Butter-Braised Cardoons With Mushrooms and Bread Crumbs

Ingredients

• Salt
• as needed
• 4 slender cardoon stalks
• the paler in color the better
• 1/2 lemon
• plus a wedge for squeezing over the finished dish
• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 large clove garlic
• peeled and minced
• 4 large shiitake (caps only) or other mushrooms
• cleaned and sliced
• about 1 1/2 cups
• 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh coarse bread crumbs
• Pepper
• to taste

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt it moderately.
2. Strip the cardoons of leaves and string as you would celery.
3. Cut each stalk lengthwise into 2 or 3 long strips, then crosswise into 2-inch lengths.
4. Youll have about 3 cups.
5. Squeeze the lemon juice into the water and boil the cardoons until fairly tender, 10 to 12 minutes; drain and rinse.
6. Melt the butter over medium heat in a skillet wide enough to accommodate the cardoons comfortably.
7. When the foam subsides, add the cardoons, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until they take on a bit of color, 10 to 12 minutes.
8. Add the garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are mostly tender, 5 minutes.
9. Add the bread crumbs and a pinch of salt and raise the heat to medium-high; cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread crumbs brown a bit and the cardoons are fully tender and sweet, 5 minutes longer.
10. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the top, taste for salt, add pepper to taste and serve hot or warm.