No worms here...

I got two new recipes from vendors at the market on Saturday. One was very good. The other...well...

Baked Cardoon
8 stalks cardoon
1 sliced lemon in large bowl of water(for soaking)

1 T fresh chopped oregano
1 T fresh chopped basil
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

Yup, this is the new vegetable I was so very excited about on Saturday. Imagine a really big stalk of celery with spiney leaves, that tastes like a bitter artichoke.

As per the instructions from the guy who sold it and any number of online recipes, I prepped the dish as follows: I cleaned it, despined it (at risk of life and limb or at least poked fingers), cut it into half inch pieces (which immediately had to be thrown into cold water with lemon juice to prevent browning).

After soaking for a while, I blanched it for 15-20 minutes in boiling water. Then scooped it into a casserole dish, tossed it with breadcrumbs, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and baked it for an hour.

It was edible--but I don't necessarily want to do it again. It may well be a welcome counterpoint to a very rich meal, but it just didn't work beyond the first few bites for us. The best way to describe it so you'll understand?

The flavor is such that it makes one think its original use was as a folk medicine to rid one's intestines of parasites.