Carrot confiture. C'est ce bonne.

Almost anything serves to inspire me, when it comes to cooking. The Tzimmes dish by my friend Suggie, a carrot-fest in a pot with beef short ribs, got me thinking carrots - sweetened. The confiture seemed like a logical extension of that idea.

A ‘confiture’ is simply the French way of saying ‘jam’ or ‘preserves’. However, the process in making a confiture is considerably different from the way we normally make home-made jams - even the way I make them. Mainly, the difference is in jam making you will use some sort of pectin product to thicken the jam. In a confiture, the thickening is produced by cooking the sugar-fruit mixture ‘down’. It’s simpler and more straight forward, if you have more time on your hands. The cooking down process, in this case for example, takes about 30 minutes - after I cooked the carrots and the lemon/tangerine rind.

Here’s the drill:

Prep time: 15 minutes      Cooking time: First stage - 30 minutes   Second stage - 30 minutes

Makes 2 to 2-1/2 cups carrot confiture

You need: One medium deep pot with straight sides, and a heavy bottom to prevent burning and scorching.

Ingredients:

One medium sized bag of baby carrots, sliced into ‘coins’

2-1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup honey

a pinch each salt and pepper

Rind of one each lemon and tangerine (or small orange) - sliced into thin ‘julienned’ slices

Julienne slice

Juice of 2 lemons

Juice of one tangerine or small orange

10 whole almonds, finely chopped

1/2 cup brandy

Carefully slice the colored part of the rind from both the lemon and tangerine (or orange). Julienne cut those slices into thin strips. Juice the lemons and tangerine (or orange). In a pan, combine the fresh juice and sugar with a pinch of salt and pepper. Over medium high heat, stirring frequently, cook until the sugar is completely dissolved and the citrus strips are looking cooked. This should take about 15 minutes. Don’t let it boil over or scorch.

While the citrus strips are cooking, boil/steam or microwave the carrots in plain water with a pinch or two of salt, until they are tender. Drain and then process in a food processor - using the pulse function - to a rough, small chunk stage. Don’t take it to a paste. Remove to a heavy bottomed pot. Pulse the nuts to a fine chop. Add to the pot. Add in the cooked citrus peel and sugar, the brandy and honey. Bring up the heat to medium high and boil - cooking about 10 minutes.  Reduce the heat as needed and cover, cooking until the liquid reduces and the carrots are looking glassy and ‘jammy’- which should take about 20 minutes more. Watch carefully for scorching on the bottom, stirring frequently.

When the liquid has completely reduced and you have a thick, lucious ‘jammy’ concoction, take it off the heat and store in glass jars in the refrigerator. Now you have a healthy and really low-sugar ‘jam’ to top your toast with, loaded with lovely carrot and nut goodness.

This rocks as a regular jam, but also in crepes, and as a condiment for fish, pork, lamb and poultry, or with crackers and cheese.

-maven

Apple Cider and Autumn Root Soup has an Indian flair

It’s that time of year, and we brought apple cider - that awesome unfiltered treat - home from Apple Hill over in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California on Saturday. This means I’ll be cooking with cider.

This soup is incredible. Mr. Maven pronounced it so, despite the fact that it is a tad on the spicy side. I used some of the rich Portuguese Goan-style Red Chile and Vinegar Paste that my group made during our Taste of India Cooking class at Nothing To It on Tuesday night. This was an inspired ingredient for a dynamite soup.

First make your Red Chili and Vinegar seasoning paste.

You will need:

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon of whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Two 3-inch Cinnamon sticks

Two lengthwise slices fresh ginger (2-1/2 “x1”x1/8”)

12  medium sized cloves of garlic, peeled

1 teaspoon tamarind paste or concentrate

1 cup dried red That or cayenne chiles, stems removed.

Pour the cider into the blender first - ensuring a smooth paste - then add the tamarind and the remaining ingredients. Puree, scraping the inside of the blender jar as needed, until you have a highly pungent, smooth paste. Store the mixture in a non-reactive - such as a glass jelly jar - in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. This makes 1/2 cup of paste.

Next you will prepare the root vegetables to braise in a dutch oven style pot - with a tight fitting lid - in the apple cider vinegar.

 

You will need:

2-3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

3-4 medium size parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

2 medium or one large golden beets, peeled and sliced into chunks

1/2 medium yellow or Vidalia onion, peeled and minced

3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Two cups of apple cider - prefer unfiltered and unpastuerized

1- 2 cups chicken broth (or water)

1 teaspoon of Red Chili and Vinegar Paste (above)

1 tablespoon of butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the dutch oven, over a medium high flame, adding the oil to coat. Then add the carrots, parsnips and beets. Saute them for for about three minutes. Add the onion, and saute another 2-3 minutes until it begins to become translucent. Add the garlic. Saute for another couple minutes. Add the Red Chili and Vinegar Paste and butter. Stir.

Add the cider to the pot, put on the lid and bring to a slow boil. Let it slow boil, checking occasionally and stirring, for about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock (or water). Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are fork tender. Remove from heat.

In a blender, add half the vegetables and stock at a time - so to not overload the blender jar. Puree thoroughly until smooth and combined. You want this soup to have a nice consistency, and if it’s too thick after the puree, add a bit more stock or cider.

Add it back into the cooking pot to simmer over the very lowest heat, taking care not to scorch for about 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Garnish with a dollop of plain yogurt and toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve with Naan or a crusty artisan bread, and a very simply dressed green salad.

Serves a crowd - about 6.

Steamed root veggies. So simple. So good.

So simple, so healthful and so delicious! This is a combination of Fingerling Potatoes, with some purple heirloom potatoes in the mix, plus baby carrots, golden beets and rutabagas.

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Stunning side dish: Baby carrots and figs

I had a glorious bunch of baby carrots from the local farmers market in the fridge, plus a nice basket of fresh, fat, juicy black figs. Hmmm.

Yes, it works as a combination and makes an exceptional side dish that’s sure to impress the boss or your family. This idea of combining fruit and vegetables comes from places around the Mediterranean - like the south of France, Middle East and North Africa.

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Brown sugar glazed carrots you'll die for

This carrot recipe will win over non-carrot eaters just like it did for my husband, Ron. It’s sweet, salty, smokey and has just a hint of heat.

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