Farm Fresh Southern Collard Greens

The beautiful weather on Saturday made for the perfect day to visit the Crescent City Farmers Market. As we were walking in I ran into our friend Bob who had a gigantic bag of greens in his hands and told me that the collards were amazing and that I needed to get some. I do love me some big leafy greens so we made a beeline to the back of the market and bought our own gigantic bag. If you are a vitamin K junkie like me, this is a great time to be shopping at the market. Loads of varieties of lettuce, kale, mustard and collard greens as well as broccoli and broccoli rape can be found from your local farmers.

We decided to have them that night, accompanied by a big, juicy, Justin Pitts burger. And since they were collards, the quintessential southern sauteed vegetable, I decided they needed a southern twist instead of my usual method. Well they were absolutely divine, so much so that the two of us ate ALL of them in one sitting! I'm not sure on the amount that we bought, but I'm guessing that 1-1/2 lbs. isn't far off...


ingredients

• 1 gigantic bunch of fresh collard greens from your local farmer
  
• 3 slices of smoked bacon, cut into 1" pieces
  
• salt
  
• olive oil
  
• 3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
• 1 small shallot, sliced thin
• salt and pepper to taste

directions
Put a big pot of water (about 1/3 full) with a teaspoon or so of salt, on the stove to boil. Meanwhile, trim the greens by cutting out most of the big stem and then slice across in 1-2" wide cuts. Prep your bacon, garlic and shallots while waiting on the water to boil.

Add the cut greens to the boiling water at cook for 10 minutes. Strain into a colander, rinse with cold water and then press out as much of the water as you can.

Put a large skillet on the stove at med-high heat and brown the bacon. You don't want it crispy, just brown on the edges with moist fat in the middle. Remove the bacon unto a paper towel and add a few tablespoons of olive oil, turning down the heat just a bit to medium. Throw in the garlic and shallots and quickly stir them around with a spatula so they don't burn. They will cook very quickly. Add the greens a little at a time and stir into the onion/shallots until coated with oil.

Once you've added all of the greens, throw in the bacon and mix in evenly. Season with salt and pepper, but remember the bacon is salty, so taste before you do so. Enjoy!

related recipes: juicy justin pitts burgers, sauteed kale
related posts: justin pitts, farming with a purpose

Savory Bites

...offering tidbits of information on interesting discoveries in the food and wine scene of New Orleans.


Farm Fresh Duck Eggs - We are fortunate to have access to farm fresh eggs brought into the Saturday Crescent City Farmers market by Mr. Justin Pitts. He has both heritage duck and chicken eggs right now and having never had them, we decided to give the ducks a try this weekend.

Besides the usual benefits of freshly picked eggs like the deep orange yokes and the more complex flavor, the duck eggs were delicious! With a slightly rubbery shell, not the quick crack you get from a chicken egg, big rich yokes that really "sit up" in the pan and a bit thicker egg white, there isn't much difference in taste. But definitely an overall richer texture. Give them a try!

A Juicy Justin Pitts Burger Paired with El Gandor Malbec

We are hooked on the grass feed meat and pork products we purchase from the colorful Mr. Justin Pitts at the Crescent City Farmers Market. So how does Justin's ground beef differ from that you buy at Whole foods or another grocer? The first thing you notice is the color, it is a deep rich red and it has a completely different texture. Also, because of the leanness of the meat it cooks incredibly fast, so cut your cooking time down to at least half of what you would normally grill a burger. And the flavor is out of this world!

This is the way we prepare them at home and my mouth waters every time I even think about eating one of these burgers. I'm pairing it with one of my favorite grilling wines, Argentinian Malbec. Our friend Matt Lirette just started his own wholesale wine distributorship and this is one of the little gems we have purchased from him. The El Ganador Malbec is simply an amazing, value priced wine that is perfect with grilled food or simply sipping in the backyard as you watch someone else do the work! Click here for my post on the wine: El Ganador Malbec.

Preparing the grill: Ok, I think you've figured out by now that we are pretty picky about food preparation so you shouldn't be surprised that we don't use a gas grill. The flavors and aromas imparted by real wood charcoal (available at Wholefoods and most grocers) are irreplaceable and we wouldn't even think of using toxic lighter fluid. We use an eco-friendly chimney starter to get the coals going and a cheap charcoal grill I bought at Home Depot years ago for about $50. Never used a chimney starter? Here's a great little you-tube video to show you how: charcoal chimney starter.

Makes 6 of the most delicious burgers ever!

Ingredients:
-2lbs. Justin Pitts ground beef
-salt and pepper
-pinch of pepperoncino (red pepper flakes)
-6 "Food for Life" brand, sprouted grain English muffins
-1 cup grated Australian Aged Cheddar Cheese
-2 large Heirloom tomatoes, sliced and seasoned w/salt and pepper
-organic baby romaine lettuce
-2 red onions sliced thickly
-olive oil
-condiments options; organic mayonnaise, pesto, ketchup, mustard

Directions
-Pour yourself a glass of the El Ganador Malbec and prepare your charcoal chimney.
-While coals are heating in the chimney, combine beef, salt and pepper with a pinch of pepperoncino and mix with your hands. Shape into 6 good sized patties and set aside.
-Take sliced onions and coat with olive and season with a little salt and pepper.
-Top off your glass of Malbec and go out to the grill.
-Once the coals have been spread into the bottom of the grill and the grate is hot, put on the onions. As the onions begin to get tender, add the beef patties. Be very careful with your grill time. We like our burgers rare and cook them for only a minute to a minute and a half per side. Add the cheese when you flip them.
-As the burgers reach the desired wellness, move them to the side of the grill. Spread a bit of olive oil on the English muffins and grill quickly until you see the grate marks on the bread.
-Remove onions, burgers and muffins from grill and top with sliced tomatoes, lettuce and your favorite condiments. We're especially fond of a little pesto as a sandwich spread...

-Pour another glass of Malbec, sit out on your patio and enjoy the best burger ever!!

Justin Pitts, Farming with a Purpose

Searching for an alternative to hormone injected, GMO feed meats in the grocery store, Kerry and I sought out the colorful Mr. Justin Pitts last year at the Saturday Crescent City Farmers market. It only took 1 cut of beef to convince us that he was the real deal and he has set the standard to which we judge all beef and pork products we eat!

Here is an interview with Justin from the Farm Aid website:

"A walk on Justin Pitts' heritage cattle farm in Jones County, Mississippi will carry you back 100 years, says the 40-year-old family farmer whose been working the land all his life.

"I’ve been farming since I was able to walk alongside my granddad as a child," Pitts says.

The Pitts family’s farming roots are deep. They’ve worked farmland in the area since 1815. Pitts has staked his claim to 160 acres of rolling woodland and pasture near the county seat of Ellisville. He rents another 160 down the road. The farm is sandy-soiled, but produces good forage for livestock. Pitts markets his heritage breeds of cattle, sheep and goats at farmers markets, health food stores and catering companies in and around New Orleans.

"I can’t raise enough lamb to meet the demand in New Orleans," Pitts says.

His heritage breeds date back to the days when Spain held sway in the region.

"I raise Piney Woods Cattle, some call them Mississippi Woods Cattle. The "Spaniards brought them over. They’ve passed from one generation to the next as far back as anyone can remember," says Pitts. Spanish Goats and native Mississippi sheep, plus a flock of 250 heritage breed laying hens round out the bulk of farm production. For Pitts, whose independent streak is evident in virtually every statement he makes, economic survival depends on being able to work a market niche, but farming is as much about raising good food as it is about anything else.

"I tell the people who buy this meat that I’ve grown it with me in mind. It’s for me first, then everybody else. I don’t want to eat any hormones, or implants or antibiotics in my food, so you won’t find any in my meat. My animals graze. They eat blue stem grass and whatever else is growing up in the woods. I might feed them a little corn every once in a while if I have to supplement their feed, but I don’t like to buy corn because it’s probably all GMO corn."

While consumer interest in locally raised and grass fed meat is growing, Pitts says making a living on the farm is still a tremendous challenge. Sixteen hour days are not uncommon. He regularly drives to New Orleans to participate in the Crescent City Farmers Market and sell to other retailers. He also has to drive his animals to a small, USDA-inspected slaughterhouse in De Kalb, Mississippi to be processed. It’s 125 miles one-way, and with the price of gas going up, it’s getting tougher.

"It’s a pill everyday trying to get something accomplished," says Pitts. "But maybe the government will leave me alone and I’ll make it.""

We talked back then about planning an event together and it's only taken a year, but we've finally got it on the books. This month's Tapas Tuesday will feature 5 different beef and pork products from Justin Pitts exquisetly prepared by Josh Garic of Vega Tapas Cafe (who also prepared the food for our event at the Degas House) paired with our favorite meat friendly wines like Argentinean Malbec, California Cabernets and Petit Sirah, French Bordeaux and more...And we'll have Justin in the house selling his delicious products that you are sure to want to purchase after you taste them! But call if you want to come, this is sure to be a sell out! 504.304.0635