Lots of work. Really woody tasting. Don’t know if it was my method or the cardoons themselves. Oh well, at least the wine was excellent. And, so was the sausage with my tomato sauce.
2010 Boxwood Trellis
The wine was a blend of Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. These grapes generally don’t star in Bordeaux blends, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc being chosen as more dominant grapes. I like the fruit forward aspect of this wine, easy to drink while it is young. It went very well with Italian sausages baked with my chunky tomato sauce.
Sausages with sauce, and cardoons
The cardoons. Who knows? I may not have simmered them long enough, but they were in the pot for an hour and were “fork tender”. I baked them for 45 minutes, with the bechamel sauce, cheese and bread crumbs on top.
Classic cardoons in bechamel
They looked good. And the sauce was good to eat. The cardoons were definitely chewy. Not something I will make again. This is one item that will go into the swap box if I ever get it again from the CSA.
Sometimes you win with the CSA. And sometimes you don’t. Like last year, when I discovered how great salsify was.
Still waiting for the horned melon to ripen. That is another new exciting item in last week’s basket. It is sitting on the windowsill getting yellow in places. CSA baskets can be intimidating or interesting. It is all about how you approach things.
African horned melon, not yet ripe
hocofood@@@
AnnieRie Unplugged 
How interesting. I am growing cadoons for the first time in my flower and herbs gardens. It is such a pretty plant, but I have yet to eat it. The heat isn’t treating it well and there haven’t been an abundance of leaves to pick. What form did you get it in your CSA box? The whole leaf and stem? And what parts did you cook? Too bad it didn’t go so well. On the other hand your horned melon looks interesting.
It looks beautiful. I wonder if they were picked a little late. Last year I pushed my okra a bit too far and was rewarded with a splintery tasting gumbo. Keep exploring, you’re an excellent gardener & cook!
When’s the last farmers market? We need to meet up again soon 🙂
I don’t have a clue what a cardoon is but your meal looks fantastic.
My grandmother would cook dandelion greens and I always thought they were too bitter, but when she made cardoons and I loved them– she dipped them in a tempura type batter and sauteed them in olive oil. As a picky eater back then I much preferred them over the dandelions.