Witloof met Ham en Kaassaus

Before I got here Andy ate with his parents almost every night. He would generally take a break somewhere around dinnertime, stop by and wolf down a plate of whatever they were having, and then go back to work for an hour or two.

Of course, when I got here that all changed and I found myself suddenly faced with making dinner for two on a daily basis - which is harder than you might think when you consider selection, language, the metric system and the fact that I am not a great cook to begin with. But I had lots of time on my hands, I like to experiment, and Andy will eat just about anything so I've had lots of fun keeping us fed and dinner has become my favorite part of the day.

Along the way I decided it would be nice to serve up something traditional now and then and so far I've managed to pull off a couple of dishes. I thought I'd share one of them with you in case you are curious about what 'home-cooking' is like here. In general Flemish food always involves meat, potatoes and sauce, and sometimes 'groentjes' or (non-potato) vegetables.

Witloof (Endive) is maybe the most popular 'groentje' in all of Flanders. Like the other vegetable that Belgium is famous for it's fairly bitter, but in this recipe it works. Or maybe I've just been assimilated. I do remember hating it the first time I had it, and loving it the last time. But I think that had more to do with the cheese - Emmental vs Gruyere - than the witloof. (You might remember that Emmental landed on my 5 Things I Hate About Belgium list last year.)

The recipe below is one I cobbled together from various versions I found online. I was really happy with how it turned out. (That is not my photo but it is pretty representative, although mine had more sauce.) If you decide to give this a try I'd love to hear how it goes!

Witloof met Ham en Kaassaus

Ingredients (2 people)

• 4 heads endive
• 4 thick slices smoked ham
• 2 cups milk or cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (not Emmental!)

Method

1. Cut the ends off of each head of endive and remove any loose or dirty outer leaves.


2. Steam the endive for about 25 minutes or until you can almost stick a fork all the way through (you are going to cook them in the oven so they don't need to be completely done).


3. Drain the endive and let them cool while you are making the sauce.


4. Melt the butter and then add the flour and whisk it until it combines with the butter.


5. Slowly add the milk (or cream) while whisking. Keep adding until it is the consistency you want.


6. Add the nutmeg and 1 cup of the cheese and stir until the cheese melts.


7. Squeeze any excess water out of the endive, roll each head in a slice of ham and line them up in a baking dish.


8. Pour the sauce over the top and then sprinkle over the rest of the cheese.


9. Bake in the oven at around 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Turn on the broiler for the last few minutes to brown the top.


10. If you really want to be Flemish, serve it with fries or mashed potatoes, because it's not a meal without some form of potatoes!!!

Smakelijk!