Sunday 8 May 2011

braised purple heirloom carrots


These carrots were braised with white wine, garlic, thyme and chicken stock.

It was, simply put, quite delicious.


The gorgeous colour of the carrots added oompf to the visuals of meal and I’m sure there’s something marvelously healthy about all that purple pigment. Antioxidants or some such bafflegab.

Interestingly, the carrots leach their colour out so it looked like I'd used red wine. I didn't. Just plain old white wine. 

The flavours are intense of carrot, herbs and a touch of wine and as you can imagine this dish tasted beautiful alongside Grilled Goat Cutlets & Rhubarb Agrodolce Sauce.



Wine-Braised Purple Heirloom Carrots

Anna's very own recipe. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:
700g heirloom carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, picked over
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup (250ml) white wine
¾ cup (190ml) chicken or vegetable stock
Freshly milled salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180’C.

2. In an oven proof pot, heat the olive oil then add carrots, garlic and thyme.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste then stir, frying until garlic softens (around 5 minutes).

4. Add wine, then bring to a boil. Cook off alcohol for around 2 minutes.

5. Add stock, bring to a boil.

6. Cover pot, place in oven and braise until carrots have softened but still have some texture (around 10-20 minutes).

7. If you're not vegan, this is the point you add butter for a little extra richness. Stir to melt and combine. Serve dish hot.

Note: some people place a piece of baking paper on top of the carrots when they’re in the oven to retain moisture. I didn’t, but everyone’s ovens are different so use your judgement.



These beautiful heirloom carrots are my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging, this week hosted by Astrid at Paulchen's Foodblog. Be sure to visit her blog for the round-up.


3 comments:

  1. i love these, i saw some at the markets but i asked my purple loving daughter to choose the carrots and she chose white?!? they were really delicious though :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore purple carrots, they look so pretty! This is a great idea to cook them, I'll have to try!

    ReplyDelete
  3. muppy - people are perverse. but i find heirloom carrots taste pretty good no matter what colour they are.

    maria - i know! i can't believe how purple they dyed everything. it looks as if i used red wine, but i didn't!

    ReplyDelete

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