How do I pick out swiss chard in a line up?

Swiss chard is a large, sort of shiny, a little lumpy, green leafy vegetable that is as easy to incorporate into your cooking as spinach, though it is related to our friend the beet. In fact, it is almost interchangeable with spinach in many recipes except for a slightly longer cooking time and a bit of stem removal. Once the stalk is cut out (trim down the length of the leaf on either side of the stem) it can be chopped into pieces and enjoyed as well. Since it is a bit hardier, the stem needs to be thrown into the pot a few minutes before the leaves to give it a head start in the cooking process. It becomes quite tender and delicious, adding a great texture to the rest of the dish.

Chard can dupe the consumer by coming in a rainbow of colors such as white, yellow or purple or deep red and orange. Though the stem/stalk appears in multi-colors, make sure the leaves are nothing but crisp, bright green. Yellowing or browning can mean that the swiss chard is out-of-date. The stalk should snap, not bend and the leaves should not be wilted or tired looking. Store in the fridge until you want to cook, then wash and prep and go for it! Here is a simple recipe that puts chard and spinach together... a springtime all-star side dish that is super healthy for you too.

SAUTEED SWISS CHARD AND SPINACH
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 bunch swiss chard (about a pound)
4 cups spinach leaves (about 10 ounces)
1 tablespoon vinegar
salt and pepper

To prepare the swiss chard for cooking, cut out the stems and set aside. Wash the leaves and roughly chop. In a skillet, heat oil and saute the onions with a pinch of salt until translucent. Add chard stems and saute for 5 minutes. Add the leaves and allow to wilt with the help of the water clinging to the leaves and the tablespoon of vinegar. Stir until almost tender, about three minutes. In the last two minutes, add spinach and continue to stir until it is also wilted and combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

There's a new butcher in town.

Finally!!! We have a butcher peddling meat over at Chelsea Market. Dickson's Farmstand Meats, is moving in. Started by Jake Dickson, the company brings together small meat farmers and makes them available to the hungry public. The product just has to meet a few criteria:

• The entire supply chain (farm to slaughterhouse to point-of-sale) must be no more than 400 miles long.
• Animal based feeds, prophylactic antibiotics or added hormones are not administered at any point of the animal’s life.
• The animals from which our meat comes must spend their life on the farm - no CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) or feedlots.

In addition, Jake makes it possible to "get to know" the source of your burger. On his website, he lays out the farmers that supply him, with a description and map location with the farm-to-market mileage listed. All this is just fine and good, but here's the kicker: the meat is delicious!
I always shop conscientiously; keeping in mind the environment and ethics, but as a chef,I must admit, sometimes the goal is simply to find what is the best product. Dickson's does both.
They will be selling their meat in front of their future home in the Chelsea Market from Thursdays to Saturdays. Come by and check it out!

What have you made in your cast iron skillet lately?

What a nice question, given how much we love cast iron. (If you don't know this, it means you do not receive the Grill-A-Chef Monthly Newsletter and there is a remedy for that *** see below). Anyway, the skillet was recently hired to make one of the best frittatas ever. After overcoming apprehension of having the eggs stick to it, even though I have the utmost faith in cast iron and it is reverently seasoned, I went for it. I hadn't made a frittata since I let the non-stick go once and for all. Making eggs in the cast iron was the final frontier. Again, I should have been more confident since the Lodge logo does actually have an egg in it.... I'm talking about old habits dying hard.
Also, I was once traumatized by a hideous frittata-gone-wrong-incident in a straight up stainless steel pan before I became pro. Picture it: rented house in the south of France, unfamiliar kitchen, 9 hungry people. The result was some sort of chunky scramble, luckily there was much wine to help us forget. But in this case, the final dish was so delicious and so easy, I find myself atop the soapbox reassuringly calling out the praises of the cast iron once again.
The frittata was perfectly cooked throughout, with a bright yellow color and a light springy consistency. It lifted perfectly out of the pan and made neat slices for brekkie, lunch and dinner. Yay!

ASPARAGUS + GOAT CHEESE FRITTATA

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 ounces goat cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1 pound asparagus
1/4 cup canola oil
9 eggs
salt and pepper

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl stir the olive oil, goat cheese, garlic, pepper and 2 tablespoons of parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper (or get down with some herbs and spices...just make it taste gooood). Set aside.
• In a large bowl thoroughly whisk together eggs and remaining two tablespoons of cheese.
• Trim bottom two inches from asparagus and discard. Chop the rest into one-inch pieces.
• Heat canola oil in a large (10-12 inch) nonstick or cast iron skillet. Saute the asparagus pieces until bright green and just tender. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Pour egg mixture over asparagus and evenly sprinkle the goat cheese over the top. and place the skillet in the oven, 15-20 minutes (check after 10 minutes). The finished frittata will be firm but slightly springy to the touch throughout. Place under the broiler for one minute to brown the top, if desired. Slice into wedges and serve.

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Dress up that goat cheese!



Sizzle that asparagus!



Put it together and cook it up!!

How close can you get to the edge of the Parmesan before you start getting into the part of the rind you shouldn't eat?

A fine question.
The rind that your talking about is actually just hardened cheese. It gets this way from being exposed during the production process both to salt water: where it sits for 20-25 days and then to air: while aging for at least 12 months.(These are standards the real deal Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese has to meet, there are a lot of impostors out there. I spotted one just yesterday that boasted of being aged 90 days)

This rind is actually edible all the way out to the fine leathery skin. I like to save my Parmesan rinds in the freezer to throw in soups and stocks, they impart a great flavor.

A side note: it was once a rule that the whey left over from producing Parmigiano-Reggiano went to feed the pigs raised for prosciutto di parma.