Ozark Potlikker 101

Original Recipe and Etiquette Tips

by Sis Shortrib, Ozark Alchemist

Get a mess o' greens.  Collards, mustards, turnip, kale, dandelion, nettle - whatever you like, it don't much matter.

Wash 'em good to get the grit out.

Now chop some onions and fry 'em up in hog fat, or you can use coconut oil if you've a mind.  Don't use vegetable oil - it'll kill you.  Not too much fat, but don't skimp neither.  A body needs it to soak up the vitamins.

Add the greens and stir about.  Add some other stuff.  Carrots, peppers, squarsh.  Add some more.  Stir again. 

Throw in a couple o' soup bones if you got 'em, and salt and pepper.  Left over beans if you're extra hungry, but don't use 'em if comp'ny's comin'.

Add a little water, put on the lid and simmer awhile.

Meanwhile, make a batch of cornbread.  Yeller's good, blue if you want to impress, and for the extry nutrition.  So they say.  Get organic corn unless your aim is to die sooner rather than later.  And for heaven's sake don't use one o' them trashy box mixes.  They're not fit for hog slop.  Best is to get whole corn and grind it fresh.  Corn meal goes rancid and gets bitter right quick.  If you've never used fresh ground meal, you've never had corn bread.  Corn meal, milk, one or two eggs, salt, baking powder or sody if you're milk's sour.  Sorghum molasses if you want sweetnin', some fat of your choice.  That's about it; any fool knows how to make it.

When everything's ready, fish out the bones and throw 'em to the dogs.  Ladle the potlikker and all into bowls.

Always have flowers on the table, even if it's a handful o' weeds snatched from the ditch.  It'll aid the digestion and feed the soul.

Now, on the cornbread, there's die-hard dunkers and hidebound crumblers.  It's more polite to use crumbles if you've got comp'ny.  Otherwise, sop it up however you please, but wear a big napkin.  Don't forget to say grace.