Chard Gratin.

The lovely people at Riverford delivered our latest veg box yesterday. Among the contents was a whole head of Chard, so, after thumbing through various cook books this is what I cooked.

1 Head of Chard
280ml Double Cream
3 Tbsps Wholegrain Mustard
Salt and Pepper (both freshly ground.)
Parmesan (a good fist-full, also fresh and finely grated)

Blanch the chard in heavily salted simmering water for a couple of minutes until the stems go limp. How you cut the chard is up to you but I removed the stalks and cut them into bite sized lengths and left the green leaves whole. When you feel the chard is ready drain and place into a shallow baking dish or tray (although of course with suitable sides to hold the cream later.)

Mix the cream with the mustard and season to taste. I like a little bit of fire so I put in 3 generous tablespoons of the mustard but if you don't like the nose tingling effect then just add less. The Chard happily took quite a bit of salt and tasted great for it.

Combine the mustard and cream mixture with the Chard and evenly place in your dish then scatter the Parmesan over the top. Cook at 180c until the gratin looks golden and bubbling.

I had mine with sausages although it could accompany all manner of things. The creamy mustard mixture if you have any left would probably be great with pasta, not tried it but just an idea.

Butter Chicken.

This post comes after a twitter request. New foody twitter friend @Juliannabarnaby has been looking for a decent recipe for the famed Punjabi dish Butter Chicken for a while and I hope this helps. The recipe is an adaptation of one written by Pushpesh Pant in his new book "India Cookbook" which at over 1,000 authentic recipes is well worth buying.

Ingredients & Quantities:

1 Kg of Chicken cut into pieces - (I asked for boneless legs cut into small chunks at the butcher. It might be worth using thighs as they are cheaper and arguably have more flavour.)

Vegetable Oil (or a tasteless oil like Rapeseed would do.)

Sea-Salt.

For The Marinade:

1 Tbsp Garlic Paste
1 Tbsp Ginger Paste
2 Tbsps Hot Chilli Powder
2 Tsps Ground Coriander
1 1/2 Tsps Ground Turmeric
1 1/2 Tsps Garam Masala
2 Tbsps Lime Juice
500ml Natural Plain Yoghurt (if quantity is shown in grams just use 500g.)

For The Sauce:

125g Chilled Butter
6 Medium Tomatoes (skinned and pureed, alternatively chopped fine with a mezzaluna.)
1 Tsp Chilli Powder
2 Tsps Fenugreek Leaves (or ground seeds, if you are doing this yourself be prepared to work!)
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala
3 Tbsps Single Cream.

Method:

For the marinade mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and season with plenty of salt (I used sea-salt but table salt would be fine.)

Put your chicken chunks into a shallow container and pour over the marinade. Mix this well making sure that the chicken pieces are well coated. Cover this (a tupperware box would be perfect but I used a bowl and cling-film) and place in the fridge for a minimum of three hours. Leaving the marinade overnight would make the taste even better but I didn't have the time.

Heat oil in a large, heavy based pan sticking to a low heat. Pour in the chicken and marinade mix (it smells wonderful) then cover and cook for about half an hour or until you are satisfied the chicken is cooked through.


For the sauce melt a small portion of your butter in a skillet then add your puree of fresh tomato and cook until most of the moisture has evaporated. Add the remainder of the butter and allow it to fully melt. Add the chilli powder and cook for a minute or so. Sprinkle in your Fenugreek leaves (or in my case ground seeds) followed by the Garam Masala. Place the chicken chunks into the sauce and as much of the marinade you think you'll need for a good coating consistency. Finish by seasoning with salt and a swirl of single cream.

Serve with a crisp beer or lager. I plumped for an IPA.

Enjoy.