January 2018: Lobster Lettuce

If you listened to Episode 5 and read this blog post, then you know Matthew has been introducing Katrina to leafy vegetables.  January 2018 was Endive.

As it is February 2018, and Katrina is just now reporting on the endive, it is safe to assume that Katrina did not, in fact, eat the endive in January.  But, she did eat it.  And this is the blog post  to tell you how it went.

Katrina decided to use this recipe because it contained only two ingredients she had to go out to buy (endive and white wine vinegar) and because it looked easy.

First she quartered the endive.

At the time she felt like halving would have been enough.  She was proved to be right after cooking it, but Katrina is someone who follows the directions.  Mostly.  Except when she chooses not to follow the directions.

So then she put all the other ingredients in a skillet and put the endive in.  Did you know "braise" means to cook something in a liquid?  Guess when Katring figured it out?  When she was supposed to put the endive into a skillet full of a liquid.

From here on out the endive basically cooked in the skillet, and Katrina turned it occasionally using tongs.  The recipe said it would turn "golden brown," but mostly it turned a sickly green.  A friend (Kori, you'll meet her in a podcast soon, we hope) finally told her to take it out and serve it.

That's what it looked like in the serving bowl.  Kinda gross, right?

What follows is a photo essay of the endive (and a surprise video (Surprise!  There's a video!)) and Katrina's face as she ate it.  

The full meal.  Kori made porkchops, and Katrina had a purple napkin.  Obviously.  Also, there was hot chocolate.

Turns out it is kinda difficult to cut wet lettuce.  How do you eat this stuff?

Katrina's face after consuming the leafy vegetable.  This is a face that says "Well, I did it, and I'm trying to be positive about it.  What else do you want from me Matthew?"

So what did Katrina think of endive?

"It tasted okay, like butter, probably because there was so much butter.  And then it was bitter.  I don't like bitter.  And lettuce should not be slippery.  It was weird.  Maybe I should try it as a substitute for a cracker?  But then you'd be giving up the deliciousness of a cracker. "

Jess, the third person who ate the meal of endive and porkchops, said it reminded her of lobster, probably because of all the butter.  Hence the term "Lobster Lettuce."

There was enough liquid and endive left over to make a second batch.  Katrina did not participate in eating it.

Stay tuned for next month when Katrina is introduced to another leafy vegetable!