Happy Holidays from Allianz Partners

Ingredients

• 2 (16 ounce) packages chopped fresh collard greens (or 2 large bunches collard greens, cleaned, rinsed and chopped)
• 2 pounds smoked meat (ham hocks, smoked turkey legs, wings, or smoked neck bones)
• Water to cover plus an inch
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (like “Slap Ya Mama”)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Couple dashes hot sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon bacon drippings or oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped leftover ham, optional
• Additional chicken broth, if needed
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Vinegar pepper sauce, for the table
• Hoecakes or Cornmeal Dumplings (recipe below), optional

Preparation

1. Slash the ham hocks (or other smoked meat) lightly with a knife. Put in a large stock pot and cover them with water, plus about an inch. Add the salt, Cajun seasoning, onion, garlic and hot sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for an hour.
2. While the ham hocks are simmering, strip, rinse, drain and chop the collards, if using fresh bunches; set aside.
3. To the ham hocks, add the cleaned greens, chicken broth, sugar, bacon fat or oil, vinegar, soy sauce, butter, and ham remnants.
4. Cook the greens down, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 30 to 45 minutes if you like them firmer; 1–1/2 to 2 hours, if you like them more cooked down, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth, if liquid cooks down too low.
5. Taste, season with additional salt and pepper as needed; sprinkle with dried pepper flakes, if desired. Pull any remaining meat from hocks and return to greens, discarding bones.
6. Serve with cornbread or hoe cakes and offer chopped raw sweet onion and vinegar pepper sauce at the table.

Ingredients

For the Drink

• 2 oz Bourbon I like Larceny Kentucky Bourbon
• 5 oz eggnog

For the Rim

• 2 teaspoons granulated white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To Garnish

• 2 tablespoons frothed eggnog optional
• Ground nutmeg optional
• 1 cinnamon stick optional

Preparation

For the rim

1. To rim the glass, coat the rim in water, simple syrup, or my gingerbread syrup recipe. I find syrup works the best.
2. Combine the sugar and cinnamon on a plate. Stamp and roll the rim of the glass in the cinnamon sugar to coat it.

For the drink

1. In a jar, combine the ice, bourbon, and eggnog. Shake well for about 30 seconds.
2. To serve, add ice to the rimmed glass and pour the contents of the jar in.

To garnish

1. To garnish the drink further, froth the additional measurement of eggnog with an electric frother.
2. Pour on top of the drink and add a cinnamon stick.