Topic: Swiss chard

[Hector]

My kitchen workspace currently has parts of a Triumph fuel pump on it and parts of door winder mechanism off a T. Spitfire......Fanny Craddock would not approve.

I will try the teatowel approach. Hadn't thought of that.
Thanks :)

[pumkinlover]

You are a tolerant person-or are you the mechanic? ;)

[Hector]

Not tolerant or a mechanic...just trying to mend them myself to save money :)
It seemed a good idea at the time :P

[Spudbash]

A potato ricer works well for small amounts. It compresses the leaves (cooked without the stalks) into a disc that you can tip out and freeze - equivalent in size to a portion or two. It's best to cook it only lightly so that you can reheat it after freezing without overcooking it. It's also a good idea to let it cool before squeezing it in the ricer, otherwise you can get scalding hot water spurting over you.

 :)

[lottie lou]

I bung mine in a sieve and squash the water out with a spoon.

[tim]

Sieve/colander - both have holes!! Yes - we use a big sieve too.

Potato ricer's an original thought - the 'gadget'  that Hector was after.

[tim]

Meant to add that most sieves are a bit delicate for the pressure required.

[Aden Roller]

I think Swiss Chard is the better of the various varieties… it's the one with the thick / wide white stems.
This variety can be cooked with just a few drops of water or steamed or even a large thingy of butter in the bottom of a pan if you're careful. 

I'm not so keen on Rainbow chard although it might be prettier and I've forgotten what the yellow stalked one is called.

There are some draw backs to eating too much of any of it… apparently.

[antipodes]

Chard is widely eaten in France: to accommodate it with a sauce, I usually boil it (sliced stems and chopped leaves) in salt water for a good 10 minutes (this is what I was advised here and it works) then leave to drain well and gratinée it with a white sauce, bleu cheese sauce etc. I like to boil it then cover it in a mixture of tomatoes, onions, peppers, herbs and grated cheese and bake it. Delicious, you just need to force on seasoning a bit.
You can also add it to stir fries, and eat the greens as you would spinach, I have made a chard and bacon quiche which was also very tasty.

[Aden Roller]

It's pretty versatile here in the UK too.  ;)

Steam or cook with butter in the bottom of a pan until wilted... serve with poached egg and smoked haddock  8)

Plonk a few roughly shredded leaves (not stems) into the sauce as you layer up a lasagna, put it in the oven and cook.

Simply cook as a veg and serve with anything.  ;)

Personally I'd skip the salt altogether.

[rbull]

We like it in eggs florentine with leaf beet taking the place of spinach, or simply steamed then put on toast with a poached egg on top.
We cook the stalks as a cheap substitute for asparagus.
I was interested to read that rabbits don't like it.  They certainly do on my allotment, where the plants regularly get chewed to gound level during a hard winter.

[peanuts]

Our chard here in France grows brilliantly.  Having struggled with spinach in UK for years,  I am delighted to see our chard with huge leaves and brilliant white stalks just like the chard in the market.  Only drawback is that it isn't meant to be very good for someone at risk of a second kidney stone (my husband!)  Likewise our  rhubarb which is now very established and acclimatised.  So I'm tending to neglect and leave both, even though I know that  eating either in moderation is OK. 
However, we have just splashed out on a second, upright, freezer, so I can freeze more garden produce.  Freezing chard and rhubarb (not together!) is on my job's list for  this next week.
Peanuts