I was reading the Truffle dinner menu in Cristina's Truffle thread. One of the dishes was Risotto con Cardi e Fonduta. I have been very curious about selecting, preparing and cooking Cardoons.

We grow Cardoons in our garden. Cardoon is a large thistle plant that is a relative of artichokes. The plant grows quite tall (10 Ft). It has stunning grey leaves and is used as an architectural/structural plant in gardens. But I know very little about harvesting the plant for eating.

I am particularly interesting in knowing what parts of the plant to harvest, when and what size and then how to prepare and cook. I think I should harvest the leaf stems which look like celery. Some of our leaves and stems where pretty large. I was afraid they might be woody so I didn't try them.

We let our bloom and they produced some wonderful large blue artichoke like blooms with 8 ft stocks.

I appreciate any advice. BTW, I posted it in the Italy forum hoping to get some advice from the Italian cooks.

Thanks

A little off topic, but we eat Burdock which is just the roots of the Burr bush - the thing that gives you burrs when you walk through the woods. It is a standard vegetable in the Macrobiotic diet. In the store it is a dark, long root - thinner than a carrot and longer. You have to cook it well - but it tastes fabulous - a "meaty" vegetable!

Pauline from Slow Travelers

I've also been intrigued by cardoons- my produce store carries them, and I keep meaning to ask the little old Italian ladies what to do with the things. I found lots of info here:
http://italianfood.about.com/blind44.htm

Amy in MA
Amy's House Exchange

My roots are half Toscana and half Piemontese. Both use the cardoon, but my Piemontese Nonna and zio grew them like they were gold. Around September I remember the plants being tightly wrapped in newspaper for several weeks before harvest, in order to blanch them (First frost?), they would then be blanched further in hot water.

This time of year is particular to the Piemontese dish Bagna Cauda, and Cardone is the star. The other method which I think is quite Tuscan is to take the tender blanched stalks and fry them in a batter like you would with fritto misto.

All of the above was done in the infamous "Garlic Gulch" of Seattle. So Marta you are in a good growing area.

Hope this helped!!

www.italiantownandcountry.com

I used to grow vegetables in a community garden, and my favorite fellow gardener was an older Japanese man who grew lots of burdock to give to the members of his church. The soil preparation to grow those long skinny roots was amazing! If it's not very, very expensive, it ought to be considering the labor it requires.

I always look at the cardoon at the market, but I've never felt confident enough to try it, although I've looked up the recipes and thought about it.

The stalk is the edible part. Rosalind Creasy, in "Cooking from the Garden" says the plants must be very well watered and fertilized to promote vigorous growth or they will be bitter and tough. In the fall, to make stalks sweeter and more tender, blanch them as you would celery. Two ways to do this: 1) wrap stalks in plastic or paper, put 3-4 inches of straw around them to keep them from rotting, then mound plant with soil. 2)bend them to the ground and cover them well with a mulch to protect them from freezing, and harvest later.

The "Joy of Cooking" says they're generally used in soups, and the recipe sounds really boring!...Cut the stem into 3 inch pieces. Wash well, discard outer leaves, "trim the strings as for celery." Parblanch them for 5-7 minutes in acidulated water to keep them from discoloring, then rinse and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours.

Rosalind Creasy's recipe in "Cooking from the Garden" sounds more interesting. She starts with the same steps, but then suggests steaming them until tender and serving with olive oil or herb butter. Or they can be used as a fritter or added to tossed salads "or marinate and use as a dramatic part of your antipasto presentation."

Donaldo Soviero in "La Vera Cucina Italiana" has both an Umbrian and a Perugian recipe.

UMBRIAN: Cut into 4 inch pieces, rub with lemon juice, then squeeze more lemon juice into a pot of water (to retain color), cook until tender (about 30 minutes). Remove from pot, pat dry and saute in oil with 4 garlic cloves for 2-3 minutes. Deglaze with white wine until it evaporates by half.

Add 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes and cook briefly...add 2 Tb fresh mint, salt and pepper and cook over very low heat, covered, for 20-30 minutes. Add 2 Tb parmigiano without stirring, re-cover and cook another 15 minutes. Serve with more parmigiano

PERUGIAN STYLE: Blanch in boiling salted water until they begin to soften. Drain and cool slightly. Bread cardoons by first dipping in egg, then into a mixture of bread crumbs and flour. Deep fry the cardoons.

Brown 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef in a skillet, add 1/4 cup diced onion, 1 Tb dried porcini mushrooms (soaked and minced ahead of time), 3 cups of tomatoes, 3 Tb lemon juice. Simmer until thick, about 30-40 minutes.

Layer cardoons in casserol "similar to lasagna," cover with half the sauce and a sprinkling of parmigiano, repeat with remaining cardoons and sauce. Bake 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees "until brown and bubbly." Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it?

[This message was edited by Del on November 13, 2002 at 08:35 PM.]

Glad Del wrote out all the versions!
I adore cardoons, but will only go to the trouble once a year! You must remove the leaves as they are not edible, then cut into pieces, boil, and then dry. I flour them , fry them and then finish them off in a simple tomato sauce..
Incredible!

They taste like artichoke hearts.

Judy
Divina Cucina Florence
Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!

My mother in law does them the way Del has from Perugia. Sounds over the top but it isn't. She always brings this as a side because she knows I am crazy for it and I being the good hostess, take the cardi or gobbi (a shorter version of the same plant) and put 1/2 of them on a nice serving platter and the other half I leave for myself when I am doing the dishes. Chef's perk

I do them just boiled for 30 minutes until softened, dried and then sauteed in butter and garlic. Gnam gnam.

Autumn veggies are so damn good!

Cristina
A San Franciscan in Siena
Read my report on the Palio di Siena

A big Thank You to everyone! Del, I really appreciate the detail you gave. I had looked a bit on the web but was still confused a bit about how to blanch before harvesting. It is too late here in Seattle since we had a pretty severe long early frost two weeks ago. Also, we will need to water our plants more also to keep them from getting pithy.

I'll check around with my connections in the 'Garlic Gulch' to see if there any sources for purchasing it now or if it is on any local menus. Otherwise, I'll be trying it next year.

Again, Thanks!

marta

I hope I'm not beating a dead horse, but here are two more cardoon recipes, and they sound simpler but still yummy.

From "The Cook and the Gardener" by Amanda Hesser: cut cardoon stalks into 1 inch sections and blanch. Drain cardoons and while still warm, pour over a vinaigrette (made with lemon juice or white wine vinegar). Let them cool and serve with sauteed pork chops or roasted chicken.

From "Italian Festival Food" by Anne Bianchi: a simpler version of cardoons and parmigiano.

Cut the stalks into pieces and place them in water with the juice of half-lemon (to preserve color). Place in pot of boiling water and cook for 30 minutes. Drain and place in buttered baking dish, dot with butter and dust with parmigiano. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve immediately with pork or roast chicken.

I've seen Mario Batali prepare them on his "Molto Mario" show. No doubt his cookbooks have recipes for them, too.

There are also three pages devoted to cardoon recipes in Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook.