Endives au Jambon
Chicory braised, wrapped in ham, covered in béchamel and baked. The bitterness of the chicory is the point and is usually mishandled.
Photograph credit: Jielbeaumadier chicon au jambon maroilles 2010 by Jiel Beaumadier · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Endives au Jambon: Step by Step
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Trim the chicory and cut a small cone out of the base of each, which is where most of the bitterness sits.
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Melt the butter in a wide pan, lay the chicory in it, and add the sugar, lemon, salt and water. Cover and braise 25 minutes, turning once, until completely tender.
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Lift them out and press them gently between two tea towels until they stop giving water. Be firm about this.
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Make the béchamel: melt the butter, stir in the flour, cook 3 minutes, then add the milk gradually, whisking. Cook 8 minutes until thick. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
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Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Wrap each chicory in a slice of ham and lay them in a buttered dish.
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Pour the béchamel over and scatter with the Gruyère.
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Bake 30 minutes, until browned and bubbling. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
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Keep an Eye on These
- Cut the cone out of the base — that is where the bitterness concentrates.
- Press the braised chicory dry or the dish floods.
- Sugar and lemon temper the bitterness rather than removing it.
A Little Background
The chicory has to be braised and then squeezed dry before it is wrapped, and skipping either step gives you a watery gratin swimming in liquid. Chicory holds a great deal of water and releases all of it in the oven. A pinch of sugar and a squeeze of lemon in the braising liquid tempers the bitterness without removing it — the aim is to make it pleasant, not to hide it, since bitterness is the reason the dish works against the ham and cream.
On the Table Alongside
Boiled potatoes · Green salad · A glass of Alsace white
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: French Baguette, Fougasse, French Lentils.
Keeping Endives au Jambon
Refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat at 180°C / 356°F for 20 minutes. It freezes for 2 months.
Endives au Jambon Nutrition
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .