Butter-glazed carrots involves a very classic french cooking technique by first simmering the vegetable in butter and stock before reducing the liquid to a light glaze. It is so simple and straightforward but there is something about it that truly interest me. What I learned is not just a recipe of ingredients and steps. Instead, I mastered a technique that can be applied in many different ways. This is the teaching approach in Julia Child's The Way To Cook and it remains a good source of learning material in my cookbook library. This is actually not the first time I attempt to make butter-glazed carrots. My last attempt a few months ago did not go well as I missed a few key ideas of this technique. I did not use enough butter, I simmered the vegetable for too long so I could not give it enough cooking time to reduce the glaze before the vegetable turned to mush. I am glad to say experience is a wonderful teacher. When I cooked the carrots this morning, everything was textbook perfect and I was rewarded with buttery glazed carrots for breakfast. I would have finish the whole batch all by myself if not for that little voice in my head that reminded me one and a half pound of glazed carrots first thing in the morning is not the wisest food choice.
Speaking of technique, one of these days I'll have to master the tournée cut just so that I can proudly say "I can do that too!". Not that it has much practical use in my homecooking. Yes yes, I know that uniform size and shape contributes to even cooking but I'm perfectly happy with my haphazardly shaped carrots when it's just me and the vegetable at the table.
Dorie Greenspan's recipe offers a twist to the classic with addition of fresh ginger and cardamom. They pair up for a mildly spicy kick that fit very well with the sweetness of carrots. In fact, this flavour pairing made an appearance in my kitchen not too long ago in the form of gajar halwa. Between the buttery taste of the light glaze and the sweet spicy carrots, this is a wonderful sidedish that would fit well in different menus.
I'm curious what other bloggers made this week at French Fridays With Dorie?
