Green Tomato And Swiss Chard Gratin Food

GREEN TOMATO AND SWISS CHARD GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 2-quart baking dish or gratin with olive oil. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil, and fill a bowl with ice water. Stem the chard and wash the leaves in two changes of water. Rinse the stems if wide and dice. Set them aside. When the water comes to a boil, add the chard leaves and blanch for about one minute. Transfer to the ice water, cool for a minute and drain. Squeeze out excess water and chop. Set aside.
• Season the sliced tomatoes and the cornmeal lightly with salt and pepper. Dredge the tomatoes in the cornmeal. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the sliced tomatoes for two minutes on each side, just until lightly colored. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in the skillet in which you cooked the tomatoes, and add the onion and the chopped chard stems. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic, and cook together for another minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the thyme and the chopped chard, and stir together for minute over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Whisk in the milk. Stir in the cheese and the chard mixture. Transfer to the gratin dish. Layer the tomatoes over the top. Place in the oven, and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until set and beginning to brown.

POTATO AND SWISS CHARD GRATIN

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and place rack in the center. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; set a bowl of ice water on the side. Boil the chard leaves until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to the ice water. Squeeze them dry and chop roughly. Boil the diced stems until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain well and add to chopped chard leaves.
• In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream, garlic, shallot, thyme and bay leaf to a simmer. Cook until reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Strain out the solids and add the nutmeg.
• Meanwhile, slice the potatoes into 1/8-inch-thick rounds with a mandoline or sharp knife. Butter a 12- to 14-inch gratin dish. Assemble the gratin by layering the ingredients in this order: a single, slightly overlapping layer of one-third of the potato slices, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, one-third of the Gruyère, half the Swiss chard and one-third of the reduced cream. Repeat once, and then top with one more layer of potato, salt and pepper, and the rest of the Gruyère and cream.
• Bake until the top is browned and the potatoes are fork-tender, about 45 minutes.

SWISS CHARD GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Place chard leaves in a saucepan with the 1 cup water and cook over medium heat until leaves are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Set chard aside.
• In the same saucepan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat.
• When butter has melted, whisk in the flour until blended.
• Whisk constantly for 1 minute.
• Slowly whisk in the milk and reserved cooking liquid.
• Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper and stir in half of the grated cheese.
• Stir in the cooked chard and transfer to a buttered 9x9-inch baking dish.
• Sprinkle with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs.
• Bake until hot and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

CREAMY PARMESAN SWISS CHARD GRATIN

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400ºF. Butter a shallow 5- or 6-cup ceramic gratin dish. Melt 1 Tbs. of the butter and toss it with the breadcrumbs; set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and garlic to a boil (watch that it doesn't boil over), immediately lower the heat, and simmer vigorously for 5 minutes; the cream should be reduced to about 3/4 cup. Take the pan off the heat and remove the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon. Let the cream cool slightly, stirring occasionally to loosen. Season it with a few grinds of fresh pepper and 1/4 tsp. of the salt.
• Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) nonstick skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp and browned. With tongs, transfer it to paper towels; crumble when cool. Leave the bacon fat in pan (if there's more than 2 Tbs., drain a little off). Add the remaining 1 Tbs. butter to the skillet and let it melt. Add the chard stems and sauté them over medium to medium-high heat until they're somewhat softened and browned on the edges, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the chard leaves and toss them with the contents of the skillet. Season them with the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. (You can add the leaves in two batches for easier handling.) Sauté until all the leaves are wilted, about 2 minutes. Use tongs to transfer the contents of the pan to the gratin dish (leave behind any excess liquid in the sauté pan), spreading them evenly. Sauté sliced chard stems first until tender; then add the leaves and wilt them.
• Sprinkle the crumbled bacon and then the cheese over the chard. Pour the seasoned cream over all and top with the buttered breadcrumbs. Bake for 25 minutes; the gratin will be brown and bubbly. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

PARMESAN-CRUSTED GREEN TOMATO GRATIN

Steps:

• Lightly brown the bacon in a skillet over medium heat, about 4 minutes. Pour off all but 2 Tbs. of the fat. Add the onion and cook over low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the Parmigiano-Reggiano, breadcrumbs, and oil and set aside.
• Heat the oven to 350°F. On one side of a round or oval shallow baking dish, arrange 4 or 5 tomato slices, overlapping them slightly. Spoon some of the bacon-onion mixture on the lower half of each tomato slice, and then lay another row of tomatoes across the first row. Layer the tomatoes at a slight angle against one another, topping each slice with the bacon-onion mixture. Repeat until the dish is full. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and the Parmigiano-breadcrumb mixture.
• Cover the dish with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking until the tomatoes are very tender and the top of the gratin is browned, about another 30 minutes.

SWISS CHARD AND LEEK GRATIN

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the chard until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain the chard, squeeze it dry, and chop. Be sure to remove any excess moisture.
• Heat the oil in the pot. Add the leeks and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook over medium to medium low heat, stirring, until tender, 7 minutes. You know your stove -- if it cooks hot make it medium low, if it cooks low, make it medium. Uncover, add the garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant. (about 2 minutes). Add the chard, season with salt to taste and remove from the heat.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butter or grease a 2 qt casserole dish.
• In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour over moderate heat to form a paste. Gradually whisk 1/3 of the milk and cook, whisking, until the mixture starts to thicken. Repeat two more times with the remaining milk.
• Bring the sauce to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking often, until thickened and no floury taste remains, about 10-15 minutes. Whisk in the cheeses and the nutmeg. season with salt and pepper.
• Combine the sauce and leeks/chard mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 25 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving to prevent burning your mouth.

SWISS CHARD WITH TOMATOES

Steps:

• Trim coarse leaves and thick center ribs from chard; cut tender stems and leaves into 1/2-inch slices.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet; add bread crumbs; cook, stirring often, until crisp and golden; remove from skillet and set aside.
• Cool skillet slightly; add remaining oil and garlic; cook, stirring, 2 minutes; add chard and cook until wilted, 1-2 minutes; add tomatoes, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste.
• Remove from heat and sprinkle bread crumbs over the top.

SWISS CHARD GRATIN

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter and toss with bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, herbs, half of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.
• Boil broth in a small saucepan until reduced by half. Add cream and keep warm.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 1 minute, then whisk in broth mixture and boil, whisking, 1 minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Cook onion in remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, remaining nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes.
• Increase heat to moderately high and add chard leaves and spinach by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer vegetables to a colander to drain well and press out liquid with back of a large spoon. Toss vegetables with cream sauce and transfer to a buttered 12-inch oval gratin or 2-quart shallow baking dish, spreading evenly.
• Top vegetables with bread crumbs and bake in middle of oven until bubbling and topping is golden, about 20 minutes.