One of the sponsors at the Eat, Write, Retreat conference I attended last month in Washington, DC, was the Discover Endive! folks. At the reception that opened this weekend event, they served tasty bites of Endive with Sweet Potatoes, Bacon, Chives, and Sour Cream. These were a delicious balance of crunchy, chewy, sweet, salty, meaty, and creamy. With the hand-held leaf serving as an edible platter, they were a perfectly-sized nibble and easy-to-serve appetizer.
I was interested in possibly trying to make these at home, as I thought they would be a great snack with cocktails or, as we’re coming into that season, a rooftop drinks gathering. It turns out that Souffle Bombay made this one night for her husband when she was back at home. I also found another recipe on Fine Cooking. I decided to do a mash-up of both recipes plus added my own little twist to come up with this version.
Endive with Sweet Potatoes, Bacon, Chives, and Sour Cream
Serving size: 8-10 spears, depending upon size
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
8 Endive Spears
1 medium Sweet Potato
2-3 pieces of Bacon
1-2 tsp Bacon Fat (from cooked bacon)
1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
1 pinch Salt
1 pinch Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Sour Cream
1 Tbsp. snipped, fresh Chives
Assembly
Take one endive, wash it, and break off the outer brown leaves (if any). Break off 8 fresh leaves and arrange in a circle on a large plate or platter.
Steam sweet potato in microwave oven on baked potato setting. Turn potato halfway through the cycle to cook evenly. Put potato to one side to cool until you can peel it. Once it has cooled, cut into 1/4-inch cubes.
In the meantime, cut bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and place on paper towel to cool. Pour off all of the bacon fat except for about 1 tsp. and return the pan to the stove with the heat on low.
Put cubed sweet potatoes into the pan and cook gently in the bacon fat (add fat extra if needed) for 1-2 minutes until the pieces start to brown slightly. Add the bacon back into the pan and toss together. Put in the cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine.
Place one large spoonful of the sweet potato-bacon mixture on each of the spears, spreading most of it towards the stem end. Put one dollop of sour cream in the center of each spear and sprinkle with the chives. Enjoy!
Buon appetito!
Kitchen Witch Tip:
I had leftovers of the sweet potato-bacon mixture, so I decided to make them into a fritatta for breakfast this morning. Just follow your favorite recipe, add some cheese, and garnish with sour cream and chives for a colorful and different spin on your morning meal and a delicious start to your day.
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