Vent d'Est : Endives au Jambon (Chicory and Ham)

Every now and again, I like to introduce the French to English Cuisine (Vent d'Ouest), and the English to French Cuisine (Vent d'Est).

For the first time in the six years I have lived in England, I found some chicory at the supermarket last week. (Tesco, I love you).

Nom nom nom

Unfortunately, we were leaving for France the next day, so I couldn’t really justify buying enough to make the classic Endives au jambon of scrumptiousness (which yields leftovers, because I do not understand small portions).  I HAD to buy some all the same, so I cut them up, added a little vinaigrette and we ate them as a salad. Which is fine, I suppose, but no Endives au jambon.

So, in the spirit of introducing the English to French cuisine and vice-versa, I give you:

Super Simple Endive au jambon, which everyone who is anyone will love (yes, not liking Endives au jambon strips you of your Human-hood)

You need:

• ·         4/5 endives (one per person ideally)
• ·         The same number of slices of ham
• ·         Crushed garlic (3 cloves if you are me, a bit less if you are not as keen)
• ·         Liquid cream (full fat – if you don’t want any fat, and therefore clearly hate yumminess, I can’t do anything for you)
• ·         A little butter (1tsp)
• ·         Cheddar to cover (a little to a lot, depending on how greedy you are)

2 methods: some will keep the endives whole, others will take them apart, either way, you need to boil them until soft.

Melt the butter in a small pan, add the garlic then the cream, salt and pepper

In an oven-proof dish, line up the endives, wrap them each in a slice of ham, pour the garlicky-cream over and sprinkle (or layer thickly if you are me) with cheddar.

If you took the endives apart, you need to make layers instead:  1^st layer = half of the endive leaves, 2^nd layer = half of the ham, 3^rd layer =half of the cream, repeat, then sprinkle with cheddar.

Put in the oven at around 200ºC for about 30 minutes, until the top is crisp.

Voila!

This is the northern France version, where they use thick slices of Maroilles cheese instead of cheddar. Not holding my breath for Tesco to start offering it, though.