck than skill.

The food we raised or hunted was supplemented with surplus government food. We would go to the local welfare office to pick up dried beans, powdered eggs, powdered milk, huge blocks of cheese, milk, cereal, and other goodies. I still like the taste of powdered eggs.

It was a harsh life, yet a good one. We never really went to bed hungry. We learned to be self-sufficient. Cooking was something I really liked to do. Since we did not have a telephone, television, or car for much of my youth, cooking also gave me something to do. I would also periodically go to my Aunt Ruth's house and cook for her. She had a television, so I liked visiting her. She frequently had me prepare chitterlings when I went to visit. That's where my love of chitterlings first developed. I'd clean, then boil them. Next I would fry them and sit down with her and eat my fill. What a treat! She seemed to like my cooking and that stroked my confidence.

Soul Food Recipes

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RECIPE: Fried Chitterlings (Chitlins) and Hog Maws

From Chitterlings.com: Fried Chitterlings (Chitlins) and Hog Maws

In my part of the country, chitterlings come in 10 pound buckets. Hog maws come in smaller packages found in the freezer case. If you can find the larger containers and like the recipe, simply use several times the ingredients to end up with the same percentages. Local supermarkets also carry smaller packages. After cleaning the chitterlings of the fat you will only end up with about half as much volume.

Ingredients:

2 pounds hog maws (pig stomach)

2 pounds chitterlings (pig intestines)

3 quarts water

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper (flakes)

1 medium peeled onion (white or yellow)



The hog maws are the thickest and will therefore take the longest to cook. Rinse them thoroughly as you trim off the excess fat. Put them in a 6 quart pot along with your 3 quarts water, onion, pepper, and salt. Bring them to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes.

While maws are cooking, rinse chitterlings thoroughly and trim the extra fat off them. Like most organ meats, they have a lot of fat. Add chitterlings to pot after maws have cooked for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cook another 1 hour 30 minutes or until tender. Add a little extra water if necessary.

Prepare a large cast iron skillet with 1/4 stick of butter. Remove maws and chitterlings from pot and slice. I use to slice them right in the preheated skillet although you can use a cutting board. Then stir with a large metal spoon as you lightly brown them. You can pour out the water from the pot, including the onion. The onion added a little flavor and made them smell nicer while simmering.

A variation on this recipe is to slice the chitterlings and hog maws into pieces as above, but them put them back in the pot with the stock. Again, you can get rid of the onion. Cover the pot and simmer the cut up mixture for another 50 minutes.

If you don't like onion or don't have onion, you can add four or five bay leaves to the mixture instead.. Again, you throw the bay leaves away before frying or cooking down the chitterlings.

By now the hog maws and chitterlings should be thoroughly done and almost falling apart. You can serve them with your favorite side dishes such as greens, maccaroni and cheese, or rice. I actually prefer to eat them by themselves, with several splashes of hot sauce. However, they are fattening and it's tough not to eat too much. So you probably should have a side dish.

Store the leftovers in the refrigerator. Like so many other great soul food dishes, chitlins taste even better after the flavor has soaked in for a few hours. The leftovers won't last long.

Willie Crawford


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