Comments on: Contemplating Cardoons

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:01:45 +0000

I’d never heard of cardoons until I saw the seeds at Baker Creek. Since artichokes are my favorite all time veggie I’m gonna have to try ‘em. Thanks to Pantasilla for the tip on eating the thistle heads!

By: Pantasilia

Pantasilia — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:50:31 +0000

I have had cardoons as structural plants in the border for years and ate the thistle heads – before they opened – as they are just like artichokes and as delicious because I didn’t want them to see all over the bed. This year I moved some to another part of the garden and now, in November, they are about four feet high and I thought I’d try the stalks. Great to have all these recipes so now I’d better go and start preparing them. I think, to start, I’ll do the cheese one. But I can really recommend the artichoke part. Not as large a heart as normal artichokes but fun as a starter with good conversation,as you pull off and suck the petals with melted butter, pepper and lemon juice….

By: Vegetable Garden Cook

Vegetable Garden Cook — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:14:57 +0000

Very interesting. I’ll have to try it next year. I just attempted growing and cooking cardoon and thought it was challenging. http://www.mysuburbanhomestead.com/harvesting-cooking-cardoon/

By: Sherri

Sherri — Thu, 06 May 2010 05:26:43 +0000

Hi, here is how Persians cook cardoon. This is a recipe from a cook book called “New food of Life” by Najmieh Batmangelij.
Cardoon Khoresh
Makes 6 servings
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Khoresh-e kangar
1 pound fresh cardoon stalks
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 large onions, peeled and thinly
sliced
1 pound stew meat, (lamb, veal, or
beef), cut into 1-inch cubes, or 2
pounds veal shank, or 2 pounds
chicken legs, cut up
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice or 1/2
cup sour grape juice (ab ghureh)
1/4 teaspoon ground saffron, dissolved
in 1 tablespoon hot water
1. Carefully remove and discard prickly parts of cardoon stalks after removing
leafy heads. Be sure to remove strings by lifting them with the tip of a knife and
peeling them off. Cut into pieces 2 inches long. To prevent them from discoloring
and to keep them tender, soak peeled cardoon pieces in a bowl of water with a
splash of vinegar until ready to use.
2. In a Dutch oven, brown onions and meat or chicken in 3 tablespoons oil. Add
salt, pepper, and turmeric. Pour in water-2 cups for meat, 11/2 cups for chicken.
Cover and simmer over low heat for about 55 minutes for meat or 30 minutes for
chicken, stirring occasionally.
3. Drain the cardoon. In a skillet, saute the cardoon pieces in the remaining oil. Add parsley and mint and fry for 10 minutes longer.
4. When the meat is done, add lime juice, saffron water, and the cardoon. Cover
and simmer for 1 hour over low heat.
5. Check to see if the cardoons are tender. Taste the khoresh and
adjust seasoning.
6. Serve hot with chelow, saffron-steamed rice.

I make a different version of this dish by replacing the parsley and mint with sun-dried tomatoes; keeping everything else the same. Both recipes are delicious!

By: Sahara in SF

Sahara in SF — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:13:57 +0000

I’m thinking of this dish for Christmas! Wanted to tell you that most pine nuts are from China these days and are flavorless (not to mention, they are from China . . . .) I found those hard to find Italian pine nuts on nutsonline.com – they are wonderful. My holiday dinner this year: roasted goose, ravioli w/marinara, your cardoon recipe. Can’t wait! Thank you!

By: Brenda

Brenda — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:16:51 +0000

Thanks for the speedy response. I’m zone 6b and don’t have the luxury of cutting my cardoons back. Last year I was so enamored with them I never got around to eating them before a freeze came and knocked ‘em down. They didn’t come back either. So I planted 6 new plants and they are just as lovely. But I was not aware one should not eat them in the summer.

I have a long line of Italian friends who are drooling over the prospect of cardoni and I thought I would get a jump on things and start trying out recipes now. I plan(ned) on having them all over for a cardoni buffet — if I can convince my poor husband to ever eat it again.

Should I plan on wrapping my plants in the early fall to blanch them ?

Hmmmm…. I’ m thinking about cardoons with chestnuts… wonder how that might taste?

By: hank

hank — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:42:33 +0000

Brenda: Dunno exactly what happened, although the first thing that springs to mind is that you are eating cardoons in the summer, when they are at their toughest and most bitter.

In California, I cut my cardoons down after they flower in summer and then water the hell out of them so they come up again by Thanksgiving. I eat them in winter, then cut them again, and I get a second crop in March-April. Unless you are in a very cool area, summer cardoons would indeed be really bitter. Where are you located?

By: Brenda

Brenda — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:12:25 +0000

I need a little Cardoon help… I cut about a dozen leaves last week and carefully trimmed them, pulled the strings, soaked them in acidulated water, and boiled them for 30 minuted in salted water. I made the honeyed cardoons with pine nuts and thyme — and it was awful! Tough, bitter and… uhm… gave my husband some intestinal distress.

The plants are young and the leaves I picked were about 1 to 2 feet long. Did I pick them too early without blanching the plants? Should I not have picked leaves and instead harvested the entire plant and only used interior leaves?

Help! I’m crushed by a cardoon.

By: carol Leitch

carol Leitch — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:04:19 +0000

I’ve only been growing my cardoon for 3 years after getting a cutting from a friend ,this year it has grown to over 6′ in height and has 9 thisle heads its amazing and is a great conversational piece when anyone comes to visit I have never tried to eat it but this year I may try