Hogg and Greens Soup

Well it has been some time since I have been on here and writing about my food. But there is a good reason I assure you. We moved from West Coast in Las Vegas to the East Coast of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We had been trying to get out of there for some years now and finally succeeded. And you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get out of that base! And I know some of you think we are crazy for wanting to leave a place like Las Vegas, but we missed home. We missed the normalcy of being in the South. And with two kids, its not a real family friendly place. And when you want to go out on dates things dont start until 11p and when you have kids that get up at 6:30 its not ideal. So here we are. And for the last couple of weeks we have been watching seasons of Top Chef until our satellite got hooked up. And let me tell you, I LOVE Top Chef. Well while watching Season 6 in Las Vegas I was curious about a contestants restaurant in Atlanta. The name is The Woodfire Grill. I decided to look up his menu and see what he was offering. And he has a soup that looked like something I could do. And I am sure he has a little more refinement to his dish, but let me tell you...mine was pretty tasty. The original dish says "local pink eye peas, fresh sweet corn, collard greens, smoked pork broth, green onions" I mean how simple does that seem??

So I went to the store and started gathering ingredients to make this dish. I found smoked pork neckbones and decided that would be great to make my broth out of. I had some fresh shelled lady peas from Montgomery. AL. I had some fresh corn in the fridge I had bought earlier in the week. And I found a large bag of collard greens already shredded. I had hoped to find mustard greens, me and Alex like them better, but sometimes you just use what you have. I also grabbed some nice whole grain bread...I mean whats soup without bread??

Broth Recipe:
1 pkg smoked pork necks (or other smoked pork part you like)
water
2 bay leaves
white whole peppercorns
1-2 carrots
1/2 onion
salt

Place smoked bones in a large stock pot and fill 3/4 way up the pot with regular water. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 4-6 hours. Taste the broth periodically to adjust seasonings. Once the broth tastes ready pour contents of the pot through a strainer to get rid of the large pieces and then run through a fine mesh strainer, cheesecloth, or pantyhose to get rid of the small debris lingering in your broth. If you are not immediately using your broth place in containers and let cool before placing in refrigerator or freezer. Otherwise place strained broth in a large soup pot.

Take pork necks and shred the meat off the bones and place in a container for later use.

Soup Recipe:
smoked pork broth
shredded smoked pork
1-2c fresh shelled lady peas (or other fresh pea you like)
1-2 ears of corn, de-cobbed
1-2c fresh shredded collards (or mustard greens)
1/2c sliced green onions

Place collards in a large pot with some water and cook with salt and chili pepper if you like them spicy. Cook until tender 30-45 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile place lady peas in a small pot and cook in some water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain.

Bring pot of smoked pork broth up to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add fresh corn, cooked peas, shredded pork, and cooked collards. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish wish sliced green onions. Serve with warm bread.

We thoroughly enjoyed this meal. It may not have looked like the Top Chef contestants, but it tasted good and thats all thats important. Besides, I'm not cooking fancy meals for fancy people. It was just me and Alex eating dinner. But it had all the things that make good southern food. And things that you cannot always get in other places of the country. So for getting back to the South and getting fresh local produce and enjoying it all, this was a fabulous dinner. I highly recommend trying this one.....even in the heat of summer!!