Please-don't-kill-my-cat southern greens

Ok. So the challenge was to make traditional southern style greens without the pig parts.

A ham-hock in a pot of greens delivers several things: a shot of salt, a smoky flavor and the magic umami. So, like Brad Pitt in Moneyball, I tried to replace one awesome player with a composite to approximate the result.

I used red wine vinegar as a base. Vinegar is pretty traditional in southern greens. I started with probably 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar. To that I added my umami ingredient, soy sauce. Maybe a tablespoon altogether. For smokiness, I used liquid smoke. It is much more legit a source of smoke flavor than most folks realize. Finally, I used some fennel seed, sage and pepper flakes to simulate the flavor profile of a good sausage. I also added some smoked paprika for a multi layered smoke flavor. All of this was mixed together and held to the side.

To make the greens, I took two big bunches of kale and one of collards and removed the mid ribs from each leaf. I then roughly chopped them all. Put a pot of water on and blanch all of the greens for about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

While the greens drain, heat some oil in the largest pot you've gotn (med-high). Add two medium or one large sliced onion, a sliced (unseeded) jalapeno and several chopped cloves of garlic.

When the onion is pretty much translucent, add the greens and a splash of veg broth. Add your magic pig-part mimic solution and two or three chopped roma tomatoes. Lower heat to very low and cover. You are now in for a very long ride.

Let greens cook for 3-4 hours. Check, and stir occasionally. If they are getting dry enough that they might burn, add some veg broth. Avoid any additional seasoning since you are essentially reducing a large volume of food. Perfectly seasoned food that is reduced will be overseasoned.

After 3-4 hours, the volume in your pot should be reduced to half or less of what you started with. At this point, you can taste and season. I used sea salt, fresh black pepper, tabasco and a splash of cider vinegar.

This could also be made with mustard, beet, or turnip greens. With any of those, you would not need to parboil the greens; just throw them fresh into the pot with the onions/garlic etc. If you choose to make this with all collards, boil the greens slightly longer.