Pork Chops and Chard

Wednesday 2 November

The chard in the garden is beautiful, but what to serve with it?  Out of the freezer came a pair of thick pork medallions, which we dusted with some leftover "poultry seasoning" from Cooking with Julia.  We just frequent-flipped them in butter and oil, then deglazed the pan with white wine for a sauce.

The chard recipe was adapted from a steakhouse classic; there are recipes that use fewer herbs, but in our opinion chard needs all the help it can get.

Creamed rainbow chard

1 large bunch Swiss chard, washed, leaves removed from the stem, stem and leaves chopped separately; leaves still wet.

butter

2 shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

ca. 3/4 cup heavy cream

1 sprig fresh rosemary, minced

2 sprigs fresh thyme, de-stemmed

Salt and white pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add chopped chard stems, then shallots, then garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, about ten minutes total. Stir in as many of the chard leaves as fit in the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until you can add more, until all are done and tender.  Press and drain any extra liquid out of the pan.

Add cream (enough to make it as creamy as you want - you can't be precise when you only know it's a "large bunch!"), herbs, salt and pepper, and raise heat to thicken. 

At end, add Parmesan to taste, for creamy goodness next to the savory pork.  Hey, or maybe next time creamy gorgonzola chard!