Have a Bowl of Pot Likker

I’m fixing to have myself a bowl of pot likker.

It’s that time of year—when that fall garden you planted begins to produce. It may include some broccoli, cauliflower, a few onions, some rutabagas, and even some beets and carrots, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar it mostly consists of collard greens and turnip greens.

Some folks mix a few mustard greens in with the turnips and sometimes some kale. I like that mustard with those curly leaves. It adds a little tang to the pot of turnip greens.

I know folks who put a couple of teaspoons of sugar in their turnip greens, and others who put a little baking soda in their collard greens, but the most basic addition is a hunk of salt cured pork, or an old left over ham bone.

A derivative of turnip greens is a dish called pot likker, one of my favorites, especially accompanied by a couple of corn muffins.

Now pot likker is not just the broth left from cooking a pot of turnip greens, although that is the main ingredient. But what you do is fry a few cubes of fatback until it’s brown and then add it and its drippings to the left over broth from the pot of turnip greens.

Add a couple of cups of chicken broth, bring it all to a boil and then simmer it while you add salt and a little white pepper to taste.
What you have now is an elixir that’s tasty enough to convert a Yankee.

I like to serve it with hot cornbread, corn muffins or crackling corn bread. You can just crumble your cornbread right into the streaming green mixture and add some hot sauce or pepper sauce.

If you prepare and partake of this excellent southern dish, besides the exquisite taste, it will perk you up better than a shot of vitamin B-12, and you don’t even have to get stuck!
I’m fixing to fix myself a bowl.