Seared Endives With Lemon Butter Dressing And Caraway Seeds

Prep Time: 2 min Cook Time: 8 min.

This recipe is a perfect blend of the endive’s natural bitter-sweet flavor and the freshness of a lemon butter sauce.

Every now and then a main course calls for light side dish that will not over power the main event, is not bland and yet has a distinct character of its own. This is such a recipe that quickly transforms your familiar salad ingredient into a delicious complement to grilled chicken, pork or fish.

A cooked endive is nothing like the raw version. It has a slight bitter sweet flavor and when seared it develops a subtle hint of caramelized sweet onions.

Ingredients (for two)

Two large endives
2 Tbs olive oil
1/3 cup water
1 lemon
1Tspn sugar ( preferably raw sugar)
Salt to taste

Method

1. Quarter the endives making sure you keep as much of the root as you can so that the quarters keep their shape. If you cut too much of the root, the leaves will fall away.
2. On a medium heat put a couple of tablespoonfuls of olive oil in a flat pan and sear endives on each flat side for about 2 minutes or until they start to caramelize. A word of caution is called for here. You want to avoid overcooking the endives and keep them crunchy. So test them by piercing the center with a small sharp knife to make sure you get a little resistance. Set aside on a plate.

Sear endives for about 2 minutes on each of the flat sides until caramelized.

Deglaze pan with 1/3 cup water, add juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp raw sugar and blend in butter.

3. Deglaze the pan on a medium heat with 1/3 cup water, the juice of one lemon and a teaspoonful of raw sugar. Gently simmer mixture for a couple of minutes until the volume is reduced by about half. Feel free to taste the liquid to make sure it is not acidic and has enough sugar.
4. Remove from heat and blend in a tablespoonful of unsalted butter by whirling it around the pan.
5. Salt to taste, put endives back into the pan to warm up and then serve

If you feel particularly adventurous and like the taste, sprinkle a generous pinch of caraway seeds onto the finished dish instead of thyme. They will give you delightful, crunchy bursts of flavor. Try it.