My school friend Voirrey, with whom I spent every day of my school life, and her daughter, Angie (my god-daughter), and grandson Daniel are staying in Bath and coming for supper this evening.
Good excuse to make Emma Grazette’s Flattened chicken with Swiss Chard Gratin (from her and Stevie Parle’s book, Spice Trip, The Simple Way to Make Food Exciting)
– Susan
A large free range chicken, deboned (my butchers, Bartletts, are the stars here)
2 white onions, thickly sliced into rings
1 head garlic, halved
1 lemon, halved horizontally
Small bunch thyme
Olive oil
½ nutmeg, freshly grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Oven at 200̊ C.
In a roasting pan spread out the onions, garlic and lemon halves, and scatter over the thyme sprigs. Season the chicken on both sides and then lay skin side up in the pan. Pour over a little oil.
Roast for 40 minutes or until the skin is golden and the chicken is cooked through. Take from the oven, cover and leave to rest.
For the Swiss chard gratin:
1 kl Swiss chard
50g butter, plus extra for greasing
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp plain flour
250ml milk
½ nutmeg, grated
100g dried breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wash the Swiss chard and strip the stalks from the leaves. Cut the stalks into 1-2 cm lengths.
Blanch the Swiss chard leaves in salted boiling water for one minute. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and put the leaves to dry on kitchen paper. In the same water, cook the Swiss chard stalks for 10 minutes, then drain.
In a large pan, melt the butter. When it begins to foam, add the garlic, then the Swiss chard leaves and stalks. Sprinkle over the flour and cook, stirring, for three minutes. Continuing to stir, slowly add the milk and stir until you have a thick and glossy sauce. Add the grated nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the chard mixture to a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and bake, again at 200̊ C for 30-35 minutes or until cooked and golden.
Serve the chicken with its juices and leave guests to help themselves to the Swiss chard.