Copied form this weeks veg share leaflet that goes out to all CSA veg share members 16/01/2013
Carrots
Lovely bright, sometimes knobbly, carotene rich wonders!
I love Carrots, especially raw. The centre of their core
is just so sweet and juicy when eaten fresh it always feels to me like they’ve
cleaned my teeth, strengthened my jaws and given me a drink all in one.
As some of you may have noticed the farms Carrots have
done exceptionally well. It is possibly that the soil is ideal for them whilst
they have managed to survive what has in many ways been a very challenging
growing season nationally.
Potatoes for example have taken a bashing on a national
scale with the Coop near where I live selling French Potatoes at what should be
the height of British potato season.
So although a kilo of Carrots for the Medium shares seem
alot I am always glad that we have them in such good numbers.
But I thought that maybe it was time to do a recipe sheet
that celebrated them and made them the star of the show while giving some
inspiration as to what to do with them all.
Carmelised Carrots
with gremolata
According to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall “The contrast of
sweet, caramelised carrots and Zesty gremolata is brilliant - and it looks
great too.”
Roasting carrots is a great way to boil all the sweetness
down, they are really good then added to a stew or soup for a sweeter carroty
taste.
SERVES 4
1 Tablespoon of oil
30g of butter
300g of carrots, larger carrots cut in half lengthways
Sea salt and black pepper
FOR THE GREMOLATA
Garlic cloves to taste
A bunch of flat leaf parsley
finely grated zest of one lemon
Preheat the oven to 180oc/ gas mark 4. Put the oil and
butter in a large roasting dish and place in the oven until the butter melts.
Add the carrots, season generously with salt and pepper
and toss well. Cover with foil and roast in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes, until
the carrots are tender.
Take the dish out of the oven, remove the foil and give
the carrots a stir. Roast, uncovered, for 20 - 30 minutes, until they start
brown and caramelise.
While the carrots are in the oven, make the gremolata.
Roughly chop the garlic on a large board, then add the parsley and lemon zest.
Use a large, sharpe knife to chop and mix the three ingredients together until
fine and well mixed.
As soon as carrots are ready, toss them the gremolata and
serve straight away.
Carrot and Mushroom Soymilk Soup
Borrowed from The enlightened kitchen by Mari Fujii.
Now I haven’t personally tried this soup but thought it
might be a winner so any feedback welcome!
SERVES 4
3.5 Ounces (300g) of peeled carrots cut into 1cm pieces
400ml of Soymilk
8 button mushrooms or fresh shiitake mushroom caps,
thinly sliced
400ml of Konbu stock
2 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons of Sake
Parsley to garnish
Boil the carrots in salted water for 15 mins until soft.
Blend the carrots and soymilk with a soup maker or food
processor until smooth.
In a saucepan combine the mushrooms, stock, salt and
sake. Cook on a medium heat for 4-5 mins.
Add carrot and soymilk to saucepan, bring to boil, remove
from heat, serve with blanched, finely chopped carrot leaves in available.
For a recipe how to make your own Konbu stock please
visit our blog bennisonfarm.blogspot.co.uk
Sake’ is a wine made from rice. For more information
about Sake’ please visit our blog.
Top Veg prep Tip
Carrots wash best if
rinsed while still fresh out of the ground, so if washing carrots with hard
soil on is a drag wash yours as soon as you can as they were harvested today!
Amaze your friends
and colleagues with these Carrot facts!
1 Carrots were first
grown as a medicine
2 Carrots were
originally purple, red, white, black and yellow
3 Orange carrots
were first grown by the Dutch to please the ruling house of Orange.
4 In James I’s time,
fashionable court ladies wore Carrot flowers and feathery leaves in their hair
as decoration.
Borrowed from “The
cooks Companion” Edited by Jo Swinnerton.
Extra goodies.
KONBU STOCK
As mentioned above I thought I'd add on here a recipe for making your own Konbu stock. Again as with the soup recipe it is borrowed from "The Enlightened Kitchen" by Mari Fujii.
Konbu is one of the most common stocks used in Japanise temple cuisine.
Ready made Vegan stock (also known as Vegan dashi) can be found in Asian supermarkets and natural food stores.
Konbu stock
400ml of water
1 piece of dried Konbu, roughly 10cm square.
The white powder on the surface of the dried Konbu adds to the flavor, so don't wash the Konbu before use, simply wipe it with a damp cloth.
Place the water and the Konbu in a saucepan and leave to soak for 2 or 3 hours.
Place the sauce pan over a medium heat. Just before the water boils, remove the Konbu. Use the Konbu-flavored water as stock.
SAKE'
Sake' is a wine made form rice. Although the buddhist monks avoid alcohol, sake' is often used as seasoning in cooking, or for medicinal purposes. A little sake' is often said to be the "best of all medicines" because it stimulates the circulation, and relieves stress and insomnia.
When cooked rice seems a little too firm, 1 or 2 tablespoons of Sake' will soften it.
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