Carrots with Shallots, Sage, and Thyme

One of my favorite childhood stories involves carrots.  It is not one where I would sneak carrots to the family dog.  My younger brother and I were quite big into imaginitive and pretend games.  We would often come up with characters and games and spend the entire afternoon perfecting our character.  While I was emersed into the Boxcar Children series we pretended to be runaways; we set up our makeshift shelter by an old building on our parent's property and would swipe carrots from my mom's garden for our "meals."  So while my childhood included eating carrots straight from the garden (we did rinse them off with the hose while  being careful not to be seen of course), my husbands is of the variety where he would try to avoid carrots.  He still will wrinkle up his nose if I suggest carrots as a side dish.

However I have discovered that with just the right blend of seasonings or glaze he will devour them without a single wrinkle of the nose.  The Carrots with Challots, Sage and Thyme recipe from Gourmet is just lovely.  It is a perfect fall or winter side dish.  And a very simple one I might add.  I left out the shallots as we were out of them and it was still very tasty.  And you can cut down this recipe to serve two very easily.  The only thing to key in mind with this recipe is to not get to distracted when cooking the carrots so as to avoid having them overcooked; mushy carrots are less than appetizing.

Carrots with Shallots, Sage, and Thyme

Source: Gourmet, November 2009 issue

3 lb carrots, peeled
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 lb shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 stick unsalted butter (I cut this by half)
1/4 cup chopped sage
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

Cut carrots into 3 by 1/2 inch sticks.

Bring stock to a boil with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in a 12-inch heavy skillet.  Add carrots and simmer, covered, until just tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove lid and boil until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.  Transfer carrots to a bowl and wipe out skillet.

Cook shallots in butter with 1/2 tsp each of salt and peppar in skillet over medium heat, stirring occassionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes.

Add sage, thyme, and nutmeg and cook, stirring until very fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and return carrots to the skillet, tossing to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.

Can be made 1 day ahead and chilled.  Reheat over low heat.

Enjoy!

~ Tara

Gingered Carrots

While I am all for preparing vegetables in the most simple ways, every now and then you need to spice them up a little.  And Dan tends to enjoy vegetables a wee bit more when they have either spicy flavoring/sauces or if they are component with another dish (such as adding vegetables to baked ziti).  So the other night I found myself 30 minutes before we needed to start dinner hunting for a way to spice up carrots with ingredients that we already have in our cupboards (clearly not a night that we planned ahead) and that would go with the wasabi crusted fish that Dan was preparing.

So it was a lucky find to come across a Gingered Stir Fry recipe on epicurious just in the knick of time.  I made a few minor edits to modify this to be Gingered Carrots.  We were out of ginger root so I just used powdered; I am sure that ginger root would give a wonderful flavor but the powdered worked out well.  Instead of julienne strips, I used the slice option on our grater and made very thin disks.  Overall, it was a very quick and easy veggie side dish and a nice alternative.

Gingered Carrots

Adapted from recipe found on Epicurious

3 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or medium-dry Sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound carrots (about 3 medium), cut into julienne strips
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh gingerroot or approximately 1 teaspoon dried ginger

In a bowl stir together broth, rice wine or Sherry, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until combined well. Cut mushroom caps into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add oil and heat until it just begins to smoke. Stir-fry carrots 3 minutes. Add daikon and stir-fry vegetables 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, cabbage, garlic, and gingerroot and stir-fry 2 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender. Stir broth mixture and add to vegetables. Stir-fry vegetables 1 minute.

I added a few peas to ours as I try to sneak them in whenever I can (they are apparently a supercharged veggie bursting with nutrition).  This side dish got the stamp of approval from Dan as he proceeded to eat every bite... and he does not love vegetables! 

Enjoy!

~ Tara