Cooking Collard Greens

I cooked my first batch of collard greens of the season yesterday. I started out with a good amount of Goodnight Brother Country Ham from Boone NC. Added some rendered bacon fat. Salt,sugar, a little baking soda to soften them up. A hour or two later they where done. I'm not a big fan of cooking collards all day. I like to have a nice tooth fill when I eat them. I finish them to order with a little infused pepper and cider vinegar. I paired them with a nice veal chop, sweet potatoes, and heirloom apple butter.