Saute the collard, onion, and garlic: Get out a large 6-quart pot and add 2 tablespoons of oil to it. Place this over high heat add in the collard, onion, and garlic. Sautee these ingredients for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until the collard greens have reduced by half of their size.

Toss in the remaining ingredients: Quickly add 6 cups of water, the ham hocks/saltpork, and the whole black pepper to the pot. Stir all of the ingredients together and let it come up to a boil. Once it’s reached a boil, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer.

Let the collards simmer in the covered pot for 2 hours

Finish the collard greens: After the two hours, the collard greens should be nice and soft. To finish the dish you will want to remove the ham hock/salt pork from the pot. Then cut the meat of the pork into small pieces and return to the pot. Stir the pork back into the collard greens and taste the dish to see if it needs any salt.