Stewed Greens

Cut, strip, and tear three bunches of turnip and two of mustard greens. If you like, peel and cube/dice turnip roots. Put greens in a clean stoppered sink, sprinkle with salt, cover with water, and agitate to knock off sand and other debris. Repeat until thoroughly clean. Drain and load into a pot along with roots, a quart of water or light stock, a chopped white onion, and a half pound of sliced bone-in ham or smoked turkey tail. After greens have reduced, cut heat to low and cover. Stew, stirring occasionally, for at least two hours. Add liquid as needed. Adjust salt, pepper to taste, and let sit uncovered a half hour before serving with pepper vinegar.

Mississippi’s Top Twelve Recipes

The first time I submitted a Mississippi top twelve, it was like throwing a June bug down in a flock of chickens. The pot roast was devastated by a barrage of loyalists who maintained it’s “just got Yankee written all over it.” The red velvet cake was accused, convicted, and shot for being a Waldorf recipe, and the pecan pie was mined by a sweet potato. I substituted pound cake for red velvet and sweet potato pie for pecan. The roast lost to stewed greens–which damn near lost out to limas. Here’s the treaty, but rumor has it the pecan pie faction plans a fifth column action out of Belzoni.