Choose fleshy, white endive with firm, unblemished, tightly-closed leaves; avoid any with green marks or green edges, a sign of bitterness and lower quality. Endive can be classified in four groups:

small, very even, white and firm
longer and more bulbous, but still white and firm
slightly irregular shape with the occasional green strip along the edges of the leaves
irregular shape, slightly open with the leaves green at their tips.

Allow 125 g (4 oz.) per person for endive salad and about 250-300 g (8 to 10 oz.) when preparing cooked endive.

Unwashed endive can be kept for several days, or even up to a week, in the vegetable crisper of the refrigerator. Produced in dark conditions, it shows its dislike of the light by quickly becoming bitter when exposed to it.

Remove the wilted outer leaves if necessary

To wash, run the leaves under water: they don’t take well to long soaks.

Hints and Tricks
To get rid of endive's bitterness, make an incision in the stem end by cutting out a small cone;

> Endive loves butter, mild vinaigrettes, apples, nuts - especially the sophistication of pine nuts.

> Raw, in salads, accompanied by beets, diced potato and pine nuts

> Steamed - pierce with a knife to check for doneness

> Braised endive
Steam, blot and dry well; roll in flour and roast in a pan with a knob of butter until the outer leaves are nicely colored.

> Gratinéed

> Creamed

> Stuffed
 

Endive is a perfect accompaniment to meats and fish; it adores butter, mild vinaigrettes, apples, walnuts, or even better, the refinement of pine nuts.

if you boil endive, you will have to let it drain for several hours or else gently squeeze it to extract all the water; therefore, it is better to steam them;

Use the leaves for an appetizer with a dip or as bases for hors-d'oeuvres, filled with a blue cheese cream or crab salad

Braised endive with Ginger
Sweat the endive in butter; season with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Add some chopped fresh ginger and, if possible, a little ginger jam or syrup; add some chicken stock and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes.