The Endive Chronicles

The creative process for this recipe began over two years ago when I came home from the Bayview farm stand with a bag full of corn. In it’s inception, this recipe was actually a salad. I ‘d had enough of the corn salads that were out there and while most were lovely they all seemed to mimic one another and not providing my pallet with the variety it so desperately craves.

I set the corn to roast, then foraged through my kitchen for ingredients. I found a bit of left over pancetta, a wedge of parm, shallots and a handful of basil from the garden. My salad was coming together. The combination was successful aside from being a bit on the salty side. So, I cut the salt out of the recipe, after all the parm and pancetta add enough salt on their own, but it still wasn’t enough. Next I cut it with a bit of watercress which worked quite well, but I just couldn’t leave this recipe alone, it seemed like a recipe that was only halfway finished. Then a few months ago as I was stirring up a pot of porcini risotto to fortify myself against the New York winter’s chill, it came to me, translate the salad into a summer risotto. Eureka!

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Sitting down to an over-sized bowl filled with crunchy vegetables, paper thin beef, rice noodles and creamy tofu all swimming in hot fragrant broth is one of those simple things that just puts a smile on my face. I was first introduced to pho (pronounced fuh) nine years ago by my co-worker Eliz. Each day Eliz would bring in a small vat of pho from the Vietnamese restaurant down the street and each day I would watch him as he gleefully and rather comically ate his pho, all the while wondering what was the big deal. At that time I didn’t really get how amazing simplicity in cuisine truly was and figured that unless it came in the form of a napoleon, vol au vent or needed to be set on fire it probably wasn’t worth my time. Thankfully curiosity trumped my youthful snobbery (some may say ignorance), and one day I asked Eliz for a taste of his pho bo. I still remember how spicy, tangy and full bodied that first taste was and how I knew that he would be splitting the rest of the container with me.

While Phil and I were apartment hunting in April we had dinner with my sister at an amazing Vietnamese restaurant in Federal Way*. I love walking into an ethnic restaurant and not hearing a stitch of English, it seems to signify that something really delicious is in store. The restaurant was full of Vietnamese families gathering for dinner, doing homework and sharing their day; it felt as if we were entering someone’s private dining room. We were served a lovely pot of jasmine tea, ordered fresh spring rolls with an amazing sesame coconut sauce, potstickers, bun cha and my beloved pho. I blissfully munched, sipped and slurped my meal, only coming up for air long enough to help my sister hone her chopstick skills**. This lesson did not go unnoticed by an elderly woman at the next table who took great delight in mimicking my movements and openly laughing at us. Slightly mean old lady aside, this was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. Hot, simple and delicious.

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(Vegetarians, I have a variation for you too!)

In my neighborhood a party invitation to Alfredo and Raquel’s was something to be cherished. One of the loveliest families I know, they enjoy being surrounded by friends and sharing the delicious foods of their native Guam. Their kitchen table always seemed ready to succumb under the weight of dishes piled high with crisp lumpia, succulent spareribs and spicy cucumber salad just waiting to be descended upon by the hungry masses. Kelaguen was hands down the most popular and requested dish in their repertoire and is the sort of dish for which hungry party goers would gladly wrestle a troll.

Simply, Kelaguen is a dish of thinly sliced beef, chicken, fish, etc., that is cooked by marinating it in citric acid with onions and as many hot peppers as you can stand. I am not a huge meat eater, but I have always been a sucker for this type of dish. Admittedly, until I met Alfredo and Raquel my knowledge was limited to various carpaccios, tartares and ceviches. I still enjoy those other versions, but there is something so addictive about this nasal clearing concoction that I rarely go for the others anymore.

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