In season: mustard greens

Mustard greens are the peppery member of the cabbage family. There are Chinese varieties and American varieties and today we’re talking about Southern or American mustard, which can taste a little like horseradish, a little like arugula and a little like broccoli rabe. The leaves can be smooth or curly, a bright green or purple. The latter is sometimes planted in flower beds but is just as delicious as its green cousin.

Mustard greens thrive in Georgia gardens. Thelma Shook of Shook’s Family Farm in Cleveland, Ga., remembers a time when the people of Habersham and White counties would grow patches of mustard greens on the side of the road and invite their neighbors to come and cut what they wanted.

“It was easy to grow and my dad and my husband Michael both would set out a little patch and welcome the neighbors,” said Shook.

Shook still grows curly mustard greens, but they’re mostly for her family. They harvest the mustard greens, pull off the stems, chop up the leaves and sauté them with a little olive oil.

“In the old days it would have been meat grease, but we’re trying to eat healthier. We add a little water and salt to taste and cook until tender. And we always have cornbread with our greens,” she said. Turnip greens are often combined with the mustard greens in the cooking pot.

What they don’t eat fresh, they freeze. “I pull off the stems and blanch the leaves for about three minutes, then put them right into ice water to stop the cooking. Squeeze out the water, dry them well and package them for the freezer. My granddaughters love mustard greens and we eat lots of them,” she said.

The Shooks started selling produce at the Hall County Farmers Market back in 2003. “The lady we buy our plants from said, ‘You ought to take your extra produce to the market’ and we did,” said Shook.

At first they didn’t have much extra since Shook cans and freezes much of what comes from her garden. But her daughter, Angel Rushing, soon saw the potential for the business and now the garden has expanded to almost two acres to supply their customers in Hall County as well as at the Suwanee Farmers Market, Spout Springs Library Farmers Market and at the local Women, Infant and Children program markets set up by the county health department.

Mustard greens will keep in your refrigerator for up to two weeks if washed, shaken dry and then packaged in ventilated plastic bags. Discard any yellowing leaves and strip the leaves off the stems before using. That’s easy to do; just grab the leaf from the bottom and tear it off the stem from the base to the tip. Although Southerners traditionally cook their mustard greens for a long time, they can be served barely wilted as in the recipe below, or steamed until the leaves are bright green and tender, about five minutes.

At local farmers markets

Local markets with winter hours

Dacula Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. ranchoalegrefarm.com

Decatur Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, 3 -6 p.m. Wednesdays. decaturfarmersmarket.com/wordpress/

Dunwoody Green Market, some vendors take pre-orders and deliver on Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon. www.dunwoodygreenmarket.com

Emory Farmers Market, noon-5.p.m. Tuesdays during school year. www.emory.edu/dining/emory_farmers_market.php

Morningside Farmers’ Market, 8-11:30 a.m. Saturdays. www.morningsidemarket.com

For sale

Vegetables: beets, cabbage, collards, endive, lettuce, radishes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, turnips

From local reports

Brick Chicken with Mustard Greens

Hands on: 15 minutes. Total time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

“Brick chicken” recipes are nothing new. They’re popular because they serve up crisp skin and succulent meat. The key to the crisp skin is having a large enough skillet to get good chicken-to-pan contact. Divide the chicken between two skillets if necessary. If you don’t want to tackle removing the back and breast bones from a whole chicken, ask your butcher to do it for you or substitute chicken quarters or bone-in chicken pieces. Serving the chicken on a bed of mustard greens was a brilliant notion on the part of the chefs at Marlow and Sons in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The hot pan juices wilt the mustard greens beautifully.

1 (4-pound) whole chicken

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 bunch mustard greens, washed, stems removed, leaves torn into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Using poultry shears, remove backbone from chicken and flatten. Using shears and a boning knife, cut out the breast keel and rib bones. Cut chicken in half. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. When oil begins to smoke, place chicken, skin side down in skillet. Cover with a piece of foil, then place another skillet on top and place two bricks or several food cans on skillet to weigh it down.