Gorgonzola, Cranberry and Chive stuffed Endive

Chicory month continues with another take on stuffed endive!

From Dish Nicole:

Endive is a curious veggie.  One would think that is a lettuce when in fact it is part of the chicory family which includes bitter leafed vegetables such as radicchio or escarole.  Endive, not just for salads, takes on various forms of deliciousness and can be prepared in a multitude of ways.  I have had Belgian endive au gratin, in salads, soups and even stir-fry’s, all delicious.  Perhaps one of the best characteristics of endive is the way the leaves, when separated, create perfect cups for stuffing.  Stuffed endive seems to be a staple passed hors d’oeuvres at events.  Recently my pals were hosting a house warming party and I decided to stuff some endive and bring it over to share.  They were mess free and tasty if I do say so myself.

Ingredients:

4 Belgian Endive Heads (there are about 8-10 leaves per head)

½ cup of gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

½ cup of dried cranberries chopped

½ cup chopped chives

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

 

Wash and dry your endive and set aside.  Next you will want to dice up all of your other ingredients and mix in a large bowl adding the olive oil a little at a time while mixing.

Taste and add the salt and pepper as needed.  You can prepare this mixture several hours before serving.  When you are ready to serve, separate the endive leaves and place on a platter, stuff and devour.

While being an extremely easy recipe to make, the presentation is beautiful with all colors and textures and your friends will LOVE it!  At least mine did.

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Truffled endive, white asparagus and heart of palm salad

Saucy Little Dish is trying something new!  Each month we will be working with a different ingredient and each Dish will create a dish using that ingredient.  We are excited to start the Spring 2013 off with Endive/Chicory.

In addition to our new theme months, SLD would like to introduce our newest dish, Beth Harrell.  Beth is originally from Florida and we met this saucy thing in Williamburg, Brooklyn and she now lives in Chicago.  Not only has she lived in all sorts of culinary hubs, she studied the art of baking and pastry at Le Cordon Bleu Paris.  I don’t know about you, but I know we are excited to see what Beth whips up!

From Dish Beth:

(inspired by El Almacen’s Ensalada de Palmito) Yields 6 servings

I’ve always thought of endive as the stuck up, snooty little finger food of fancy pants ladies luncheons. Other than an elegant vehicle for stuffing cheesy, mayonnaisey dips down my gullet, I didn’t really know what else it was good for. That is, until, I had this delightful truffled endive and heart of palm salad at El Almacen, an awesome Argentinian restaurant in my old neighborhood, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  Since I live in Chicago now, I decided I’d try and make this thing at home.

Slightly bitter endive, its chicory sister radicchio, and tangy heart of palm, are tossed with large flakes of buttery, salty parmesan and a simple truffle vinaigrette. Since it’s spring, I’ve also added some white asparagus to the mix. Earthy and decadent, this would be a perfect start to a romantic dinner with your hunny bunny. But I wouldn’t know anything about that. Guh.

Here goes…

2 endives (the whiter the leaf, the less bitter the taste)

White asparagus (about 6-8 stalks)

Small head of radicchio

8 oz jar of heart of palm, drained

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Big handful of salt

Truffle Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Parmesan cheese (not the powdery pizza kind. Get a wedge and shave flakes off with a vegetable peeler. This is a CLASSY salad, dammit!)

Slice the endive, radicchio, asparagus and heart of palm into long, thin strips. Make sure to cut the top and base off of the endive and asparagus. Place all but the heart of palm into large bowl with the apple cider vinegar and salt. Toss to coat and let sit for 30 minutes or so (you want to slightly pickle them). Place in colander to drain. Rinse with cold water (don’t have to totally wash all vinegar away, just give it a quick rinse), return to bowl

Add heart of palm. Toss with Truffle Vinaigrette and sprinkle with parmesan before serving.

Truffle Vinaigrette

Shallot (or small onion, shallots are just expensive onions anyway)

2-3 T white truffle oil (If you’re on a specialty oil budget, you can sometimes find this shit for cheap at TJ Maxx)

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1-2 T champagne vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Grate the onion/shallot right into the bowl and then pour/sprinkle in remaining ingredients. Whisk and taste and  whisk and taste, adding more as needed until it’s to your liking.

Oh yeah! And for the record, it’s pronounced on-DEEV, not N-dive. Enjoy lovers!

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Kohlrabi & Kale Salad (with sour cherries & lemon)

From Dish Danielle:

What’s a dish to do with the ugliest character in her winter CSA share!? Eat ‘em fresh! I personally had never been confronted by this mysterious German turnip before, and I will admit, that I left it abandoned in my fridge’s crisper for far longer than I should have… Once I finally worked up the nerve to peel, slice, and sample this crunchy orb, I found it surprisingly mild in flavor and still very fresh considering it’s relegated hibernation…ahem. A fresh winter salad recipe is below. This is loose so feel free to add/subtract & riff on it to create the perfect winter salad for you:

Ingredients:
-1 medium Kohlrabi, peeled
-1 medium bunch Lacinto Kale, destemmed and chiffonaded.
-1 bunch of dill, rough chopped
-1 c dried sour cherries
-grated zest of 1 lemon
-4-6 tbsp, fresh squeezed lemon juice
-few splashes of olive oil
-a squeeze or two of honey
-2-3 garlic cloves, minced
-S&P to taste
-1c alfalfa sprouts (if you’d like)

Peel the kohlrabi and cut into thick matchsticks that are 1/4″ wide & 2″ long.

Place all ingredients, (minus the sprouts if you’re using them), into a medium sized salad bowl. Get in there with your hands and massage the mixture–this allows the lemon to soften both the kale & kohlrabi just a bit. Let the salad sit for about 10minutes.

*chef’s note: I only had 1/2 a bunch of kale, so I used a mixture of kale and added 2 large handfuls of my CSA mesclun salad mix, which was great!

Add the sprouts and mix once more–making sure to separate the threadlike bundle and incorporating thoroughly. Now’s the time to taste and adjust the salt/honey levels if needed. If you find a puddle of dressing at the bottom of your salad bowl, using tongs, lift the salad and place into another bowl leaving the juices behind.

Happy crunching!

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