Carrots

Ok, so I automatically admit to borrowing/stealing from Ed Brown. I saw him on the Today Show and he whipped out these roast carrots. Then I proceeded to watch Matt and crew knock these thing back like shots at a college homecoming and I thought, "Mental note kid..."

The carrots by themselves are stupid easy. And as far as I remember, Brown only finished his carrots with parsley, so I think I can take ownership of this full recipe. Regardless, wifey declared this the finest side dish I've ever made. Little man wolfed them down, and I enjoyed half a dozen myself. In short, they are quite tasty (and simple to make).

Roast Carrots with Sherry Vinaigrette

First and foremost, buy good carrots. This means, stems and leaves attached. It means not pre-packaged in a plastic bag. It means organic. And in a perfect world you even know the farm they came from. Bring them home. Cut off the stems (leave a little stem). Wash them to get all the dirt of them. DO NOT peel them. Take some paper towels out and roll them around in the towels until the carrots are reasonably dry.

Preheat the oven to 375. Convection on if possible.

Find yourself a large cookie sheet (or some form of other worthy pan that will easily fit all of the carrots in.) Lay the carrots down. Lazily drizzle a couple glugs of olive oil over the carrots. Crack pepper them. Douse them in generous sea salt. Roll the carrots around to make sure they're all well covered. Stick them in the oven. Generally time that at 30 minutes to start watching them.

Meanwhile...in a non-reactive bowl (ie- ceramic...stainless steel does something with acid and ingredients which I simply do not know how to explain, but whatever it is...it's not tasty) add a bunch of very finely chopped shallots, a pinch of finely chopped garlic (just a pinch please here), cracked pepper, sea salt, a dollop of Maille mustard or Grey Poupon (ie- not Goldens or Frenches, etc), and a good squig of Spanish Sherry Vinegar (good sherry vinegar please). Stir until the mustard and vinegar mix to together and the mustard is dissolved. Let sit 10 minutes.

30 minutes passes. Take a look at the carrots. They should be shrunk. The ends should have started to caramelize (ie- turn brown). The skin should look wrinkled. The smell should be wonderful. The point of pulling them out is a feel thing. Err on a couple more minutes if in doubt. Pull them. Let them sit for a couple of minutes.

Once you've pulled the carrots, turn to your vinaigrette bowl. Add 2 good glugs of vegetable oil and with a whisk beat the vinaigrette vigorously until it comes together. Once it comes together, add one good glug of olive oil. Again, beat to reform a vinaigrette. It should be thick with chunks of shallot/garlic in it.

Plate carrots. Sauce with vinaigrette. Watch the light of God descend upon you as all who taste bow down at your culinary thrown. Yes, I'm in a playful mood tonight...

Wine? They were delicious with a bottle of Javier Sanz Villa Narcisca Rueda Verdejo 2008 (Spanish white).