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| The Carrots of Awesomeness!! |
This side dish came about to help me combat that age old problem of holiday feasts at home.... OVEN SPACE!!! Anyone who has made a Thanksgiving dinner can attest that oven space is at a premium, with the bread stuffing, the potato stuffing, the green bean casserole, the turkey, the pumpkin pie, and on and on and on..... Now, with a little bit of planning, you can avoid stacking your oven to the hilt to make sure everything is hot at the same time, and this side dish is a direct result of that planning. These carrots can be blanched (boiled for a couple of minutes, then dunked in ice water) a day or two before and left to soak in the marinade/glaze. So when it comes to getting the food done, you just toss these guys on the grill a few minutes before dinner, and BAM! An awesome side dish that everyone will rave about.
The idea originally came from the Weber Grills Holiday Recipe emails that their corporate chef, Jamie Purviance, lovingly crafts and send out around the holidays. Even if you don't have a Weber grill, go to their site and sign up for their recipes; Chef Purviance is an undisputed master of the grill, and his recipes are always simple, tasty, and easy to prepare. These Orange Glazed Carrots combine the flavors of honey and orange with the zing of a splash of balsamic vinegar, and after a few minutes on the grill the glaze thickens a bit and becomes a little gooey, much like a good barbecue sauce would.
So, on to the recipe!
This recipe will serve 4 to 6 people a healthy portion, and it multiplies easily in case you have the whole family over. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare beforehand, and takes less than 10 minutes on the grill.
Tools:
Vegetable Peeler
Large Bowl or Stock Pot (8 quart works nicely)
Balloon Whisk
Metal Tongs (to take the carrots out of the water)
Zester
Pot for boiling water (8 quart stock pot works nicely)
1 Big Zip Loc bag, big enough to hold your carrots OR a cake pan large enough to lay them in.
You will need:
Ice
Water
Kosher Salt
12 medium carrots (6-8 inches long, about 1 inch across at the stem), peeled
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 teaspoons Orange Zest (that is the orange part of the rind, more about this later)
2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons chopped Parsley
To begin:
1. Put a pot of water on to boil with 2 Tablespoons of Kosher Salt, enough to cover 6 of the carrots at a time.
2. Prepare an ice bath (1 part water to 1 part ice) in a large bowl or stock pot. It is a good idea to have extra ice on hand to add if you are multiplying this recipe for more guests.
3. Once the water is at a rolling boil, place 6 of the carrots into the water. Cook the carrots for 2 - 4 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. You should be able to bend them a little bit without them breaking. Remember that we are going to cook them again, so we would rather UNDERCOOK them at this point than overcook them.
4. IMMEDIATELY plunge the carrots into the ice water. This will stop the cooking process so they stay at the doneness you like. Also, it will activate the pigments in the carrots, turning them bright orange, making them very fresh looking.
5. Once the carrots are cold, remove them from the ice bath and pat them dry. Place them into your Zip Loc
6. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 for the other half of the carrots.
Making the Glaze:
1. Combine 1/4 teaspoon of salt, honey, orange zest, and vinegar in a bowl. Gently whisk until well combined.
2. Make sure the butter is melted completely, and whisking the first mixture vigorously, add the butter SLOWLY to the mix. As you whisk, the butter will emulsify with the other mix, slightly thickening it. There should be little or no separation when you are done whisking.
3. Pour the mixture into the bag with the carrots, rolling them around gently to ensure they get evenly coated. (you will want to repeat this every so often until its time to grill them so the carrots absorb as much of that flavor as possible)
4. Place the bag into the fridge until it is time to cook them. As they cool, the butter will separate a bit from the mixture, but don't worry about it. This can be done the day before and left until right before serving.
Turning out:
1. Preheat your grill to about 400 degrees (medium heat, all burners set about halfway)
2. About 10 minutes before you are ready to eat, place the carrots on the grill perpendicular to the grates (this keeps them from falling through or sticking too hard on the surface)
3. Grill the carrots for about 5 minutes, or until they reach the doneness you prefer (personally, I like 'em a little crunchier)
4. Place on serving plate, pour the remaining glaze out of the bag onto the carrots, and garnish with the parsley. If you are feeling spunky, the orange that you removed the zest from could be segmented and diced and sprinkled on top as well.
5. NOM NOM NOM NOM
A few other things.........
Using a zester:
A zester is a tool that is made to remove only the very thin outer layer of skin from citrus fruits, where the color is. This thin layer holds much of the fruits volatile oils and thus provides an intense flavor. The white portion of the rind is very bitter, even more so when it is cooked, so avoid the white as much as possible. A zester looks like this:
Or, like this:
Personally, I use a microplane grater/zester for this because honestly, hand zesters are a pain in the butt. You have to hold the fruit tightly and forge the rounded ends into the zest and drag it away, and you can cut yourself if you are not careful. The Microplane works just like a grater; a few zips of the fruit down the side of this thing, and you are off to the races!
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