Braised Belgian Endives
About this Recipe
By: Rachel
Braised Belgian endive is one of my favorite vegetable-forward dishes. You don’t often find endives on restaurant menus, which is a shame. In skilled hands, they are absolutely delicious. In this preparation, endives are seared in butter, then braised in a simple sauce of wine, stock, and cream. This Belgian endive recipe is my preferred way to enjoy this underappreciated vegetable.
What Makes Braised Belgian Endive So Special
Belgian endives are one of the most delicious vegetables there are. Pleasantly bitter, fresh and crunchy, you can enjoy endives a myriad of ways: raw, roasted, broiled, stir-fried or braised. When you braise Belgian endive, you soften that gentle bitterness and turn it into something silky, mellow, and deeply comforting. It’s the kind of dish that tastes far more elegant than the effort it takes.
Why I Love Cooking With Belgian Endive
I love to garden, and I especially love to grow my favorite produce. Any delicious fruit or vegetable is bound to be even more delicious when it is grown in your backyard under tender loving care and harvested at its peak, on your plate less than an hour after being plucked from the tree, vine, stalk, or soil in which it grows.
The Frightening Truth About Growing Belgian Endives
It was with dismay that I learned, thanks to Gardners’ Path, that one of my favorite vegetables, the Belgian endive, is nearly impossible to cultivate in the home garden. You must prepare a bed of loose, loamy, well-draining soil, completely free of rocks, in which to plant your seeds. Any fluctuation in temperature or humidity can ruin the crop.
If you are lucky enough for your seeds to germinate, you must force the heads to grow through a two-step process. Once the endives develop a deep taproot, you pull the entire plant (yes, really), and cut off its leaves. You then relocate the plants to a cool, dark place for about two months, then replanted until mature, anywhere from 80-140 days.
At this point, you delicately remove the entire plant from the soil, roots and all—if you damage a root, the entire plant will rot—and trim both the leaves and the taproot. Then, you move the plants to a deep bucket filled with half peat moss, half sand, to a dark and cool area where the temperature is consistently between 32°-36°F (0°-2°C), and the humidity around 95%, for 60 days.
Still with me? After that, you move the endives to a warmer but still-cool place, like a basement. You must cover them and ensure that they are exposed to no light whatsoever. In about a month, if you have done all of this correctly, you will have produced Belgian endives.
From Farm to Table: Why I Love Making Braised Belgian Endives
Is it any wonder that Belgian endives are so expensive? One wonders how they were ever cultivated in the first place. Regardless, I am glad that someone, somewhere along the line, figured it out, since they are absolutely delicious. There are so many ways to prepare Belgian endive, but the simple version below is my favorite.
How to Enjoy Braised Belgian Endive as a Simple, Cozy Meal
Once braised, Belgian endive turns into the kind of humble, comforting vegetable that belongs beside almost anything coming out of a home kitchen. It’s lovely beside richer comfort dishes like The Eating Emporium’s roasted chicken. It also adds a soft, mellow note to lighter meals such as this simple lemony pasta.
Serve braised Belgian endive as a side dish, or enjoy on its own as a dinner, when your committed carnivore husband is out of town for work and you get to eat just what you want for a few days.
Beverage Pairing
By: Olivia
By braising the endive, its hidden sweetness comes forward to balance out its ever-present bitter qualities. This means the wine pairing can emphasize this subtle sweetness. Mary Taylor Wine Pascal Biotteau Anjou Blanc is the perfect pair! This 100% Chenin Blanc is rich and full-bodied but is still a lively expression of the grape, which is the exact balance of the sweet and bitter of this braised Belgian endive.
Braised Belgian Endives
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-6 halved Belgian endives
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup (120mL) dry white wine
- ½ cup (120mL) chicken stock
- ½ cup (120mL) heavy cream
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
- Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat until foamy. Place the endives in the pan cut-side down and allow to cook, undisturbed, for about 5 minutes, or until deeply browned.
Step 2
- Pour in the dry white wine, and turn each endive so the cut side is facing up. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the wine is nearly evaporated.
Step 3
- Add the chicken stock, and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the chicken stock has reduced by about half.Add the cream, turn the heat down to medium-low, and allow to simmer gently for about 7 minutes. Serve hot.
