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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Spiced Butter-Glazed Carrots - French Fridays with Dorie

When I think of glazed carrots with ginger, I think of a recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook that I've been making for years: it's just carrots, butter, brown sugar, and powdered ginger. It's nice, but I think I like this recipe even better--without the sugar, the natural sweetness of the carrots shines through. Good carrots are essential--it's worth paying extra for organic from the supermarket. (Better, of course, when you get them from your Farmer's Market or CSA, but in Minnesota, those options are long gone).
The fresh ginger adds a cleaner, sharper taste than powdered ginger, and smells nice too. Jim always claims not to like ginger, so I sliced it as thin as I could without cutting myself (always a plus).

Carrots, garlic, ginger, and smashed cardamom pods are sauteed in butter. Onions are supposed to be in the mix, but I had just used my last onion for something that needed it more.
How I love silicone spatulas, by the way. I always feel that I'm doing something wrong when I subject it to direct heat, remembering the times I have melted spatulas. But they've never failed me.

Then pour in some chicken broth, and simmer for about 15 minutes. If you didn't want to use chicken broth, you could use white wine, water, or vegetable broth.

The instructions tell you to remove the cover, raise the heat, and cook until the liquid has evaporated and all that's left are butter-glazed carrots. That seemed kind of like a magic trick, but it worked.

And there you have it--spiced, butter-glazed carrots. Naturally sweet, with an occasional bite of ginger, garlic, or cardamom interrupting the sweetness. A dish that a vegetable-lover will love and a vegetable-hater might just tolerate.

A simple supper paired with a gruyere tart with caramelized onions in a thyme-flecked crust.

7 comments:

  1. Wonderful looking combination of the tart and the carrots. Something to consider when I make the carrots soon! Thank you!

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  2. t.t.,
    I think there's no end of things that would be a good match for these carrots.

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  3. Your carrots look so lovely! This is the last recipe I have to make this month and your post makes me really look forward to it!

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  4. Steph,
    You're lucky you have these carrots left to make--I still have the soup, and the beef daube, and I have no idea when I'm going to have time to make them!

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  5. I love the look of the carrots! I did not make them, but I am looking forward to preparing them, maybe next week.
    I am a pretty good cook, but I need to master the baking part. I do not like un-balance:) My oldest daughter is completely comfortable with the yeast breads and pastries, and she is only 19! Why do I fret so, I'll never know:)

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  6. Lana,
    I have a cure for your baking phobia--just make yourself bake your way through a baking cookbook. I did it with bread, and I'm doing it with cakes now. Sometimes you'll think you're crazy for taking on a project, but when you're done, you'll be pretty good, and, better yet, you'll have a ton of confidence.
    Trust me on this.

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  7. This recipe is so good and the tart seems a perfect accompaniment!

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