COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE

When I was a little girl I remember having a good laugh with my mom over our neighbor’s salad spinning technique.  After washing her lettuce she would put it in a pillow case, take it outside and spin it around and around like a propellor.  The water would spin off brilliantly!  She would spin a few times, stop, shake the lettuce a little, then spin again until she had perfectly clean, dry lettuce.   It was a comical site to see.  When I grew up I purchased a really spiffy salad spinner.  I used it, however, it took up an enormous amount of space in my small kitchen.  One day, by accident, I dropped the spinner and the bowl cracked in half.  Left without a choice that evening I turned to the pillow case spinning.  I was stunned.  It worked beautifully.  I was laughing as I spun and spun.  Needless to say, I did not replace my salad spinner.  I have a pillow case in my kitchen towel drawer specifically for my greens.  You may want to try it for the swiss chard in this recipe…

The other day I opened up the latest issue of Bon Appetite magazine and saw a beautifully photographed baked swiss chard and egg recipe.   I have been seeing a lot of gloriously baked dinners with eggs on top.  Loving eggs as we do in our family, I have been cracking them on top of thick creamy soups, baking them on pizzas and now….casseroles.   This is not your usual company egg recipe.  The company egg recipes I have read are more like a frittata; scrambled eggs combined with cheese and  mixed with other ingredients, then baked until firm.   Swiss chard is abundantly in season right now and suddenly I knew what we were going to have for dinner that night.

When I stopped at the market to buy the swiss chard,  I picked up a delightful aged white cheddar.  I imagine a typical cheddar would be fine in this recipe, however, the flavor of this mature cheddar was extraordinary.   When I make this recipe again I will use 4 bunches of swiss chard.  I felt the “bed” the eggs laid on was a little thin.  The original recipe used 12 eggs.  With three of us around our table I only used 4 eggs.  Add more according to your appetite and number of gathered guests.   I used half and half instead of heavy cream, only because that is what I had in the refrigerator.  I served our company eggs with warm naan and roasted beets topped with garden fresh chives.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• sprinkling of sea salt and pepper
• 2 bunches Swiss chard, thick center ribs and stems removed, washed, dried and coarsely chopped (about 12 cups)
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 4 large eggs
• 2 ounces aged white cheddar, grated (about 1/2 cup)

Method

Preheat oven to 400°. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5-8 minutes.  Add chard to the skillet by the handful, tossing to wilt between additions. Cook until tender, 5-8 minutes. Add half and half, simmer until thickened and almost evaporated.  Place your chard mixture evenly in a 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Using the back of a spoon, make evenly spaced divots in the chard mixture. Crack 1 egg into each divot. Season eggs with salt and pepper. Sprinkle your cheddar all over.  Bake, rotating dish once, until egg whites are almost set and yolks are still a bit runny, 15-18 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving while the eggs set.

Served 3

buon appetite.