HOW (NOT) TO: lemony belgian endive with brown sugar and coriander

 So, more or less a week ago I posted this recipe about filled Portobello without using any Portobello, fact that I classified as my very original twist to the recipe.

However, the self-contempt about my creativity lasted quite short; more precisely, until when my friend Pepe told me about his twist to the recipe: "Roasted portobello with kale" became "Roasted portobello (real portobello!) filled with zucchini flowers and topped with provolone".
So it was basically a totally different thing but, uuuhmm (read: *drooling).
So now I was all excited and ready to give a real twist to any recipe that would cross my way.
And there it came: "Belgian endive with orange, brown sugar and basil".
I didn't deliberately decide to totally re-write this recipe cause, honestly, it really sounded super yummy. Thing is that I forgot to buy oranges and basil. So, yah.

Anyway, the lemon-coriander thing is not really something you want to try.
The whole combination tasted sort of weird, a bit like a sour medicine that they tried to make palatable with all sort of sweeteners.

Instead of mine, I thought I'm gonna give you the original recipe.
Should you try it, let me know if it's really as good as it sounds.

WITLOOF (BELGIAN ENDIVE) WITH ORANGE, BASIL & BROWN SUGAR (4ppl)

• 6pcs belgian endive
• 2 oranges
• 12 basil leaves
• 1 1/2 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS butter
• salt&pepper

1. Melt 1TBS butter in a pan. Meanwhile, cut the endives in halves, season with salt&pepper and lay them in the pan.

Now, the recipe says you have to squeeze the oranges over the endive, but it's not giving clear indication as of when. (In any case, before you squeeze them, grate the peel and set aside for final decorations).

1. I would say you do that immediately. So, ... season with salt&pepper, squeeze your oranges and cover the pan with a top.
2. When the endives are almost done, sprinkle them with brow sugar and cover again, so that the sugar caramelises.

Now, the recipe says "... after 20 minutes remove the endives from the fire." Once again, I find it's not really clear if it's  after 20 minutes in total, or 20 minutes after you sprinkled the sugar. In my case, after more or less 20/30 minutes (in total) the endive was perfectly done and the sugar caramelised.

     3. When the endives are ready, lay them on a serving plate and sprinkle with the basil leaves and  the orange zest.

SURVIVAL TIMES AND WINTER SALAD

I don't know how it's going there, but here in Belgium it really feels like, after some two, whole weeks of autumn, winter has come. It's time for creamy soups, gratens, casseroles, pies, pures... All these warm, thik, consistent meals that make winter almost a joy, a good reason to cuddle up in your blanket with your mug of thick hot choccolate.

So, my recipe of today, is a salad.

Because, let's be honest, when you're spending your time reading buried in your blanket sipping hot tea, pies and casseroles are nice just if someone else is making them.
And you start to feel hungry, and you have the painful certainty that no one else is going to cook for you, and your estimate time of survival out of the pre-mentioned blanket is of about 5 minutes.

Which, luckily, is exactly the time you need to prepare this winter salad.
And a toast with melting cheese, of course.

So, what you need for this tasty version is:

- raisins + red wine vinegar
- endive
- apples
- walnuts
- gorgonzola dolce

The only real direction concerning this salad, is that the very first thing you might want to do is to put the raisins in a small cup and cover them with red wine vinegar. Just to give them the time to soak it up.

Then you just get lost in a crazy chop and mix dance, at last you add the raisins (i pour all the vinegar that might be left as well) and, done.

You might even roast the walnuts in a pan with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, but this really depends on how active you feel.

If you're indeed wondering "What about salt and pepper? Do we have to add olive oil?", here is where the wonder of this salad comes in: flavors are so well balanced that you don't even need to season it.

Now, try and say you don't love winter salads.