Question
Ozie Taulbee
If you're not adding meat to your Collard, Mustard and Turnip greens as a base for seasoning? What would you use to enhance the flavor and add richness to the dish.
Answer
I'm gonna say smoked sweet paprika. Smoke sweet paprika is one of my absolute go-to. Ingredients so also known as Spanish pimenton go with the smoked sweet. I don't like the mild. I don't like the spicy. I just I don't think that they're heat is really well balanced and it's not necessarily what you want in that dish. Anyway, so paprikas and any pepper based product is best when bloomed in some form of fat. Whether it's just a stamp bit of oil or some butter Etc understand that if you're not using meat, you might not be using butter. You might not you might be oil-free in that case. You can just toast it in the bottom of a pan before you add your liquid. You don't want to toast it for much more than 30 seconds or so, but it adds the Smoky sweets very seductive underpinning to any dish. It's cooked in true of any whole grains Etc it even punctuates even more that smokiness that richness that nuttiness of things. So that really works is as a base to it. I think, you know, if you're making a blend of mustard turn up in Collard, you probably making a fairly big batch of it. So if you're doing one Bunch each of those maybe even just a tablespoon of smoked sweet paprika would do it adds a huge amount of flavor fennel seeds another just one of my go-to favorites. Is it gonna add some texture? Yes, they're gonna simmer down though. They're gonna take on that water. They'll integrate quite a bit. Yes, you'll see him but they add a flavor and a balance and a richness and a complexity to a dish that is just so compelling and so just another tablespoon of whole fennel seeds would do. Yeah, I would also say bay leaf in there, but the problem is then you'd have to fish out the bay leaf and find it which you don't want to feed anybody even simmered bay leaves. So I would say just leave that out of there unless you're willing to simmer your water your broth with some bayleaf ahead of time. And that's the other thing maybe make a smoky vegetable stock as your base instead of adding water Smoky vegetable stock with some, you know, put some leaks or onions on a grill get a nice and Smoky Care at celery. Yeah, just real quick simmer. There you go. That'll be a great way to add that meaty this to it. Well reduce it.
