The Cartoon Kitchen: Asparagus and Carrots
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on asparagus and carrots. —Ed Levine
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Entries from Recipes tagged with 'carrots'
North African Carrot Salad
- serves 10-12 -
Adapted from Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet by Jane Brody.
Ingredients
For the salad:
1 pound carrots, peeled and julienned into 1/8-inch strips
1/4 cup dried currants (optional)
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
1/2 teaspoon or more sugar, to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried mint leaves, crushed
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste (optional)
Procedure
1. Place the carrots in a bowl with the currants (if desired).
2. In a jar or small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients.
3. About 1 hour or less before serving time, add the dressing to the carrots. Toss the ingredients to mix them well.
Carrot Salad
- makes 3 cups -
Adapted from Entertaining by Martha Stewart.
Ingredients
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 pound carrots, peeled and grated
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light olive oil (or a mixture of vegetable and olive oil)
Salt and Pepper
Dash of cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)
Finely chopped parsley
Procedure
1. Soak the raisins in the vinegar for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving vinegar. Mix raisins with the carrots.
2. Add the reserved vinegar to the oil, season with salt and pepper, add cinnamon or nutmeg for additional flavor, and toss with the carrots and raisins. Sprinkle with parsley.
Note: It is best to grate the carrots by hand on a coarse grater, but the job can be done quickly, and almost as effectively, in the food processor.
Snapshots from Italy: Carrots in Marsala
The cluttered and dusty used bookstore on my block has become one of my favorite haunts, mostly for a sometimes campy and ever-revolving selection of old cookbooks. The Myra Breckenridge Cookbook displayed in the window last week made me laugh right out loud, but inside I found an even greater treasure—an old copy of Elizabeth David's Italian Food. It is impossible not to be inspired by David's evocative and vivid writing style, and thumbing through the dog-eared volume while imagining her travels through Italy in the early 1950s has become my new afternoon ritual.
The pages recently fell open to reveal her recipe for Carrots in Marsala; it instantly seemed so mouthwatering I had no choice but to head straight for the market.
Dinner Tonight: Carrots With Caraway Seeds
I was searching for one last Thanksgiving trick. I flipped through my copy of the Silver Palate, hoping to find some deah simple preparation for carrots, one that would fit nicely on an already overflowing table. I’d already made glazed carrots before, but this one only called for a few key spices. I was intrigued.
It was advertised as Ginger Candied Carrots, which sounded like a perfect match for all the other sweet sides. But what ended up on my plate was less candied and more earthy. That certainly came from the caraway seeds, which made this dish kind of nutty, and overwhelmed every other ingredient. It was a really interesting dish, but alas, not much of an All-American Thanksgiving side. Oh well, I’m already going to toss some carrots in with my mashed potatoes. Other than that, it’s all about the turkey. Good luck everyone!
Dinner Tonight: Carrot Tzimmes (Sweetened Braised Carrots)
For a while, it seemed like all of my carrots were going to the puppy. I’d buy bags and bags every week to quell his insatiable hunger. The recommended dosage of dog food apparently means nothing to him. The moment after he gobbles everything up, he looks up at me for more. And it's not, “Can I please have a little more.” It's more like, “You’re the meanest, most uncaring human being in history of the world. I will certainly die if you don’t give me more.” Instead of facing that every day, the vet suggested giving him carrots because they're healthy. So that’s what I do. I feed him lots of carrots—more carrots than any dog should ever have.
Anyway, somewhere along the way, I got tired of giving all my carrots to the dog and decided to take back the vegetable. I pulled out Aliza Green’s Starting With Ingredients and found this relatively easy glazed-carrot recipe. Tzimmes is a traditional Jewish dish of diced or sliced carrots braised with honey and, sometimes, cinnamon. This one makes use of ginger and orange juice, which created the glorious smell that filled my apartment. The dog was confused, but I didn’t share.
Cook the Book: Braised Carrots
As I type this, I've got the Serious Eats copy of Michel Richard's Happy in the Kitchen
Richard recently won a 2007 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef for his work at Michel Richard Citronelle in Washington, D.C. Happy in the Kitchen, which you can enter to win here, was itself nominated for Cookbook of the Year. The book is full of other showstopping food treatments, and even if you never cook from it, the photos make for some first-rate food porn.
Cook the Book: Ginger Candied Carrots
Like a lot of people my age, the Silver Palate Cookbook became my go-to cookbook when I first started cooking for friends and girlfriends. In fact, the first brunch I ever cooked for my wife featured two recipes from the Silver Palate. Julee Rosso's and Sheila Lukins's recipes are simultaneously sophisticated and down to earth, and—here's the best part—they always work.
Ginger and carrots are a great combination, and this preparations gives the carrots a zingy glaze.
