A lil' green on the greens

I'm the kind of guy that likes to think that he can cook a lil' bit. Of course, I 'm being modest to some degree. I like eating too much to not be able to create something in the kitchen that I will enjoy. I'm not at the point where I can pick out ingredients and re-create something yet, but I can "do some things". Sure, I still follow recipes on some more difficult items, but 99% of the time, I nail it.

I think my strength as a cook lies in my willingness to take risks. My palate is always curious so the big challenge is getting my skills up to par. I am far more complex than your basic meat 'n potatoes type so I am forced to try my hand at producing some international fare. I've mastered an African style chicken dish in peanut sauce. My arroz con pollo and Cuban style chicken soup are pretty darn good. Those are all cookbook recipes though. However, the Cuban cookbook is pretty authentic(and half written in Spanish).

I do regional cuisine as well, but this is probably where I need the most work. So taken by the comfort food that I consumed in the Northern Kentucky/Ohio Valley area, that I came home from a trip and did my version of Skyline Chili. Skyline is like the McDonald's of Cincinnati style chili. (I think the other place is called Five Star or something). This chili is actually a spaghetti dish with all of the cholesterol, er..uh...I mean toppings that you heart (oops..i mean...well) desires. The five way is something like spaghetti, topped with the meaty marinara sauce (with special ingredient of cinnamon), grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, chives...wait..is that 5 yet? My version was pretty good, but obviously this is not in the regular rotation. Jambalaya and etoufee have not yet been attempted, unless you count the help I get from Zatarain's. I'd really like to be able to make some gumbo. I must admit that this seems like quite the daunting task though, after watching Bobby Flay fail miserably in one of his Throwdowns.

But since you must crawl before you can walk into a kitchen pump out some Southern cuisine like Emeril, Sylvia, or Leah Chase, I thought I'd try something on the more basic side. Today's challenge was mustard greens. You've gotta eat vegetables, right? Ham hocks were on sale a few weeks back, and have been staring at me from my freezer every time I open it up, so I decided I'd grab some frozen greens and give it a go. I know what you're thinking. Frozen mustard greens? Yeah, I know, that's weak. Well, I had to start somewhere. I was told that this would probably be a better move for a greenhorn like myself since I wouldn't have to wash them like I would if they were fresh.

I boiled the ham hock for over an hour before adding the greens and some seasonings. Had I been better prepared, I would've grabbed some peppers or onions to cut in to the mixture, but today the cupboard was kinda bare. I did have seasoned salt and cayenne pepper though. The cayenne proved to be just the thing to set these off. Well, not exactly set them off. These weren't yo mama's or grandmama's greens, but they weren't bad. They were edible. They soaked up some of the flavor of the ham hocks and didn't turn out too soggy. I suspect that they'll even be beter tomorrow as the soaking continues. Cornbread would've been great. You know what they say about hindsight....

Unfortunately, I accidentally bought chopped mustard greens so the end result was not exactly what I had hoped, but it was a pretty good first effort nonetheless. I'll be enjoying the leftovers tomorrow.

You're probably curious about that 1% of the time that didn't go so well for me. (Or maybe you weren't. Maybe you had forgotten all about it because my musings about mustard greens had you so captivated...or not). Let's just say that cook book or no cookbook, Jamaican food seems to be a bit advanced for me thus far. I failed miserably at some oxtails. That's okay though. I won't be held down forever. I'm like D-Wade. (No, I'm not kickin' it with Starr Jones). Get knocked down 7 times. Get up 8!