Flipping Good Carrots

Merry Christmas Eve!

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for a few days now, but haven’t gotten around to it, due to other inconveniences. Primarily—I didn’t want to.

Honestly, I just haven’t been in the writing mood lately. Call it writer’s block, or whatever you want, but I just haven’t been feeling it. I don’t even know what it is. Inspiration? Motivation? Maybe I’m just procrastinating. Anyway, I’m here now. I even wrote two other blog posts today, talk about motivation!

Anyway, mom and I checked-out a cookbook from the library recently. The cookbook, America’s Test Kitchen Live!, is a collection of recipes that have been pre-tested and altered to perfection by several professional chefs, along with reviews on various food brands and kitchen tools. Before each recipe, a few paragraphs explain what the chefs were trying to achieve with each recipe, and the alterations they made to reach the desired results. The variations of each dish are tested thoroughly, so that the authors can be sure that each recipe is solid. Mom and I plan on cooking our way through the book this holiday season, testing out recipes like stuffed pork chops (yum!), chicken, broccoli and pasta (double-yum!), and a French pizza-like dish called pissaladiere (which looks like a total winner).

And now I’m going to share a recipe I found for carrots. Yep. Cooked carrots. Like, from the can?, you ask. Um. No. Like sweet, glazed cooked carrots. As in these-are-the-best-carrots-I’ve-ever-eaten carrots. As in, I’m-going-to-make-these-for-Christmas-dinner carrots. Delicious!

*Note: I adapted the recipe to fit what I had in my kitchen at the time. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken (who doesn’t keep chicken broth in their pantry!?!?) and brown sugar instead of white (we ran out of white sugar--it was weird). The authors noted that they tried brown sugar and it left the carrots with a bit of a ‘muddled’ flavor, but I thought they still tasted fine! I’m looking forward to making them with white sugar tomorrow. We’ll see if I can actually taste the difference!

**Note: I also want to mention that the black pepper actually does make a difference! It seems like such a silly little element, but it really enhances the flavor! Don’t forget!

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Glazed Carrots

Serves 4

1 lb carrots (about 6 medium), peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick on the bias

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon

Ground black pepper

1.      Bring the carrots, salt, 1 tablespoon for the sugar, and the chicken brother to a boil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet, covered, over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are almost tender when poked with the tip of a paring knife, about 5 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to high, and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 1 to 2 minutes.

2.      Add the butter and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar to the skillet. Toss the carrots to coat and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are completely tender and the glaze is light gold, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, add the lemon juice and toss to coat. Transfer the carrots to a serving dish, scraping the glaze from the pan into the dish. Season to taste with pepper and serve immediately.

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I hope you enjoy the recipe as I did! Happy Holidays!