31 August 2014

Blettes

Des blettes. Swiss chard. It has many names, both in French and in English. We're growing some this summer.


(I guess it's prettier in color than in monochrome.)


And we are cooking some too. I like it with cream. And also with a little Dijon mustard mixed into the cream sauce.


It's a lot like spinach. Sometimes I think I like it better.


 Serve it with hard boiled eggs and steamed potatoes.

14 comments:

  1. That looks good - and those egg yolks are so yellow.Delicious!

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    1. I've started cooking eggs by putting them into a pot of cold water and bringing them to a boil. Then I turn off the burner and just let the eggs sit in the hot water, covered, for about 10 minutes. The yolks are nice that way, without the greenish or black ring that they sometimes get.

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  2. Would the greens work in a white sauce? The chard is a full color sort of veggie, sepia does nothing for it.

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    1. I think a white sauce or a béchamel would be good.

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  3. That's how I cook my hard-boiled eggs, too... though I let them sit for about 20 minutes. Looks like 10 does the trick.
    As for the blettes, I saw them referred to somewhere online recently as bettes, and was going to ask you about that, but I do believe there has been discussion about this in your comments area in the past... non? And there's no real explanation for the slight difference in name in French?

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    1. Judy, some sources say that bettes and blettes may be regional variations, but I've seen no evidence supporting that statement.

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    2. I just found this on a Marmiton forum:

      Distinction entre la poirée (ou bette) et la blette :
      La poirée, c'est la Beta vulgaris (Beta dans le Capitulaire de Villis de Charlemagne)
      La blette c'est l'Amaranthus blitum (Blida dans le Capitulaire de Villis de Charlemagne)
      Par la suite les termes de "Bette" et "Blette ont été employés indifféremment. Les deux plantes ont de grandes similitudes.

      I don't know if this is true or not.

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    3. Hi Judy,

      Here is what I found to add to what Ken said.

      It seems that blettes and bette à cardes are the same thing. I have no idea why there is an L in one and not the other. There are other names too. Here is a link in French explaining what they are.
      http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blette_(plante)

      P.S. CNRTL says that blette is the common or popular name of bette à carde.

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  4. Clean the greens and fry in olive oil with garlic, add a little little chicken broth and red pepper flakes
    Use the stalks by breading them egg then in flavored crumbs. Fry in Olive oil.

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  5. Your way of hard boiling eggs is new to me -- will try it as they look so much 'fresher' [no ring] than traditionally hard boiled ones.

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    1. I don't know if it's boiling the eggs for too long or at too high a temperature that causes the unappetizing ring around the yolk. It's probably both -- overcooking the yolks either way. The method I've been using lately has been working for me.

      I think hard-boiled eggs go really well with spinach or chard. I've been enjoying that combination for 40 years at least. I think I learned it in France.

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  6. Il vous faut un arrosoir en zinc. C'est très beau sur les photos :-). On en trouve parfois dans les vides-greniers.

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  7. I definitely like cooked chard better than cooked spinach. I prefer spinach raw... in salads.

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