Carrots are not just for bunny's

This weekend was Easter. As everyone knows that means a lot of food shaped like bunnies. I decided instead of making something sweet into a bunny I would make the same thing bunny's eat, Carrots silly. I happened across a show called Movable Feast With Fine Cooking. The host mentions in one episode this carrot side dish he does with fresh honey. Well I decided to get the ingredients he mentioned and try my hand at his recipe. Guess what it is delicious. 

Before I start with what I did let me tell you I used a orange carrot. Are you thinking, orange carrot their are other colors of carrots? The answer is yes, the other colors are getting more popular so maybe you have seen them in your local shop. They come in colors as diverse as purple, black, red, white, and yellow. Every color comes with its own taste though similar not exactly the same. You often see these colors in batches of a mixed variety. Though orange is the most common it definitely was not the first color, white was the first color. Over centuries and cross breeding, cultivation and I'm sure a few other steps the orange carrot came into productivity. Okay enough about carrots, if this has intrigued you enough you can google more about it. I find it fascinating, maybe you not so much. Onto the recipe. 

I cut up a dozen carrots into the size of a pinky finger. You always want to make what your cooking roughly the same size. This will help everything cook through at the same time. Since carrots are hard this is essential. Once they are all cut I put it in a casserole dish with some butter and roasted them until they are nice and tender. While this is happening you can start the sauce. 

I have spoken about browning butter before. Start with some butter on low heat until it is nice and brown. If you are not sure when the right shade of brown is correct then use your other senses. Smell the pot, about one or two inches above your pot take your hand and waft the air. If you are not sure what this means put your hand palm facing you at the back of the pot. Then push the air toward you making the air go toward your nose. This sounds weird but if you just put your nose into the pot you won't get the full smell plus you might hurt yourself. Wafting the scent is the best way to get the best smell. Browned butter should have a light brown color and a nice nutty scent. About one more minute after your butter looks like this. 

Once this is done add the other ingredients. A little paprika, a pinch of chili flakes, a handful of roasted and then smashed almonds. Or almond pieces. Then the best ingredient of them all, a honey balsamic vinegar with a touch of acid. This vinegar is all up to you. If you want to go looking for one already made up that works. I can never make a small amount of dressing so of course I always have some left over but thats okay since it lasts and can be used for other things. I made mine by itself, with 50% honey and then 25% balsamic vinegar, and 25% fresh orange juice. Roughly two to three oranges. I only used maybe 1/8th cup of the vinaigrette. See what I mean though it would be to hard to mix something of that small of a quantity for me. I tend to make way to much of everything. 

Once the carrots are roasted nice and soft then pull them out. Add the sauce over the top. You don't want to make the sauce to far in advance or the balsamic will emulsify separate from the butter. If you are not sure how long the carrots will take I would just get all the ingredients ready and then combine them once the carrots are ready. It doesn't take long for butter to brown then just mix in all the rest. 

This is a great side dish for any meal. Plus it puts a twist on the every day steamed carrots. As for next week who knows what my kitchen will turn out. Hope you find a few dishes you can enjoy over and over again.