You've probably never heard of escarole -- and that's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm always on the hunt for it, but it's very hard to find in supermarkets, even at farmers' markets. In this day and age, it sometimes gets served raw in hipster salads, but my family's been serving it for years (if not centuries) cooked in chicken or ham-based soups and also as an amazing standalone side dish.
Known as a slightly bitter green, sautéing escarole releases a buttery texture and flavor that counteracts the bite. Optionally braising in chicken or pork stock further tempers the bitterness of this somewhat rare leafy green vegetable.
Ingredients
1 head escarole with leaves left whole, but separated from one another and washed
1 T olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or shaven
1/2 C of chicken or pork stock
Instructions
Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a stainless-steel saucepan and then add the escarole, taking care not to splash water into the oil. Cook the leaves in the oil, covered, for 2-3 minutes, until they're tender and dark green.
Now, push all the leaves to one side of the saucepan and collect the oil in the other side, adding more oil to create a little pool for the garlic. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the garlic to the pool of olive oil, cooking only until fragrant -- but never crispy, brown or smelly. Just as that garlic is reaching its flavor climax, turn off the heat and mix the garlic into the escarole vigorously to cool the garlic and stop it from cooking.
Serve immediately, or, optionally, add the stock, turn the range up to high, bring the stock to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Cover the saucepan and allow the escarole leaves to braise for 10-15 minutes (or until most of the stock has evaporated).