Braised Collards

I had never tried collard greens until this dish was made for me. My cooking buddy made this for me, and he pieced together the recipe from two cook books to get the recipe, one for cooking to the collards and the other for the pepper sauce. They have amazing flavor and are must try with this simple recipe that comes from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. My cooking buddy made a few modifications because Madison's recipe calls for brown butter which takes at least an hour to make.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

-4 C collards, long stems and tough ribs removed
-1/4 cup butter
-1 onion, diced
-2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
-salt

Preparation
Plunge green into large pot of boiling salted water, cook them for 10 minutes, then remove to a bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Heat the butter with the onion, garlic, and pepper flakes in a wide skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is lightly colored and the onion is soft. Add the greens, their reserved cooking water, and 1 tsp salt. Cook for 30 minutes and taste again for salt. Serve sauce on the side. I don't think we actually cooked this dish for 30 minutes. I think we cooked the collards until the water was absorbed.

Hot Pepper Vinegar
Yields 1 Cup

Ingredients
-1 c apple cider vinegar
-1/4 tsp - 1 T Tabasco or other hot sauce (or 1/8 to 1 tsp cayenne)

In glass jar, combine the vinegar and hot pepper sauce or cayenne. Shake before using. Hot pepper vinegar keeps indefinitely, refrigerated or not!

I actually like the dish with and without the sauce. If you want to save a few minutes, skip the sauce.