A tale of two gratins

Finny and I have been working on trying "Chard Killing" recipes, as she calls them. She raved about the Swiss Chard Gratin recipe in Serving Up The Harvest, and convinced me it was worth sucking it up and buying the pricey gruyere cheese (while admitting that her husband actually paid for it, so she didn't know how much it cost).

Brett and I stopped into West Point Market in Akron this weekend, where I picked up a chunk of gruyere, plus two other mystery ingredients for a different recipe (I'll post about that real soon!) So today after racing home to mow and fertilize the lawn before a massive storm hit us, I had just enough time to pick the veggies as things got dark and windy - including what SEEMED like a ton of chard! The recipe called for 2 lbs of chard (it truly is a chard killer recipe!)....


How much would you guess that weighed? Gee, only 13.5 oz? Really!? Damn! Ok - a half recipe it is! And now time to grate the cheese... Since I have yet ANOTHER secret recipe I hope to try out later this week, which ALSO calls for gruyere, I was ok with having plenty of the pricey stuff left over... Check it out - over $15 for .86lbs! (Yes, I'm a tight ass with this stuff!)


And, voila - after cutting and blanching the chard, sauteeing the onion, making the sauce (which I added nutmeg to), combining it all, topping it with bread crumbs (to which I added herbs and olive oil), and baking, it looks like what you see on the right below. Oh, and that dish on the left? Why, yes, becuase I love my bf so much, and because he KNOWS he hates chard (which he's never had), I made him a potato gratin as well! (Remember, I also mowed and fertilized the lawn this evening! I'm amazing!)


My gratin in the foreground, Brett's in the background.


Brett's gratin in the foreground, mine in the background. What? That box WAY in the back? Oh, just ignore that. Brett wants to know which dish you think looks better?


Anyhow - I had my gratin alongside yet ANOTHER secret dish I made that I also haven't posted yet. (Have you been counting? That's THREE dishes, three of which have already been made, that I need to post!)