This carrot dish is just the sort of “side” dish you want in your portfolio. The “main” course in your meal of course gets the main attention in your cooking preparation. But main dishes rarely stand on their own. They need support. Your house or apartment should not have “weak” sides and neither should your meal.
This dish has several wonderful features. It’s easy to make, offers full flavor, yet is subtle. These delicate carrots can be matched with a zillion main courses. The flavor here is distinctly carrot — thanks to the cooking technique — yet is understated. This dish will not clash with rest of your meal. We served these carrots with Robuchon’s Basque Style Chicken with Bell Peppers and Tomatoes [see our recent blog!]. What we needed was a side dish that would offer contrast, not competition.
The carrots are cooked in water with sugar and butter. It’s very French, and very successful. In your mouth, you taste buttery soft, sweet carrot. It’s a dish you will return to many times.
Glazed Carrots
Yield: 10 t0 12 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ pounds (600 g.) carrots, peeled and cut into rounds ⅛inch (3 mm.) thick
- Salt
- 4 tablespoons (60 g.) butter
- 2 tablespoons (30 g.) sugar
Preparation:
Put the carrots in a large pot with 2 cups (50 cl.) water. The water should just cover them; if it doesn’t, add more. Add a pinch of salt and the rest of the ingredients. (If you had to add more water, add proportionally more sugar, too.)
To make sure the carrots cook gently and without coloring, cut a circle of parchment paper the size of the pot, prick it a few with a fork or knife, and lay it on top of the carrots. Bring to a simmer and cook about 25 minutes over medium heat.
Remove the parchment paper and cook for 5 minutes uncovered. Rotate the pot on the burner and keep an eye on the heat. The carrots are cooked when all the water has disappeared at which point they should be meltingly tender, and gloss with butter and sugar, and perhaps slightly blonded by the heat.
Source: The Complete Robuchon by Joel Robuchon
