Welllll, American cuisine is a hugely varied thing that includes direct copies of external cuisines as well as internal ones.
That being said, ain’t nothing better than a big-ass plate of collards, black eyed peas, and whichever meat you wanna throw on the side of that.
And yes, when you’re having collards and peas, the meat is the side dish. Hell, forget the meat, throw me a piece of corn bread or a southern style buttermilk biscuit so I can sop up some of the pot likker and bean juice.
But, fried chicken won’t get sneered at on that plate. Neither would some baked ham, a pork chop, or some fried catfish. Hell, almost anything will go with collards and beans.
No kidding here, you get a mess of collards. Chop it up. Throw out in your pot with choice of fats that aren’t butter (rendered pork fats via bacon, fatback or a hamhock are common, but plain oils are just fine), get it nicely wilted. Put in some stock, then a half cup of apple cider vinegar. Cut the heat down, cover, and let that shit braise for a few hours. Optionally, you can dice some onion and/or garlic and get them sweaty in the oil before the greens go in. Splash a little ACV on top before eating.
Once that’s done, go see your mama. Slap her for not cooking that for you, assuming she hasn’t. If she did, you hug her neck and say thank you.
Now, the beans, that’s easy, you just soak them overnight, boil them for safety if the type of bean needs it, then simmer that pot until tender. Most beans, you don’t need to add anything but salt during cooking, but if you want it, a chunk of bacon, salt pork, fatback, or a hamhock are acceptable.
Whilst the beans are cooking, chop up some onion nice and neat. I prefer a diced onion, but some like it sliced into rings. Or, get/make some chowchow. If you don’t know what that is, I’m sorry you’re a yankee. These are toppings you can apply to your beans, if you like. A blob of mustard ain’t a problem. Toppings for beans isn’t mandatory, but having something a bit tangy on top is nice.
Fwiw, I don’t usually add any meat to my collards these days. I use a bit of smoked paprika. Had to reduce salt in the diet for my dad, and all the meats you’d cook in the collards are salty as hell. But you miss the smokiness of the bacon or hamhock if that’s what you’re used to. The smoked paprika brings that back without the nastiness of liquid smoke.
