French · Authentic-ish French
Endives au Jambon
301 kcal a serving, against 460 for the traditional version. That is 159 kcal off, or 35%, with 24.9g of protein. Serves 4. 45 minutes.
What the traditional version is
Whole heads of chicory are slowly braised in butter until entirely tender. They are wrapped in thick, fatty slices of ham, laid in a heavy baking dish and completely drowned in a traditional bechamel sauce made from equal parts butter and flour, whisked into a pint of whole milk. A massive handful of gruyere goes on top before it is baked until bubbling, golden and dripping with fat.
What changed, and what each change costs
50g of butter down to 15g
The classic roux demands equal parts butter and flour. I dry-toast the flour in a pan to cook out the raw starchy flavour first, then whisk in a tiny knob of butter and the milk. You get a thick, stable sauce without the giant slick of grease.
What it costs you. The sauce loses that silken, heavy mouthfeel. It is noticeably thinner on the tongue and completely lacks the glossy finish a massive block of butter provides.
150g of gruyere down to 80g
Gruyere is a brilliant melting cheese but it is incredibly dense. I halve the amount but keep it all for the top of the dish where you actually see it. Stirring a sharp spoonful of Dijon mustard into the sauce replaces the lost savoury punch.
What it costs you. You don't get those long, elastic strings of melted cheese stretching from the dish to your plate. The cheese layer acts like a crust, not a deep, suffocating blanket.
Whole milk for semi-skimmed milk
Boiling down whole milk makes a wonderfully rich sauce, but it feels incredibly heavy on the stomach. Semi-skimmed milk does the exact same structural job of carrying the toasted flour and mustard, but keeps the dish tasting sharp and focused.
What it costs you. A slightly less creamy sauce. The bitter notes of the braised chicory push through a bit more aggressively without all that milk fat there to round them off.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 460 | 301 |
| Protein | 28.5g | 24.9g |
| Fat | 29.5g | 15.4g |
| Saturated fat | 16.7g | 8.1g |
| Carbohydrate | 20.6g | 15.9g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 6.2g | 8.3g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish French prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, milk, mustard.
The method is in the book
You end up with a sharp, savoury bake that actually tastes of the vegetable hidden underneath. The version that's a rich, cloying dairy bomb is still out there and still better. The bitter chicory cuts straight through the salty ham and the sharp mustard sauce. You lose the heavy, comforting blanket of butter, but you gain a sharp dinner you can actually eat on a weeknight without feeling ruined. I serve this with a few slices of crusty bread to wipe the baking dish completely clean.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish French, along with 54 more. Buy the paperback