Anne's Rainbow Chard and Gruyère Quiche (2012 - Week 4)

 2012 Week 4 Mystery Ingredient: Chard

Chard, also known as Swiss Chard, is a leafy green vegetable. The leaves are always green, but the stalks differ in color, giving names to the variations (like Red Chard or Rainbow Chard).  My grocery store happened to have Rainbow Chard in stock on the day I went, so that's what I got.

I decided to make a quiche this week, so I began an internet search looking for the best quiche recipe.  I looked at six different highly-rated recipes, and I couldn't believe the variations between them.  For the same 9" quiche, the quantity of eggs varied from 3 to 10, cheese from 1/2 cup to 2&1/2 cups, cream/milk from 1 cup to 4 cups.  Crazy!!  So I made my own special quiche recipe instead.  And I have to brag a little... it turned out spectacularly.  DELICIOUS!   The flavor of the chard and bacon and Gruyère blended together perfectly in the egg mixture.  Here's my special original recipe:

Anne's Rainbow Chard and Gruyère Quiche

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz bacon, diced
1 bunch Swiss Chard, any variety (I had 5 ribs in my bunch of Rainbow Chard)
~3/4 cup shredded Gruyère cheese (I just threw in a large handful)
6 eggs
1 cup Crème fraîche (If you can't find it, substitute 1:1 heavy whipping cream and sour cream)
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme
pinch salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
9" deep-dish pie crust (buy or make your own.. make sure it's deep dish!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375º.

Heat oil in large saute pan and cook shallots until soft.  Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.  Transfer to a large bowl.  In the same pan, fry bacon until the fat is rendered.  When fully cooked, transfer bacon to a paper towel to remove excess grease, then move to the same bowl as the shallots and garlic, but leave the fat drippings in the pan.

Strip chard leaves from their ribs (see my photo).  You can do this easily by pushing up on the leaves while holding the bottom end of the rib.   Chop the ribs small and shred the leaves.

 Fry the chard rib pieces in the bacon fat until tender.  Covering the pan will help speed up this process.  Add the shredded chard leaves, cover pan, and wilt leaves for about 3 minutes.  Add all the chard to the bowl with the shallots and bacon, add the shredded cheese, and stir to combine.

Beat eggs together with the crème fraîche until frothy and season with thyme, salt, and pepper.

Fill the pie shell with the chard mixture and pour the egg mixture over the top.

Bake at 375º for about 35-40 minutes until set throughout.   Remove from oven and let sit for a little while.  Serve at room temperature.    (Note: To reheat leftovers, cover with foil and bake for ~15 min at 300º F.... or just microwave for a minute).