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CARROT AND SWISS CHARD GRATIN AND THIS WEEK’S ORGANIC BOXES

Matt in the veg roomby Matt in the veg room, 3 m, 2 wk ago in Blog
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This week’s potatoes are Yorkshire grown ‘Nicola’; their waxy texture makes them good for boiling. Also from Yorkshire are the parsnips and Savoy cabbages, the Swiss chard is from France and the peppers are Spanish. The squash in the large boxes and the tomatoes in the large no-potatoes boxes are also from Spain. In the fruit boxes the English apples are ‘Gala’. At this time of year the clementines tend be more ‘orange-like’, with tight skins and rich flavours. This week’s are ‘clemenvillas’ from Spain.

In our climate Swiss chard is a useful late summer and autumn crop, and although the plants struggle a bit in winter, they regrow strongly in spring. Further south they can keep growing and provide a hardy and good value alternative to the more delicate spinach. Try chard as a substitute in recipes; it has a more earthy flavour (it’s actually closely related to beetroot) but with juicy, succulent stalks help it keep it’s volume during cooking; just chop these quite finely. Recipes from the continent often suggest separating the stems and leaves and using them in different recipes, but I’ve never felt the need for this ...
CHARD AND CARROT GRATIN ... A rich and colourful dish for winter. Serve as a veg. accompaniment, a sauce for pasta (buckwheat pasta or ‘soba’ noodles work well, with their stronger flavour) or top with a layer of cheese and serve with potatoes to make a main course ...

  • 500g Swiss chard
  • 1 lg or 2 medium onions sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 2 carrots
  • 50g butter
  • 300ml milk
  • 100ml creme fraiche
  • 3 teaspoons flour
  1. Slice the chard stalks into 1/2 cm pieces, and the leaves a little wider.
  2. Cut the carrots diagonally in slices 1/2 cm thick, then cut these lengthways into strips.
  3. Heat the butter in a large saucepan and very gently soften the onion and garlic for 10 minutes. Meanwhile bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
  4. Add the carrots, and 5 minutes later the chard, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes before draining.
  5. Add the flour to the onion mixture, stir for a minute, and add the milk and creme fraiche. Simmer very gently for 5 minutes until it becomes creamy in consistency and mix with the carrots and chard.
  6. Taste and season well with salt and pepper and pour into an ovenproof dish. Bake in a hot oven until bubbling and browned a little on top.
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