Wednesday Night Miscellany

We got a new CSA box yesterday. In this week's box were... cardoons! Two bunches of cardoons, in fact, because there was a bunch in the trade box. Since I've been wanting to cook with cardoons for a while, it was a no brainer to trade a bunch of cilantro for the cardoons.

Of course I had to do something with them last night. I started simple just to get a feeling for what they taste like and how they behave. After figuring out an efficient way to peel the stalks, I cut them into 3 inch strips and tossed them in acidulated water (suggestion from CPV). I boiled them for about half an hour in salted acidulated water, drained them, and then sauteed them off in some olive oil. The taste was still rather bitter to be served plain, so I added some balsamico to the pan to add some acid and sweetness. The end result was good, but not fabulous. I've still got 2-3 meals worth of the veggie left, so I'll see about alternative serving modes. Maybe I can figure some way to use it with the pound of sorrel that also came in this weeks box. A pound of sorrel. A *pound* of sorrel.

I also made a bit of chard [CSA] by parboiling it in salted water and then stewing it with some butter and white pepper. That was very good.

The main course was pasta (fusilli) with a sauce made from caramelized leeks [CSA], tomatoes, lardons, chopped italian sausage (the last of the sausage from the charcuterie night), red wine, and thyme [CSA]. Topped with some parmesan, this was very nice.

Of course we had a green salad too.

The wine was a Valley of the Moon 1999 Barbera. Not great, but not bad.