This is a new salad that I learned during the recent cooking bootcamp at the Culinary Institute of America.
serves: 6 difficulty: medium prep time: 30 min
Ingredients
- 3 of water
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 4 strips Meyer lemon zest, taken off with a peeler
- 4 strips Cara Cara orange zest, taken off with a peeler
- 2 strips grapefruit zest, taken off with a peeler
- 1/4 cups salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 3/4 cups of sugar
- 6 cloves – whole
- 1/8 tsp cracked black peppercorns
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 6 Belgian endives cut in half lengthwise, and partially cored
- 1 Meyer lemon, supremed
- 1 Cara Cara orange, supremed
- 1 grapefruit, supremed
- 2 tbs chopped parsley
- 1 tbs chopped tarragon
- 2 tbs olive oil for frying
- 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil as dressing
- 1 tbs pistachios, crushed
Preparation
Remove the external leaves of the endives (that are typically bruised), and cut the endives in half lengthwise. With a vegetable peeler or a knife cut out 1 inch of the core of the endive.
In a large pot combine the water, lemon juice, salt and sugar and whisk well. Wrap the peppercorns, red pepper flakes, coriander seeds, cloves and all the strips of citrus zest in cheesecloth, tie it with twine and add to the pot.
Bring the liquid to a simmer, add the endives, and cover with a parchment lid (which was explained in the Osso Bucco Milanese post).
Braise the endives at low heat for 3 min. Then place the entire pot in a large metal bowl filled with ice and water in order to cool the poaching liquid and the endives, and to stop the cooking. You many need to change the ice water a few times because the ice in the bowl will melt quickly and the water will warm up. Keep the endives in the cooled down poaching liquid until ready to serve – that will ensure that they continue absorbing the aromatics from the poaching liquid.
Once ready to serve, take the endives out of the poaching liquid and pat them dry thoroughly.
Warm a large fry pan, and add the olive oil to coat the pan. When the oil is shimmering, season the endives with salt and pepper, and add to the pan cut side down. Allow them to caramelize on the cut side (about 2 min) and then flip on the rounded sides. Caramelize on the rounded side as well – about 1 min.
Remove the endives from the pan, and place in a warm platter.
And here is how to supreme citrus – illustrated with grapefruit. First cut off the top and the bottom of the grapefruit.
Then stand up the grapefruit with the cut sides facing up and down. Starting from the top, slice off the rind while curving the knife such that it follows the curvature of the grapefruit.
Continue making your way around the grapefruit until you have removed the entire rind.
Then turn the grapefruit on its side, and start making incisions on the inside of the white pulp in order to remove every wedge. Some of the wedges will look near perfect, while others will break no matter how careful you are – but that’s OK. Reserve any grapefruit juice that’s runs out in the process of supreming the fruit.
Add the citrus wedges to the warm sauté pan, and warm them for about 20 sec.
Place the citrus wedges on top of the endives, and drizzle the extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the chopped parsley and tarragon, and finish with the crushed pistachios.
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