Blanching cardoon

allan.balliett

As you probably already know, blanching cardoon is a 3 week long process in the field

I'm wondering if you can skip that lost time and labor and get the same outcome by blanching cardoon in the kitchen

If so, how would you do it?

Thanks

Allan

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Comments

tshewman

It's on my list to try (find) and as I understand it, removing the leaves, thorns and peel ourter fiber layer. Cut into small pieces and blanch until tender. If I am able to get my hands on some I will probably try pressure cooking, slow roasting etc as well to see what the outcomes are. If you have any recipe suggestions or your experience with it, feel free to please share. :-)

allan.balliett

Todd - as far as I've been able to find, the 'blanching' takes place in separate water with lemon in it. Chopped cardoon is boiled in that solution for a while and then used in a regular recipe. We blanch because chlorophyll makes the cardoon bitter, so the blanching water becomes bitter and is not useable in the dish. AFAIK ;-)

allan.balliett

I guess I better say that if you are in North America, right now is cardoon season, so look for them at good farmers markets. I'd also like to say that I sure wish there was more involvement in thse discussions by the ChefSteps staff. Nothing sadder than the blind leading the blind, eh?