"endive" news and stories

If you think of the cool, jiggly Italian panna cotta as one of the most refreshing desserts around, this truly inventive starter will make you completely rethink it.

Australian blogger Jules, at thestonesoup, turns her panna cotta into a savory dish with cauliflower, adds a layer of an endive-and-scallion mixture, then tops it with smoked trout. Her recipe was inspired by chefs and cookbook authors Jane and Jeremy Strode, who made a name for themselves with their restaurant Bistrode, near Sydney.

A couple of notes about the recipe: Jules calls for "witlof," which, here in the states we know as chicory or endive. She also recommends leaf gelatin instead of the powdered form. Leaf gelatin comes in sheets, and isn't as available here as it is in Australia, Europe and elsewhere, so if you can't find it at the market, powdered gelatin will do just fine (one tablespoon of powdered gelatin equals about 4 gelatin sheets).

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Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Rick Bayless is voted the best chef of 2009 -- a well-deserved honor -- beating out Food Network favorites.
• Let's put it this way: Williams-Sonoma got the electoral-college nod.
• Wind down 2009 and fill up for 2010 with sweet potato and bacon in endive boats.
• If you come across a well-coiffed onion, will this instrument come in handy?
• Bacon continues its starring role to the very end.
• Is family-style dining the way to go during the holidays?
• Roll the dice for New Year's fortune with Hoppin' John soup.

Visions of sugar plums may be prancing around heads this time of year, but in the midst of a million social gatherings and holiday events, your stomach may very well need a rest from the season's gluttony.

Enter Gourmet magazine's Endive and Escarole Salad with Mustard-Orange Vinaigrette. Blogger Maggie, from Gourmet, Unbound, tackled the recipe, praising the "delicious salad of bitter greens and bright citrus." A classic, rich red-wine vinegar, olive oil and mustard vinaigrette dressing tops tangy grapefruit and pomelo on a base of bitter endives and escarole. This simple combination makes this recipe a refreshingly zesty, light but satisfying salad. The colorful dish would serve as a restorative, light lunch following a holiday feast or pairs well with richer main for a balanced dinner.

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Spitzhauben Chickens Photo: birdyboo/Flickr

• Poor cluckers. A new report says that poultry is the main culprit behind U.S. food poisoning.
• Roof gardens are changing skylines from New York to San Francisco.
  
• It may not have spurred the passion of "Before Sunrise," but one European train ride led to an Endive Cheese Tart.
• Thailand's Isan region cools things down with a Green Papaya Salad before getting hot and spicy with Larb.
• Troubled times have led to downsized weddings and homespun matrimonial eats like teeny burgers and jalapeno poppers.
• Berlin is host to a new world of hidden, homegrown restaurants.
• Locanda Verde, a new restaurant in downtown Manhattan, inspired this recipe for a Sugar Snap Pea Salad,
  
• The Minimalist adds a peanutty crunch to chicken soup.
  
• Move over, California! Long Island wineries like the 9-year-old Shinn Estate Vineyards are finally getting some respect.

I realize that none of these ingredients are considered wild like the things I usually write about, but it keeps within my love of frugal foods. I love turning leftovers into something that makes people say you made this with what?

Leftover grilled chicken is a great starting point. I use it on top of salads, or as a great starter for fajitas. Endive, along with its cousins frisee, radicchio, and escarole, is a relative of the plant chicory, which is seen along roadsides all over the country. Don't expect to pick and eat wild chicory though. It is almost always too bitter to use. I will cover other uses for it in a later post. A few years ago I had the pleasure of attending an event at an upstate college where the chef went crazy on endive hors d'oeuvres. This wasn't one of his creations, but that event inspired me and started my love of this wonderful spoon-shaped green.

Separate your endive into individual leaves. Lay a thin slice of cheese (I used an aged swiss) along the bottom of each piece of endive, then add two to three small chunks of your grilled chicken, a small slice of avocado, some chopped sweet onion, and cover with alfalfa sprouts. Drizzle some olive oil over each one, and a small amount of sea salt and ground pepper. Serve any extra ingredients around the stuffed leaves.

I guarantee that your leftover-phobic family members will be cured after trying this.