Gluten-Free Fried Collard Sandwich

Gluten-Free Collard Sandwich---

Traditional soul food does exactly that...it feeds the soul with tradition. There are some regional Southern recipes that date back to a simpler time, and to a time when people used ingredients that were cheap and plentiful. My grandparents lived through the Great Depression, and absolutely nothing went to waste. Collards and sweet potatoes were home grown, and they raised their own livestock. One of my fondest memories is going to their farm and playing with the piglets.

The collard sandwich is a regional dish, however, it was made famous in Robeson County, NC. Robeson county uses collards, fatback, and cornbread. In our region of NC (Currituck), we use sweet potato biscuits and country ham. We have our own version but I still want to give a shout out to Robeson County. This recipe was loosely adapted from Gun&Garden and Flavor NC, and of course modified to gluten-free!

Let's make Gluten-Free Collard Sandwiches!!

INGREDIENTS:

Sweet Potato Biscuits:

2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
2 cups sweet potato, baked
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Collard Greens:

2 bunches collard greens, washed & stemmed & cut into strips
1/2 (12 oz.) package salt pork, sliced
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. peanut oil (if needed)

Country Ham:

sliced country ham

DIRECTIONS:

1). For the country ham: In a cast iron skillet cook several slices of thin country ham. Set aside. Save drippings for collards.

2). For the collard greens: In the cast iron skillet on medium to high heat, add the sliced salt pork and fry. This is to flavor the collards. Add the peanut oil to keep them from sticking to pan. Add the collards. Stir to keep them from sticking. Add water, salt, and pepper. Cook until they begin to sizzle. Lower heat, and cook until all the water has fried out of collards (about 15 minutes).

3). Sweet potato biscuits: Cook according to our blog Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Biscuits.

4). Making the sandwich: Cut sweet potato biscuit in half. Smother bottom half with fried collards. Add a piece of country ham to top of collards. Cover with the top portion of the biscuit. Repeat.