Rainbow Chard- Spreading the love

Chard evokes memories for me, of days spent with our friends in Ithaca, watching their garden grow and enjoying its bounty. My then boyfriend, now husband and I made the 1.5 hour trek from Rochester throughout 1999 until 2008 at least a few times a year to see our friends. As I type those dates, it amazes me that it was 10 years! My husband took the photo above in September of 2006, when Todd and Melissa had over an acre of homegrown veggies and berries. Bright, crisp, slightly bitter chard makes me think of those visits and smile.

Since our arrival in the Netherlands, I've not seen chard for sale- either at the local stores or the outdoor markets. In fact, when I've asked for it people often think I mean rhubarb. Chard is much smaller than rhubarb, which is a lovely veggie in its own right, but rhubarb has poisonous leaves. Don't confuse these two! Chard has green stems, red stems, or even yellow-white stems. The leaves are green and if you click on this link to the wikipedia chard entry you'll discover it is one of the healthiest veggies.

On Sunday, on a bike ride home from Eindhoven everything changed: the Genneper Park farm shop had chard, nestled among the carrots and other leafy greens. I do not even know what I paid for it, I was so rushed to grab it by the handful.

 

I've tried to explain chard to my Dutch friends, even pointing it out in our community gardens a couple of times (and resisting the urge to hop the fence and swipe some) verifying that indeed it does grow here. The Dutch name doesn't help much: snijbiet (snij = cutting and biet = beet).  Nope, unless you've tasted it, it doesn't seem to matter much (like acorn squash- which I also miss!)

On Sunday, we had chard for dinner, and here is how I made it with thanks to Todd and Melissa for showing me how many years ago:

Prepare a bunch of chard by rinsing thoroughly. Trim any brown bits off leaves or stems. Carefully cut away the leaves, and chop roughly. Don't try to dry the leaves, they should be damp when you cook them, the water adds steam to the cooking.

Chop the stems like you would celery, trying to keep them all about the same size. (Make the thinner portion pieces a bit longer than the thick portion pieces).

Place  the leaves in one bowl and stems in another and begin heating 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. Reduce to med-low and add the stems, cooking for about 5 minutes (they should still be quite firm).

Add the leaves and cook on low another 5 to 8 minutes more, stirring throughout. When the mixture looks a bit like this:

The chard stems should be slightly tender and the leaves much reduced in size. Add a splash(about a tablespoon, or to taste) of vinegar (any kind of flavored vinegar will do- raspberry is a good choice but if you have access to ume plum vinegar, you are in for a real treat!), stir to combine and serve immediately.

We ate this for dinner, no sides (we'd had a big lunch) and savored every bite. Normally I would serve this as a side dish but since it has been over three years since we'd had it, we had to elevate it to the main event on Sunday. I cooked it the day I bought it, but if you must keep it for a day or two, it can be stored like leafy greens: slightly dampen a paper towel, wrap the chard loosely, and then put in a plastic bag in your veggie drawer of the fridge.

Dutch friends, please, try chard and discover its complex love affair. Demand your local AH carry it, so all of us can enjoy this fabulous healthy vegetable.

Chicken Divan - without the can of soup!

My grandma's recipe for Chicken Divan goes like this: place thawed frozen broccoli and cooked chicken in a casserole dish. Combine a can of cream of mushroom soup, some spices, mayo, milk and pour the mixture over the chicken&broccoli. Heat in an oven until hot and sprinkle with paprika. Easy, but don't you wonder: what is in that can of soup?  You don't want to know. Even if the ingredients are organic and fabulous, a recent study found BPA in the can liners of kids foods- never mind non-kid marketed soup!

Since I was creeped out by the ingredients in canned soup, I developed my own recipe. If you've never made a roux before, do not fear, it is simple and can be 'fixed' with lots of whisking, even if it seems hopelessly lumpy. I usually use a pre-cooked chicken bought at the market, and strip the meat off the bone the night before, putting the meat in the fridge overnight. If you are feeling decadent you can substitute heavy cream for half the milk. If you are feeling vegetarian you can substitute tofu for the chicken. Cube tofu and fry in a tiny bit of oil, so each side is a bit crispy before using.

In the Netherlands, you can find Worchester sauce at Jumbo in Veldhoven, and my friend tells me the AH XL has it. The American Goodies store in Amsterdam also has it. Don't leave this out, as it imparts a 'kick' to the flavor of the dish.

Chicken Divan

Ingredients:

·       A large bunch of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces, cooked aldente (about 350 g)

·       Cooked chicken (2 or 3 breasts) or a combination of dark & light meat cut into pieces

·        2 cups chicken broth (500ml)

·       ¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks (60g)

·       1/3 cup flour (60g)

·       ½ cup mayonnaise (125ml)

·       ¾ cup milk (187 ml)

·       1 tsp curry powder   (2g)

·       ½ tsp cinnamon

·       1 ½ Tbsp Worchester sauce (24g)

·       2 packed cups grated gruyere cheese (200g)

·       Paprika to sprinkle on top

·       Optional, but recommended: 1 Tbsp lemon juice & 3 Tbsp dry white wine & 1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Prepare chicken broth with boiling water and a bullion cube, or open your favorite box broth. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, add the flour and cook the mixture (roux), stirring with a whisk for 2 minutes. Slowly add the broth, stirring (mixture will clump, just keep whisking) and bring the mixture to a boil and stir often for approx 10 minutes.  You now have gravy. Fold the mayonnaise, milk, curry powder, cinnamon, Worchester sauce, Gruyere cheese and if using the lemon juice, wine and Parmesan cheese into the mixture and stir until the cheese melts.

Using a 2 quart casserole dish (or a 9x13 baking pan), spread the cooked chicken pieces, top with the cooked broccoli, and pour the gravy mixture over the top. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Can be kept in a 175 degree oven for up to an hour. Just before serving, place under the broil if desired.

Rice Kiss-Me Treats

My daughter, Dina (2.5 years old) calls these Rice Kiss-Me treats.

Super easy to make, they only require Rice Krispies cereal, marshmallows, and butter.  You can find the standard recipe on the Rice Krispies website but I prefer to use a bit more marshmallows and butter. The standard bag of white marshmallows is about 300g, 10oz or about 40 marshmallows. Don't use the 'giant' ones. The fact that these exist at all is disturbing to me. For my friends in the Netherlands, do not use pink, green, or other colored marshmallows. Two problems exist with the non-white marshmallows: they will result in very unappetizingly-colored treats, and they have a strange artificial flavoring that reminds me of perfume. Just buy a bag of the plain white ones, not intermingled with other colors. Thanks. The 375g box of Rice Krispies will yield 2 batches of treats. Or one batch and a bunch of bowls of cereal.

Rice Kiss-Me Treats
1 bag of marshmallows (300g or 10oz)
5 cups of Rice Krispies (188 g)
6 Tbsp butter (86 g)
Grease your 9x13" (23x33cm) pan. Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the marshmallows and melt them, on low heat, stirring often. Once the marshmallows are melted, take the pan off the heat and add the Rice Krispies.  Stir to combine and pour into the prepared dish. Pat with a spatula to make a compact structure. Allow to harden for a couple of hours and cut with a knife into squares. Keep covered because humidity will affect the texture.

If you are having a hard time finding marshmallows and Rice Krispies: "American Marshmellows" are found at Jumbo in Veldhoven and also often found at Xenos in Eindhoven. The Rice Krispies are at the AH XL and also at Jumbo. Don't use the jar of marshmallow fluff to substitute. Ugh. And if you are lactose intolerant you can substitute margarine for the butter with good results.

Mmmm... lekker!

One of my favorite parsnip recipes is Alton Brown's parsnip muffins. However, I found the toasting of the almonds to be a bit excessive (mine burnt to a crisp) and also found that just greasing the nonstick pan was not enough to enable smooth removal of the muffins. Cupcake liners, people! That's what you need. Additionally, the timing is a bit off on the baking instructions- it always takes my muffins at least 30 minutes to reach that internal temperature of 210 degrees F. (I love how Alton does things like check a muffin's temperature!)

Another recipe I like for parsnips is a parsnip and carrot side dish. I slice parsnips and carrots into match-stick shapes and then saute in a high-heat oil like canola or sunflower oil. Add some sliced garlic and cook until the carrots and parsnips are al-dente. Toss with diced rosemary leaves and serve with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Yum!

Admission of an Addiction

When my baby, Dina was born I hemorrhaged. As a result I was on a high protein and high iron diet. This sandwich became a habit and eventually an addiction.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan to sizzling. Turn heat to medium-low. Add two eggs, break the yolks. Salt and pepper to taste. Fry until whites are opaque, then flip. Cook through, adding a slice of cheese (Jong-Belegen) the last minute to melt. Toast wheat bread and butter (if desired) - add the fried egg-cheese and top with fresh spinach. Cut in half and serve immediately
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Double the amount of spinach if you like. Or add tomatoes. Or sliced red pepper. Or sliced cukes. Or whatever you have!