Baby Swiss Chard With Bacon, Pine Nuts and Raisins

DIRECTIONS

• In a small sauce pan heat the sherry until just simmering, add the raisins and remove from heat. Let soak for 20 minutes, until raisins are nice and plump.
• In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
• Toast the pine nuts in the bacon fat until golden brown. Remove from skillet with slotted spoon and add to bacon on paper towel.
• Heat 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the garlic, and gently sauté for 30 seconds, just to soften. Reduce heat to medium-low and add ¼ of the chard to the skillet, season lightly with salt and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to wilt. Add another ¼ of the chard to the skillet and continue to cook until all of the chard is wilted and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove the chard from the skillet to a bowl and cook the rest of the chard as above. If you have two large skillets you can do both batches at the same time.
• When all of the chard is cooked, return it to the skillet and add raisins, pine nuts and bacon. Cook over medium heat until warmed through and the raisins, pine nuts and bacon are evenly distributed in the chard. Season with more salt if needed and black pepper to taste.
• Serve.
• Note:
• I found baby chard that had very tender stems. If the chard stems you have are large and tough, cut them out of the chard leaves and chopped them into 1 inch lengths. Blanch them in boiling water until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes, drain, then add them when cooking the leaves.