I have sweet, fond memories of my grandfather Vito Adragna, making a special trip to our small town, Fredonia, New York, from his home in Buffalo each spring. He and I would walk hand in hand in the fields behind our house looking for Cardone (Gardooni), more commonly known as Burdock.
Every spring I still make the pilgrimage seeking burdock plants like the one above. I am quite fortunate I believe, although most people disdain burdock, that there is a huge patch in the barnyard of our rental property. (It can be found in several other places as well, but this is oh, so convenient.)
I cut the stalk at the base, remove the leaf, and take home a large bag full.
Growing up, Cardone was a Sicilian spring time staple, not only great tasting, but a spring 'tonic' as well.
The stalks are quite bitter, but if blanched until just tender being sure not to overcook, the bitterness is removed.
...just blanched stalks...
I then take a small bunch of stalks, drench them in a couple of beaten eggs, (look at the deep color of these eggs, they are straight off the farm)
...roll in Italian seasoned bread crumbs...
...plate, and refrigerate for about an hour or so...
...fry in canola oil (my grandmother used olive oil)
until brown and crispy....
Served with lemon juice, they are simply delicious!!
Also, our first gathering of morel mushrooms
dredged in organic all purpose flour
and fried, not in butter as I used to do, but in canola oil, too,
until very crispy and brown....
It hardly gets better than this.
Just picked asparagus from the patch that was on this farm when we purchased it 19 years ago...a very large patch that, honestly, I pick from twice per day...
...gently steamed but still crunchy, thinly sliced onions, snipped fresh dill, diced garlic, cherry tomatoes, oregano, olive oil and wine vinegar... a wonderful, fresh, crisp salad...
...and bread just out of the oven, it can hardly get any more local or any more fresh.
