Braised Collard Greens With Bacon Recipe Courtesy Kelsey Nixon

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and saute until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet along with the garlic and shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown. Fill the skillet with the mustard greens (as many as will fit), sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and continue cooking until wilted, just a couple of minutes. As the greens cook, add the remaining greens, lemon zest and juice to the skillet, cooking until the greens are completely wilted. Remove from the heat, transfer to a warm serving platter and top with the crispy pancetta. Serve right away.

Steps:

• Place bacon in a heavy pot and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until fat begins to render, about 5 minutes. Drain off 1/2 of the bacon grease.
• Reduce heat to medium and add onion. Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes.
• Increase heat to high and immediately pour in 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add chopped collard greens and 1 more cup of water. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until greens are tender, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• For the butter-braised cabbage: Cook the bacon in a large high-sided saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until crisp, about 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the butter to same pan, followed by the onions. Cook until the onions begin to caramelize, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the wine, vinegar and cabbage. Cover, reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking for 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid from the cabbage and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated. Stir the crisped bacon into the cabbage and season with salt and pepper.
• For the arctic char: The secret to crispy skin is lack of moisture. Leave your fish uncovered in the fridge 10 to 15 minutes to dry out. Then dry the fish with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to coat. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, place the fillets skin-side down in the pan, cooking in batches if needed. Using the back of a spatula, press down hard on the fillets for at least 20 seconds to ensure that the entire skin has full contact with the bottom of the pan. This will help to achieve the crispiest skin possible.
• Continue cooking until the flesh cooks and there is only a bit of pink left, 5 to 6 minutes. The skin should be pulling away from the bottom of the pan. If necessary, use a spatula to loosen the skin before flipping. Flip the fish and continue cooking for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute before transferring to a plate to rest.
• Gently remove the fish skin with a paring knife and place the skin back into the pan, flesh-side down. Fry another 1 to 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Transfer to a wire rack or a paper towel-lined plate, at which point it will harden like a super-crispy fish chip.
• Serve the crisp arctic char over the butter-braised cabbage and top with the crispy fish skin.
• Cook's Note: Removing your fried fish skin to a wire rack will help it harden by letting the air circulate around it.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, a pinch of cayenne and the cinnamon. Place the bacon on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle each slice of bacon with some of the spiced sugar and bake, about 10 minutes. Flip the bacon, sprinkle with the remaining spiced sugar and continue to cook until crispy, about 10 more minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven and allow to cool. When the bacon is cool, mince it and set aside, reserving a quarter of it for garnishing the eggs.
• Put the cold eggs in the bottom of a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let stand for 12 minutes. Drain the eggs and rinse with cold water. Let the eggs cool a bit and then peel when they are still warm (eggs are much easier to peel when they are warm). After they are peeled, you can then store them, covered, in the fridge.
• Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, dill, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, the scallions and the minced bacon in a medium mixing bowl. Season with the salt.
• Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Gently remove the yolks by pressing your thumb against the back of the yolk to pop it out of the white. Add the yolks to the bowl with the mayonnaise mixture. Mash together, using a fork, until smooth.
• Put the filling in a re-sealable bag. Cut one end off and pipe the filling into the egg whites. Sprinkle with the paprika, extra bacon bits and dill before serving.
• Cook's Notes: A wire rack is a great way to cook bacon because the air can circulate around the bacon making it crispy and delicious.
• Plastic bags are a great tool to use in place of a piping bag, easy and disposable.

Steps:

• Cook the bacon in a deep saute pan on medium-high heat until crisp, then set aside, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the red pepper flakes, garlic and lemon zest, and saute until fragrant. Add the collard greens and cook until they begin to wilt. Add the chicken stock and 1/2 cup water and cover, lowering the heat to a simmer. Let cook until the greens are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Uncover, add back the bacon, raise the heat to medium-high, and reduce the liquid by one-quarter, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Place ham hocks, salt pork, onion, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and sugar in a large pot with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 30 minutes.
• Stir collard greens into the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, or until greens are tender. Season with red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Steps:

• Remove the tough stems from the collardleaves. Finely slice the stems crosswise.Stack a few leaves on top of each other andcut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces. Repeat with allleaves. You'll have 8 packed cups.
• Heat a 10-inch saute pan over high heat.Swirl in the oil and add the onion, bacon,and red pepper flakes. Fry until the onion issoft and the bacon is beginning to renderits fat and crisp up, about 13 minutes.
• Add the greens, 2 cups at a time. Stir into theonion mixture as you add. They will collapseand shrink in the heat.
• When all the greens are in the pan and theheat has returned to sizzling high, pour inthe vinegar. Stir to evaporate. Cover andlet the greens cook over low heat until justtender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add a bit of wateras needed to keep the greens from burning.Add salt to taste and serve.