cardoon

[HiDelight]

I have a lot of it ..really ..a lot..and babies sprouting right now that I need to find homes for ... and just love to see it grow into this most amazingly huge dinosaur plant with a giant purple thistle!

I know you can eat the plant if you blanch it ... well I have never blanched anything ..I do know that means you tie the leaves up so the core stays whitish ..correct?

my questions are

what size should the plant be to start blanching it? (I have all sizes)

how long to you leave it like that?

how do I know when to harvest it?

do you just eat the blanched part of this plant or is the whole stalk edible?

does it taste like its cousin the artichoke?

how do you prepare it?

any hints, ideas, recipes, stories about cardoons taking over the universe (one of mine grew 20ft tall last year I swear!!!) at all greatly appreciated...I nurtured my first seeds now they are coming up everywhere!!! I just think they are beautiful! but if tasty want to eat them now as well!

thank you

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi HiDelight!

Yes I both grow it, blanch it & eat it (I love it passionately too)!!

Because blanching weakens it's constitution you need either a many stemmed plant (mine is about 5-6ft across & regularly grows to 16ft high) or plants you are willing to sacrifice. As the new stems grow you wrap them to keep out the light & after a few weeks youcut that stem off.

You plunge the leaves from this stem into boiling salted water that has a little lemon juice in it (like you would for an artichoke) boil for a few minutes then drain & plunge into iced water. Make a Bchamel sauce with a little nutmeg in it & white a lot of black pepper.

Dry off the barely cooked cardoon leaves & remove the stringy bits from the stems. Oil a baking dish & layer in the leaves with grated strong cheese & the sauce.Finish with a layer of breadcrumbs & grated cheese on the top so it browns & crisps up beautifully!

Cook the gratin in a fairly hot oven. I love it as a vegetarian dish with freshly baked seedy brown bread but men usually prefer it with meat. A veal chop would be great! It has a very subtle taste so you don't want something that drowns the taste. It has the texture of cooked celery but the taste of the base of a globe artichoke. Mmmmmm......!


Enjoy.....!!



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[HiDelight]

Thanks so much Hattie ..so I have a bunch of them I may just blanch one of the younger ones..just to see maybe the three footers? I hate to loose the flowers on the giant ones they are so spectacular ..

so just a few weeks is all ..ok then I am going to tie one up and see what happens!

these things grow everywhere ..shade..sun....it does not seem to matter! I have kind of let them land where they may!

the gratin sounds wonderful thanks

 

[HiDelight]

what if I just cut and eat I piece with out blanching ..are they bitter?

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi there HiDelight

I don't know ; I've never tried it raw so it maybe...........!

My chickens were eating it when the snow was on the ground this winter. It was the only vegetable growing at the time. they never touch it normally & I didn't stop them because I was to ill to go out & buy them enough lettuce to keep them in greens Luckily my neighbour donated all his cabbages that didn't heart up & the outer leaves of the ones that did -- Bless him!

Clarissa Dickson Wright wrote a pamphlet on the preparation of Cardoons plus a whole lot of recipes for them but I can't find it. Some where I have a copy plus a lot of other old Italian ones (translated). I'll go on a hunt for them in the barn sometime this summer! I have about 8000 books stored in there from when I moved out of my large house into here -- no room for them here.


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Hattie the Hen]

HiDelight

I found this info on Cardoons --preparation & a recipe.

The cardoon in the picture is not as substantial as mine, which is much broader in the leaf. What are yours like ?

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/tipsandtechniques/ss/Cardoon_clean.htm

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/maindishes/r/Cardoon_Tagine.htm

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi HiDelight

Yet more Cardoon recipes to cook for your husband this week.

http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/cardoon.htm


[ ***This site has lots of recipes for unusual veg. I was able to find information on a lot of stuff i was having trouble finding = Edit]

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[HiDelight]

thanks so much Hattie!!! I would love the Italian recipes you have translated if you do not mind sharing

I am also a book whore I have closets that have all been turned into book shelves ...I can not give them up!

but only one book that I could find had much on cardoon

mine look like this http://www.cricketbread.com/images/farmtour/seeds_cardoon.jpg

with a giant stunning purple thistle that bees love! I have pictures I think in the flicker site in my sig I will have to find them

or wait a short while ..one is sending up a giant thistle now!

I took one of my small ones and just pulled the leaves up and wrapped some string around them ...I am not sure this plant will work because it does not have a heavy core but worth a shot

now I am going to check the links you posted ..thanks so much!

 

[HiDelight]

Ok I believe from reading some stuff it is better to pick it in the spring here like around March ..so that is actually perfect!!! I have this dream I am on a quest to fulfill for a perpetual garden and this if it is pickable in March will fit perfectly into this plan!!!

here is my plan now .. please let me know what you think..are we the only two here who enjoy growing this monster plan? ...

I wonder if our weather is similar here and there in the UK? mine does either winter over or in some spots where it is too damp and not enough drainage it will rot down to the ground ..but pop right back up in February..

to pot up all the rogue seedlings today.....then set half of them in a cooler less sunny spot and half in the sun (just to see what does better timing wise) ...hopefully they will flourish and I will plant them in early August in one of the raised beds so I can be more disciplined and organized about this... and hope I have a nice sized plant by the end of October

..so I should think about blanching them when they are the size of celery probably? and I hope that that will be early February? ....just a few weeks you said? like as in 3-4?

that way if they are really much tastier in March or so they should be ready?

I love having plans ..and then I do everything in a state of total disaray

do you have a picture page of your garden Hattie?
I have not updated mine yet this year but will ...

 

[HiDelight]

Ok I pulled the tops up and held them in place with string and in just a few days the newer stalks grew out the sides of where they were cinched up so I am thinking I need to research this whole blanching thing a bit more or someone needs to show me a picture please if you have one of them blanching ..I guess I coudl google it

I did transplant a bed of babies instead of potting them I figured what the heck I could try one garden bed ..hope I do not regret this when the cardoon beast takes over my house!

for anyone who has never planted or seen it...it is a stunning plant I have to say I the flowers are the size of softballs and a bright purpley pink ..just a GIANT thistle ..same as an artichoke with out the chokes!

kids really believe me when I say it is a dinosaur plant

anyone else have these?

I will post a picture when mine starts to bloom if anyone wants to see it ..also if anyone wants seeds when the heads fall off again I would be glad to share!

they make a billion of them!