Carrots

[heidih]

No FM is not an automatic but that is where I have had luck on occasion. Fragrant greens, bit slim - I'll risk it. If not too crowded I'll ask the frmer his opinion. On occasion I've had him do the Bugs Bunny side of mouth munch  and say "what's up Doc".

[gilbertlevine]

13 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

I love carrots, especially raw. BUT. I can't remember the last time I had a really good sweet one. It doesn't seem to matter much where they come from. Farmer's market carrots don't seem to be a guarantee. I would be munching them all the time if they so often were not tasteless, woody or dry or were nothing but a fibrous core. And I adore carrot juice. If carrots were consistently sweet and tender I would have gotten a juicer long ago. Carrot and grapefruit juice is one of my favorite combos. Carrot and orange isn't bad either. 

Katie

have you tried modernist cuisine’s carmelized carrot soup

the carmelization helps bring out the carrot sweetness

[heidih]

3 hours ago, gilbertlevine said:

Katie

have you tried modernist cuisine’s carmelized carrot soup

the carmelization helps bring out the carrot sweetness

 

Sure that would veer caramelized sweet but do they offset it with anything like ginger or ? to balance. That is my issue with winter squash soups An ancient nun up the road served us a butternut squash soup that incorporated Granny Smith apple. It was quite lovely in teacup dose. 

 

I offered up Barbara Tropp's spicy carrot pickles one year at a big holiday buffet. They were a huge hit though  made them with those horrid fake "baby carrots".  Sugar, a milder vinegar like rice, and jalapeno were involved. My book is buried deep beyond beyond safe retrieval. I do like having those inexpensive Mexican pickled carrots with jalapeno in the pantry. Always a nice side pickle whatever the cuisine. La Costena Sliced Carrots, 14.1 Ounce (Pack of 12)

[Kim Shook]

Only raw.  I even pick them out of canned soup.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, gilbertlevine said:

Katie

have you tried modernist cuisine’s carmelized carrot soup

the carmelization helps bring out the carrot sweetness

 

Not @Katie Meadow but how could I forget the exhilaration of cutting the tip of my thumb off in pursuit of MC carrot soup.  The soup is tasty but I can't say it was worth it.  I no longer slice my carrots lengthwise.  Neither for @nathanm nor anyone.

 

The point of slicing the carrots lengthwise in the MC recipe is to remove the core.  A better method I devised is to simply shave the carrots with a peeler till one gets down to the lighter colored core.

 

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Not @Katie Meadow but how could I forget the exhilaration of cutting the tip of my thumb off in pursuit of MC carrot soup.  The soup is tasty but I can't say it was worth it.  I no longer slice my carrots lengthwise.  Neither for @nathanm nor anyone.

 

The point of slicing the carrots lengthwise in the MC recipe is to remove the core.  A better method I devised is to simply shave the carrots with a peeler till one gets down to the lighter colored core.

 

Ah, more great memories from the kitchen of @JoNorvelleWalker. When you got back from the ER I hope you reassured your guests that you got special artisanal red carrots from the market when they praised the beautiful color of the soup.

 

@gilbertlevinethanks for the tip, but I have to confess I don't really like carrot soup. Also I'm very lazy, as in once the carrot is peeled I'm not likely to cook it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

Ah, more great memories from the kitchen of @JoNorvelleWalker. When you got back from the ER I hope you reassured your guests that you got special artisanal red carrots from the market when they praised the beautiful color of the soup.

 

@gilbertlevinethanks for the tip, but I have to confess I don't really like carrot soup. Also I'm very lazy, as in once the carrot is peeled I'm not likely to cook it.

 

No, my only culinary visit to the ER was slicing chorizo.  Same knife as the carrots though.  And this was the old days when the doctor sat with my kids while they held me for observation.

 

[jmacnaughtan]

I've recently started "toasting" julienned carrots with salt in a dry, uncovered pan before doing anything else with them. It seems to dehydrate them a bit and ramp up the sweetness and flavour. Then you just need to finish them with butter.

Cumin seeds work well in the toasting step too.

[ambra]

I love them oven roasted with harissa and garlic left whole, with the skin on. Sometimes I put big slices of red onions too.  They need to be mixed often when roasting though.

 

 

 

Sweet and sour is also sometimes good!

Edited September 25, 2020 by ambra
clarity! (log)

[weinoo]

22 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

The point of slicing the carrots lengthwise in the MC recipe is to remove the core.  A better method I devised is to simply shave the carrots with a peeler till one gets down to the lighter colored core.

 

 

I have to confess: I've caused some damage with a sharp peeler.

I cut the tip of my finger (not off) on the first day of cooking school. That was a bleeder.

And the one time I cut a chunk of a finger off (a beautiful slice, I might add), the nurses in the ER laughed at me, as I had brought the chunk with me (all wrapped up nice in a plastic bag) and asked if they could sew it back on.

[Smithy]

All this talk of carrots and peelers reminds me of a carrot "steak" salad made by slicing planks of carrot, wrapping them into a disk, browned in butter and topped with sauce. I saw it, and got the recipe, in a class almost (gulp) a year ago now, and you can see how it looked here. My take on it, once I got around to actually trying it, wasn't as impressive looking, but it was still fun. There are a couple of pictures about halfway down this rather windy post. I'd forgotten all about this approach. Now that I remember, I may try it again. Here were my intermediate stages:

 

[heidih]

My issue with current carrots is lack of flavor.  One can manipulate but dang I want sweet biting into it.  Maybe time to grow some. Not getting to FMs where the chefs shop any time soon. (Hollywood, Santa Monica) - my local does not feature them much as too "generic". 

Edited September 29, 2020 by heidih (log)

[Hassouni]

On 9/24/2020 at 6:51 PM, heidih said:

Anyone every do raw carrots like @Hassouni  mentioned in his blog?  

A word on the carrots and nuts: Ka3kaya doesn't serve alcohol, but these are VERY typical bar snacks in Lebanon. If you order a beer anywhere, you usually get carrots and nuts for free. The nuts usually include, at a minimum, peanuts and addictively salty pumpkin seeds in the shell (which I eat whole). The carrots are the real treat - long slices of carrots, doused in fresh lemon juice, and sprinked with salt, or in this case, cumin. I WISH bars at home did that!

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/142066-eg-foodblog-hassouni-2012-beirut-and-beyond/page/3/

 

 

Hahaha those carrots are now on the menu at The Green Zone

 

[weinoo]

Still one of my favorite ways to deal with good carrots...

 

 

And then salade de carottes râpées...