Salad are the quickest way to use the softer tasted endive. For more bitter ones, braising them is good. Would like to hear how you cook them! I just got a huge bag, need some inspirations.
A classic French dish: endive gratin with ham and cheese sauce.
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Another recipe that I make quite often is red endive risotto. Classic risotto recipe (chopped garlic, onion, wine, round rice, chicken or vegetables stock) with finely sliced endives added at the end of the cooking. Quite good.
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I’ve only ever cooked it wrapped in ham and with the cheese sauce. I picked up the idea in Belgium and as I can’t get Flemish cheese here, I would usually use similarly tasting Edam or Gouda.
I do like it in salads where the bitterness contasts nicely with other things.
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Those gratins look like a tasty dish my Dutch neighbor calls “witlof,” which I guess is just what endive is called in Dutch.
Among other cooks I know in the U.S., it’s more common to use endive in salad. Or to use endive leaves in place of bread or a cracker to scoop up a rich and spreadable appetizer like bluefish pate.
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It is.
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This recipe is my go-to: http://www.joseandres.com/en_us/news/news/view/21/Jaleo_Receives_3_1_2_Stars_from_The_Washington_Post/endives-with-goat-cheese
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Yum! Thanks.
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Besides use in a salad as another lettuce, I use them for entertaining. (this probably won’t help you) I like using them as a a single serve item for appetizers etc. Have some an assortment of salads, place a spoon full of shrimp salad, chicken salad or tuna salad on individual endive leaves and pass around. This is my most common use for them, I don’t have any recipes for actually cooking with them. ((sorry))
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I often braise them in butter. I trim off the end and any brown parts, the cut a big X in the bottom so that they will cook more evenly and braise them slowly for 20 minutes or so. I try to catch them before they burn, so that my wife won’t explode about cleaning the pot.
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Deviled egg holders. Edible and it looks nice.
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I love endive, they’re usually quite expensive here. Most often they seem to be used for pretty appetizers, to hold something like a fish tartar or fancy dips.
I like them most in salads with a bit of radicchio and fennel and a very lemony dressing
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As a scoop for various salads (it holds beans and grains well, but also a nice bitter and soft-crisp dipper option for creamy dips).
Dipping into bagna cauda.
Apparently good roasted too, I’ll have to try that.
This Jose Andres recipe looks really good with goat cheese and orange to balance the bitterness.
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Yeah, it’s been mentioned by @ChristinaM too! Orange works well with endives! I scanned quickly on recipes, endives, orange and duck is another combination that works well.
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I wonder why. Maybe the fact that they are more expensive is inspiring more fancy appetisers as they are treated preciously.
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Yes, I do see endive treated as a specialty item in the U.S. Sometimes people who use endive leaves in appetizers do so because it’s a convenient swap for the carbs in bread or crackers that you might use otherwise. True for me and among some of my friends.
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Trader Joes here has them for a relatively good price.
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My supermarket currently has them at a 250g pack for £1.65. I’ll leave you to do your currency/weight conversions if needed.
By the by, in the UK, we tend to call them “chicory”. Which can be confusing as it’s also what we call the curly salad leaf. I don’t like the latter so it’s always a pain when I see it on a restaurant menu, having to ask which one is it (and often the server hasnt a clue)
I got some a couple of weeks ago at farmers mkt (CT) and unlike any store bought endive I’ve had, this endive was slightly sweet. Best I’ve ever tasted. The heads were a bit looser.
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Mine is selling 2,49€ for 1kg. You understand now why I need this thread!
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