I'd never eaten or cooked a cardoon before, and at first glance, my expectations were low. Massive and stringy, in a dusty shade of green, they looked like something off of "The Flintstones." (Caveman celery, perhaps?)
As it turns out cardoons have been around for a while. Romans used to dip them into olive oil and every customer who comes into the shop with an Italian grandmother seems to have a fond memory of them. Whether baked in a gratin, tossed into pasta, steamed or fried, I'm learning that these thistles are as widely appealing as they are big.
Now I know why. After a bit of recipe googling, I decided to deep-fry my cardoons with some fennel and what I ended up with was like crispy little nuggets of artichoke heart. What a pleasant surprise!
We'll have a fresh delivery of cardoons in the shop on Wednesday afternoon, if you'd like to give these a whirl.
BUTTERMILK FRIED CARDOONS WITH FENNEL & PARSLEY
- 2-3 stalks cardoons, rinsed and dried (about 1 pound)
- 1 bulb fennel, rinsed
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups buttermilk
- vegetable oil, for frying
- Fill a large bowl with water and add the juice of half of the lemon. Cut second half into wedges and reserve for serving.
- Prep cardoons by removing leaves and any hard external ribs with a vegetable peeler. Cut across the cardoon into strips as long as your thumb and immediately add cut pieces to lemon water.
- Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add the cardoons and boil until tender, about 35 minutes. Remove the cardoon pieces form the water and allow to air dry.
- Meanwhile chop parsley; set aside and slice fennel lengthwise, into 1/4" strips.
- Once cooked cardoons are dry, fill a deep pot about 2 inches high with vegetable oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until it reaches a temperature of 360 to 375 degrees F. The oil should remain at or around this temperature throughout the cooking process.
- Fill one bowl with buttermilk and another bowl with flour, plus a 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
- Working in batches, dip the cardoons and fennel first into the buttermilk and then dredge in the seasoned flour.
- Using a slotted spoon or spider, gently drop the vegetables into the oil, fry until golden brown and dry in a single layer on paper towels.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with wedges of reserved lemon half.
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