anyone knows how to prepare this plant?

The directions said to blanch it before eating. Cardoon Porta Spineless. I believe it's a type of artichoke. I tasted a leaf, boy was it bitter.

This may help ...

http://yougrowgirl.com/growing-and-eating-cardoon/

http://www.growingwithplants.com/2013/02/growing-and-cooking-cardoons.html

Thanks TD. It can't stay in that bed. so It chop and drop. maybe I try it in the future and see if I can acquire a taste for it, but not now. plates too full, trying to prepare for winter, learning how to grow nematodes cheaply, collect leaves for composting when they fall, changing from mulched to leaves for my pathways, etc...

I would not grow something that needed that much attention to make tasty!  I am a lazy gardener!  Plus it doesn't even sound that delicious!  I do like an artichoke now and then, with butter....

Scorpio Rising wrote:I would not grow something that needed that much attention to make tasty!  I am a lazy gardener!  Plus it doesn't even sound that delicious!  I do like an artichoke now and then, with butter....

I'm with you on that one SR. It's not something I would grow intentionally.

yes, that one slip in because the picture look great when we bought the transplant. It was impulse buying. I'll put it on the wife she not here to defend herself. 

I bought cardoon de-leafed stalks/stems from the grocery over a decade ago because I had recently discovered fresh artichokes were something I enjoyed and was excited to try this relative. I followed a recipe I found online (no recollection of what), but ....to put it mildly, they really weren't to my taste. It was a long time ago, but I know I ended up throwing out a lot of it... I think I wasn't even able to salvage it by applying cheese... and I can only think of two other occasions I've tossed food due to it being unpalatable to me (there was an onion soup I totally flubbed, and something with buckwheat groats and seaweed.)

A raw leaf is probably going to be more bitter than a properly prepared stem, but I'd bet the flavor is similar, only more mild (but not actually mild.) If you have a lot on your plate I say you shouldn't even feel bad about putting this vegetable really low on your list of things to worry about!

I had never heard of this veggie until here....

There is a great book called The Vegetable Butcher with a section on cardoon. Was reading about it the other night...

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-Butcher-Masterfully-Vegetables-Artichokes/dp/0761180524

Book looks good. I bet those veggie were shaking in their roots , (anthony perkins anyone?)

My old book says ;_

Sow in April 2 foot apart , grow it like trenched up celery , In first week of September tie the leaves up with something like raffia to blanch it .

 Two foot long blanching in the ground sounds excessive could it be wrapped in a corrugated cardboard collar or would a section of plastic pipe do the same like I do with my celery ? )
 
At the end of the first week of November dig it out , cut off the roots & outer leaves & compost them .

Peel the stems ,  cut them into four inch long pieces and boil in slightly salted water for at least 30 min till tender .

   That sounds like something to try in a stew done in a lidded cast iron casserole.

That recipe sounds delicious.