A couple of years back my friend Guill made these amazing carrots for my thanksgiving party. I fell in love with them and have been thinking about them ever since. You see, I normally cook my carrots and then glaze them with some butter, salt, and honey. Not that I don't love that version but sometimes it just gets boring. Guill's version is lemony and sweet and you can taste hints of cinnamon and star anise. It's exciting where my everyday version isn't.
So I used my Fakesgiving party this year as an excuse to finally ask for the recipe. I probably should have done so two years ago because I think this might be the version I'll be making from now on.
Oh, and in case you are wondering what I mean with cooking carrots - the stall at my farmers market normally has three kinds of carrots - one variety that tastes amazing in salads but looses some of it flavour when you cook it, one variety that tastes incredibly boring when you eat it raw but once you cook it, it falls apart and becomes really creamy (that variety makes the most amazing soups), and then there's a third kind that tastes ok somewhat bland in salads but really develops its flavour when cooked and unlike the previous one the carrots hold their shape really nicely. I used the third kind when making this.
Guill's Carrots (quantities are approximate)
500g Carrots (I used cooking carrots and some purple carrots)
Lemon Juice (I used 2 tbsp but you might want to add a bit at a time to get the flavour you want)
3 Star Anise pods
2 Cinnamon Sticks
Pinch of Salt
2 tsp Raw Cane Sugar (as with the lemon juice this depends on your preference start with a little and add more if you decide it's not enough.
Peel the carrots and cut them into pieces that are all relatively equal in size (it doesn't matter what size they are as long as they are all more or less the same size. Put the carrot pieces in a saucepan that you own a lid for :) and add some water and the salt. You don't have to cover them but if you use very little water check every once in a while that there is still some left at the bottom of the pan.
Once the carrots are somewhat cooked (but nowhere near cooked through) add some lemon juice, the star anise and cinnamon sticks and sugar (play around with the lemon juice and sugar until you are happy with the flavour). Cover again and cook until the carrots are nearing an al dente stage.
Uncover and keep on the heat until the liquid has evaporated.
These carrots go amazingly well with a traditional kind of meal but they are also lovely with pasta and some hummus if you end up having leftovers.
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