Add smoked ham hocks in a large 12 quart size or larger stock pot with 1 1/2 gallons of water,  salt, sugar, soy sauce, fat back grease or bacon drippings, minced garlic, Louisiana hot sauce and Sherry, boiling hocks with lid on pot two hours or more until the ham hocks fall apart.  Add more water if needed.  While ham hocks are cooking, remove each collard green leaf from the main stalk and wash each individual leaf until all dirt and grit is removed.  Strip each leaf from the stem or at least from the heavy portion of the stem and roll several collard green leaves together and cut into strips about one inch in width and place collards into a separate large stock pot.  Pre-boil the collard greens in unseasoned water for 30 minutes to help remove some of the collard green's bitterness.  Place pre-boiled collard greens in a colander to drain and add collard greens to the boiling water with the ham hocks and simmer for one hour.  Add chopped onions and continue to simmer another 30 to 45 minutes until onions are translucent and collard greens are tender.  Stir collard greens occasionally to keep collards from sticking to the pot.  Adjust seasonings as needed.  To serve, use a slotted spoon but reserve the collard green liquid aka  pot liqueur in the pot for later usage for soaking and sopping up some fried cornbread.

YIELD:  6 servings

NOTES:  I read in Justin Wilson's cookbook, "Down Home Louisiana Cooking"  that some of his friends would use a washing machine to get rid of the dirt and grit from bunches of collard greens and my bride "Tweet" tried washing collard greens as above, but our washing machine was far too powerful and the greens looked like that had been in a food processor.  It was a job to get the washing machine cleaned.  Go ahead and grin if you must!  Working smarter not harder did not work in this case.

This recipe was inspired by Rachel Myers who cooks some of the best collard greens and ham hocks around this part of the country, however I do believe these collard greens n ham hocks today will give hers a run for the money.  Our oldest daughter Laura also makes some wonderful collard greens n ham hocks as well.  This recipe is not too far from Justin Wilson's recipe however Justin Wilson doesn't pre-boil the collard greens.  Pre-boiling of the collard greens does help remove the somewhat bitter taste of collard greens and is the "secret" to preparing exceptional tasting collard greens.  Sugar is used to help tone done the bitterness but the pre-boiling removes most of the harshness.  You can add black pepper, cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to heat the collard greens up if you so desire.  My bride cannot tolerate too much heat anymore since her stroke in 2006 and adjust my cooking as needed; you can always add Texas Pete, Tabasco, or hot sauce of your choice at the table as needed for those that want everything to be on FIRE!