Cardoons

We bought cardoons at the Hollywood Farmers' Market on Sunday. These are the leaves of giant thistle-like plants. I've never eaten them before, but they are supposed to look like celery and taste like artichokes.

I carried home a huge bunch to try in an Alice Waters recipe for cardoon and cannellini bean stew.

Cardoons can be bitter, stringy and thorny. Needless to say, Larry was a little dubious. But what is life if not an adventure?

I started by removing the leaves and thorns, cutting off the dried-out ends of the stems, and then cutting the remaining stems into 4-inch pieces. Alice Waters then said to braise them in a cup of water and a tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tsp salt 35-40 minutes until tender. That's when it all went down hill. By the time they were tender, the flesh had mostly dissolved. When I tried to pull off the tough strings (like those in celery), I was left with mush.

Into the compost they went.

I am happy to report the bean stew was excellent without them. Here's the recipe, adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables. If you have good cardoons, cook them as above, cut into 1/2 inch slices, and add to the stew at the end.

Bean Stew without Cardoons
1 cup dried Christmas lima or cannellini beans
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup roasted vegetable stock

Cook beans in water to cover until tender, about 2 hours depending on the age of the beans. Drain, saving 2 cups cooking liquid.

Fry onion, carrot and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add to beans along with vegetable stock and enough cooking liquid to almost cover the beans. Simmer until warmed through.

Serves 4-6.