Chicorée à la Flamande

Chicorée à la Flamande (Flemish-style creamed chicory) teaches one true thing: water decides the sauce. The leaves are cut into two-inch lengths, parboiled, cooled, and pressed dry before they meet pale roux, consommé, cream, and butter. Leave excess water behind and the finish turns thin and weary; remove it properly and every length wears a glossy ivory coating while keeping its slight bitter bite.

The original directs a professional cook to Chicorée à la Crème (No. 2089), written for two pounds of chicory and a kitchen with a saucier, consommé always ready, and another saucepan waiting for the finish. For four people, the formula is halved and one covered oven-safe sauté pan does nearly everything. Good prepared consommé replaces the stockpot, and the separate finishing pan is brigade scaffolding that can go unless the sauce has caught. The ten-minute parboil, pale roux, covered braise, cream, and real butter are the dish itself. They stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

Press firmly without grinding the leaves into paste, then loosen the lengths with your fingers. If they still drip when squeezed, they are not ready for the roux. That is the step that decides the dish, so settle it before you touch the pan.