Baby Carrots with Brown Sugar Glaze

Manly Kitchen Baby Carrots with Brown SugarWhen I was young, I hated carrots! Not just disliked – HATED!!! I would do anything to get out of eating carrots. I’d even eat cauliflower before I’d eat carrots. I’d darn near eat my own foot before eating them!

But that was years ago, and I’m not quite as much of a brat as I was then. Actually, what changed things was a recipe very similar to this one. A friend served them with a wonderful dinner at which I was one of several guests. Mom and Dad raised me right, and I didn’t say a word about not liking carrots. I even tried one. And to my surprise, it was awesome! I even had seconds! I immediately asked him for the recipe and he gave me this one. I’ve been using it ever since.

This recipe isn’t hard, really. The main thing is to keep an eye on the water level so you don’t scorch the carrots. Other than that, it really couldn’t be simpler.

Manly Kitchen Baby Carrots with Brown SugarIngredients:

16 oz. baby carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup water
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

Wash carrots and scrub them with a veggie scrubber if you have one. Do NOT use your dish scrubber. That’s not Manly. That’s just gross!

Cut most of the tops off, but leave a little. For color.

Preheat large skillet or pan. Add butter and let melt.

While pan is heating, dissolve brown sugar in cup of hot water. It’s OK if it doesn’t dissolve completely; this just gives the sugar a head start.

As soon as butter is melted, put carrots in skillet. Roll them around so they get coated in butter and all happy. Cook for three minutes, stirring a few times every minute.

Add water, brown sugar and a healthy pinch of salt to the pan. Stir everything up so they get to know each other and get happy. Right about now, that means making sure the carrots are thoroughly coated.

Turn up the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Cover pan and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes.

Manly Kitchen Baby Carrots with Brown Sugar

Check your local farmer’s markets for interesting and unusual varieties.

Remove cover and raise the heat again. Stir carrots often as water evaporates. When it’s almost gone, you should have carrots that are tender, but not mushy. If the water runs low before the carrots are done, just add a little more. No big deal.

Just before removing the carrots from the pan, crack some fresh pepper over them, then toss them around to distribute the pepper. This also gives a good final glaze coating to the carrots.

Serve immediately or cover to keep warm. If you cover them, toss them one final time to distribute glaze before serving.

Notes:

This recipe calls for baby carrots, but not all stores carry them. I’m talking about real baby carrots – and you’ll know them because they’ll still have the outer skin on them and the green tops. You can get the little carrots in the bag if your store doesn’t have real babies, but I prefer to use full size carrots if not babies. If you follow my lead, cut the ends off, then cut the carrots in halves or thirds. then slice those pieces into quarters. The resulting pieces will be about the same size as baby carrots. You can also cut them into discs, but I like the long thin presentation.

Another cool thing to do with baby carrots is to leave some of the tops when you trim the tops down. It looks pretty cool on the plate.

Check your local farmer’s markets for baby carrots. Not only will they be better tasting and better for you, you may also find other colors, and that really makes the presentation fancy!

I’ve always know carrots are good for you, especially for your eyes. And since I have horrible eyes, I’m really glad I found a way to enjoy cooked carrots. I’m addition to the health benefits, it’s nice to have a veggie once in a while that isn’t green, you know? On days when I want to serve two veggies and no starch, I almost always make these as one of my choices.

Try them out; have fun; and, as always:

Play with your food!

Lane

Check out more Veggie Recipes here.


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Lane

About Lane

Lane Baldwin is a an internationally-acclaimed singer, songwriter, author and food lover. He wasn't trained in France, and he doesn't have his own TV show. He just loves to cook, and loves sharing what he's learned over the years. In his "real life," Lane has toured the world, bringing his special brand of Blues-infused Americana to millions of fans. At home he leads a quiet life filled with good books, good food and good friends.