At my table tonight, it was as if the Civil War never happened. The North met the South in a peaceful and delicious manner—on the plate. Pittsburgh and Gainesville, GA were united in the form of pierogies and collard greens:

As some of you know, I’ve been cooking collards all week. This gave me the opportunity to appreciate and experiment. As far as I can tell, the best way to enjoy collards is to cook them on the stovetop, covered and with plenty of liquid, for at least an hour. Anything less and they are too tough to enjoy. I’ve looked at recipes that say to cook them for just fifteen minutes. Umm, no thanks.

Tonight I braised my greens in butter, homemade veal stock, port, and Whole Foods brand chicken stock ($1.99 per carton, incidentally, and my mother swears by it). While they cooked, I fried the pierogies with onions in butter and oil, and then I kept them in a warm oven until the greens were done. It was totally simple, supremely satisfying with the softness of the greens contrasting with the crispy skin of the pierogies, and it all cost less than $5.