Braised endives

One thing we'd really been enjoying through the winter and early spring this year were braised endives. I think we've finally settled on a "favorite" way to cook them. I've always loved just cutting them in half and frying them in a pan until they're done, but we've discovered that frying them first, in some butter for flavor and color, and then adding some liquid and braising them until they're done, that's the way to do it. The endives will just melt in your mouth, not in a mushy way, but in a silky way, with a little bit of crunch still at the root of the leaves. This braising obsession may be in part because we've started making lots of veggie stock - we've just been throwing all our veggie scraps into a big tupperware that we store in the freezer, and once every week or three we boil it all down into stock. So far we've had some interesting combinations. Don't bother saving your radish greens. And squash peelings are not good eats, either.

Anyway, we now have a surplus of vegetable stock. Here's a good way to use it up. Start with a pat of butter in a frying pan. Halve your endives lengthwise, and place into the melted butter. Salt the top, grind on some pepper, and leave them put over medium-ish heat for maybe 5-10 minutes, until you've got some nice color.  Once you're happy with the amount of browning, pour a cup or two of stock over the top, and let that simmer away for another 15-20 minutes, until it's easy to stick a fork into the tops of the endives. Pull them out of the braising liquid and grate some parmesan cheese on top, though obviously you could skip that step if you didn't have any cheese.

Simple and delicious.