=Plain Cardoons.=--Clean and pare two or three pounds of cardoons, cut
them lengthwise, and blanche them with boiling water, then throw them
into cold water to make them retain their whiteness, and dry them on
a clean cloth. Cut an onion and a carrot into slices, put them into
a saucepan with two ounces of fresh butter, take out the carrot and
onion. Mix a tablespoonful of flour into the butter, add some water
to prevent it burning. As soon as the water is boiling throw in the
cardoons. When done serve up hot.
=Cardoons with Cheese and Sauce.=--Prepare the cardoons as above, then
put them one by one in a saucepan with one ounce of fresh butter. Salt
them a little and add about three-quarters of an ounce of parsley, and
a little Béchamel sauce, lastly add an ounce of grated cheese. Cook
them thoroughly, and serve hot.
=Cardoons with Oil.=--Wash and string the cardoons, half boil in salted
water, then plunge them into cold water. Cut them into pieces about two
inches long, flour well, and put them in a saucepan with boiling pure
olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Beat up two or more eggs according
to the quantity of cardoons. When they are slightly brown on both sides
drain and dish them, and pour the eggs over them. Put in the oven for a
few minutes till the eggs are set. Serve hot.
CARROT (_Daucus Carota. Umbelliferæ_).
The earliest carrots should be sown in frames on a good hotbed early
in November. At least four inches of a good, light, sandy compost
should be placed over the surface of the bed. Many sow broadcast,
thinning the plants to half an inch distance when well up. We prefer to
sow in rows four inches apart, and to sow forcing radishes between, but
very thinly. The radishes will be a most welcome crop, and will come in
and be cleared away long before the carrots. Plenty of air and plenty
of moisture must be given; on warm days the lights may be quite off the
frames for an hour or two, but frost must be excluded. Thin rigorously
to half an inch or rather more, and a delicious crop of young carrots
will be harvested in February and March.
A second hotbed started in January will carry the cook on until the
early outdoor varieties come in.
The first outdoor sowing should be of such a variety as French Horn
on a warm well-drained border in February. The main crop sowings are
made in April and May. The carrot does best in a sandy loam, with no
recent manure in the top spit, but some good old stuff in the bottom of
the trench is desirable. Sow in drills a foot apart; thin first to one
inch, then draw the next lot just as they are, as thick as a finger;
they will never be better; leave the rest four to six inches apart.
Keep the Dutch hoe going between the rows and harvest in August or
September. There is no object in keeping carrots in the ground after
the tops have died down; in fact, if showery weather sets in the roots
are likely to start into growth again and split and spoil. Store for
winter use in sand in a cool cellar.