This is the kind of recipe that makes you excited for those cozy, darker evenings. We’ve chosen the chicory for its slightly bitter bite to turn into a truly autumnal and special dish. This recipe braises chicory with rich, caramelized appelstroop (a deeply flavorful apple pear syrup) and infuses it with a warm, complex blend of five spices. This dish hits both on a deeply comforting and sophisticated level. It’s a stunning way to balance bitterness and sweetness, making a vegetable feel completely new and undeniably luxurious.
Try this recipe with our homemade Appelstroop recipe that uses fresh apples and pears.
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Chicory with Appelstroop and Five Spices
- Yield: Serves 4
Description
We’re spicing up this Polish delicacy.
Ingredients
- 2 oz lamb’s (mache) lettuce
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp each: mustard seeds, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, black pepper
- 4 heads chicory
- 1 oz butter
- 3 tbsp Apple Pear Syrup (Appelstroop)
- 1 oz pistachio nuts, roasted and chopped
Instructions
- Wash and dry the lettuce.
- Mix the oil and vinegar with some pepper and salt. Set aside.
- Crush all the seeds in a mortar.
- Cut the chicory lengthwise in 4 parts.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the chicory parts on medium-high to high heat with the seeds for 4 to 5 minutes.
- When they are almost done, add the syrup and 2 tbsp water. Keep on sautéing and moving them around on a high heat so that it’s all covered with a shiny coating.
- Mix the lettuce with the dressing.
- Serve on a plate, adding the pistachio nuts and some extra syrup sauce that’s left in the pan. Goes well with (not so Dutch) cold sake.
Recipes and Food Styling by Ingmar Niezen
Photography by Maarten van der Wal
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