Braised Belgian Endive with Sauce Gribiche - Recipe
I first tasted the classic French sauce gribiche when I was interning at Seattle’s landmark Canlis restaurant. Chef Franey serves it with asparagus, which is superb. I like it equally well with quickly braised Belgian endive, or steamed artichoke hearts.
The method for making the sauce is similar to homemade mayonnaise, but it isn’t necessary to achieve a perfect emulsion; it is just fine for the olive oil to be partially separated. Gribiche is powerfully flavored with mustard, vinegar, cornichons, capers, and a lot of fresh herbs. You’ll want to have a good bread on hand to mop up the extras.
This method for braising Belgian endive can be used without the sauce gribiche. In that case, try something flavorful such as fresh-squeezed orange juice in place of the water for the braising liquid.
Braised Belgian Endive with Sauce Gribiche
Serves 4 / 30 minutes (if you have a hardboiled egg)
- For the endive:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 8 Belgian endives, halved lengthwise (don’t trim stem end or they will fall apart)
- For the sauce:
- 1 hardboiled egg
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons red wine or champagne vinegar
- 2 cornichons, very finely diced
- 1 teaspoon capers, very finely diced
- ¼ cup minced fresh chervil or flat-leaf parsley leaves, or a combination
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
- fresh ground black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Put the olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in a big pinch of Kosher salt. When the oil is hot, add the endive in a single layer, cut-side down. Cook 3 minutes, until beginning to brown, then add ¼ cup of water, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature, or refrigerate.
- Separate the yolk and white of the hardboiled egg. Finely dice the egg white. Force the yolk through your finest sieve. Whisk the yolk with the Dijon mustard until it forms a paste. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while continuing to whisk, as if you were making a mayonnaise. Don’t worry if it is somewhat separated.
- Mix in the vinegar, cornichons, capers, parsley, tarragon, and diced egg white and a generous grind of black pepper. Taste and add salt if needed.
- To serve, place the chilled or room-temperature endive on a plate. Give the sauce a final stir, and spoon it over the endive.
