Ingredient Title Chef Category

Cooking carrots for company

Carrots spent the winter snuggled into a big box of sand in the coldest part of our North Dakota basement when I was a kid. A door in the basement led to a small room under our front porch. The extra space had been excavated and lined with concrete when the basement was poured for the foundation of the house. The little, very cold room was where my mother lined up her canned goods each autumn.

Bottled home-brewed chokecherry wine was also stored there, in pre-used catsup, coke and pop bottles, until one bottle exploded and destroyed the others shelved nearby. Purple wine everywhere was bad enough to contend with but there were also the shards of shattered glass to be ferreted out from every nook and cranny.

The smell of fermented wine permeated the entire basement and had to be endured until spring when we could open the two small basement windows. I seem to remember fleas in the sand. If true they had a very happy winter.

I wasn't too crazy about going into that dark, small, smelly space. You had to grope around to find the string hanging from the ceiling light bulb and the wine room was even colder than the basement. Carrots, potatoes, beets, turnips, and rutabagas spend the entire winter buried in sand and seemed to enjoy life in the "root cellar."

Root vegetables are winter friends that we are lucky to have. They are low-maintenance, keep well in the cold, very nutritious, less expensive than other vegetables, and there are a lot of none-boring ways to prepare them.

Glazed Carrots with Green Olives

You can pre-cook the carrots and complete the dish when you get home from work. If your green olives have pits in them, gently tap each one with the flat side of a knife blade and then halve olives and pull out the pits.

2 pounds carrots, peeled
1/2 stick butter or 1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup (7 oz.) green ripe olives, pitted
1 teaspoon thyme
Salt and pepper
6 tablespoons heavy cream

Cut carrots in half crosswise, then lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick sticks. Put carrots and half of the butter or oil in a slow-cooker or a heavy 12-inch frying pan. When using a slow-cooker, cover and set heat to high. Cook, stirring twice, until carrots are very tender when pierced, 2 to 3 hours. Drain. If using a frying pan, cook at the lowest possible temperature with 3 tablespoons of water. Cover with cooking parchment and a tight-fitting lid; then cook very slowly until very tender. About 10 minutes before serving, melt remaining butter or oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and parsley and stir until garlic softens. Stir in carrots, olives, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste. Add cream, cover and cook over medium-low heat until carrots are hot and cream is thickened enough to coat the carrots, 5 to 7 minutes. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Boston Sweet-and-Sour Carrots

These colorful vegetables look as good as they taste. Serve them as a condiment as you would cranberries or on lettuce leaves for a salad. A good keeper.

2 pounds carrots
3 green peppers
3 yellow onions
3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup tomato puree/paste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Peel carrots and boil whole until tender; then cut into 1/2-inch rounds. Cut peppers into 1/4-inch squares and steam until tender. Cut onions into 1/4-inch wedges and steam until tender. Combine all of the vegetables and set aside. Combine vinegar and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. When completely combined pour over the vegetables and stir to coat vegetables well. Season to taste. Makes 8 servings.

Ginger Carrot Soup

This started as a recipe from the Dominican Republic where fresh ginger heats up the dish. If you don't have fresh available, use powdered ginger. Remember to carefully add a very small amount at a time, tasting your way to the warmth you want.

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large yellow onions, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
5 cups shredded carrots
2 cups grated potatoes
2 inches fresh ginger root, shredded
1 teaspoon ground cumin
7 cups vegetable or chicken broth
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup plain yogurt or sour cream, for garnish, optional

In a large soup kettle, over medium heat, sauté garlic and onions in the olive oil until softened. Add carrots, potatoes, ginger, cumin and broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until carrots are tender but not mushy. Remove the pot from the heat. Puree half of this mixture in a food processor or blender. Combine the pureed and unpureed parts of the soup together to create one textured whole. Add more broth if necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot, garnished with a dollop of yogurt. Makes 6 servings.

Balsamic Roasted Carrots

A quick side dish to bake while your oven is on. Or cook in a toaster oven.
2 pounds carrots, cut into sticks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 F. Toss carrots with oil and salt in shallow pan. Roast carrots in middle of oven, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Drizzle vinegar over carrots and shake pan a few times. Roast carrots until most of the vinegar is evaporated, about 2 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Carrots have climbed out of the root cellar!

Beverly G. Barbour-Soules
1755 Filbert Street, 1M
San Francisco, CA 94123
Telephone: 415-440-3602
Fax (call 1st): 415-440-3602

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