Chef Christopher’s Braised Rainbow Swiss Chard
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 bunch rainbow Swiss Chard (about 1/2 pound), cleaned, with stems cut away from leaves
2 leeks
1 cup verjus* or white grape juice
2 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- In small saucepan, simmer garlic in 1 cup of olive oil until soft. Drain oil from garlic, reserving oil.
- Clean leeks: Cut white part of leeks into coins about 1/4 inch thick and float them in a bowl of cold water. Agitate to help sand fall to the bottom. When clean, remove leeks, drain and pat dry.
- Cut Swiss chard stems into uniformly sized pieces: squares or sticks.
- Place remaining olive oil in heavy-bottomed pot. Add leeks and cook on low heat until they are tender, about 10 minutes. Season to taste.
- Add the cooked garlic and about 1 tablespoon of garlic oil. When garlic becomes aromatic, add verjus and simmer until liquid is reduced to half of its original.
- Add the vegetable stock, tie the thyme and bay leaf together with some kitchen twine and add to stock. Return to a simmer. Adjust seasoning.
- In the meantime, bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add stems and cook for two minutes, then remove them from the water and add to the leek mixture. Simmer for two minutes.
- Add greens to boiling water; remove after 15 seconds, drain and add to leek mixture. Adjust seasonings, remove herb bundle and serve.
VARIATION: Braised Rainbow Swiss Chard with Bacon: Cut 2 ounces of bacon or pancetta into postage-stamp sizes. Cook over medium heat until almost crisp. Add to cooked leeks at the end of step 5.
*Verjus is the bottled juice of unripe grapes.