Helene Siegel - Totally Carrot Cookbook

Indeed, a mirepoix, a mixture of diced carrots, onions, and celery, is a staple of French-trained cooks who use it to flavor sauces, soups, and stews, as well as for a bed on which to roast meat. Happily, baby carrots, as well as water-packed grated and cut forms, are now readily available in most markets. Unlike cooking green vegetables, you have to practically burn a carrot before its color will fade. That bright orange color comes from beta-carotene, one of the highly stable pigments that give fruits and vegetables like canteloupes and squash their color. A precursor to vitamin A, beta-carotene is also the star nutrient in carrots. And cooking makes this nutrient more usable by the body.

Hopefully, youll find more good reasons to cook carrots as you turn the pages that follow. Then theres the matter of bunnies. Bugs Bunny is always shown firmly gripping a green-topped carrot. The Runaway Bunny ends happily with a carrot reward, and one popular carrot packager calls itself Bunny-Luv. Yet while researching Beatrix Potter to pepper this text with Peter Rabbit quotes, I found no mention of carrots. Peter stuffed himself with lettuces and parsley and other things green.

I asked the soup-making farmer why Peter Rabbit never ate a carrot. Rabbits eat carrot tops, not the orange root, he said. Maybe. I say Mrs. Rabbits naughty little boy passed up the best thing in Mr. McGregors garden.

So, Peter, this book is for you.

CARROTS FOR COCKTAILS

MARINATED BABY CARROTS WITH CUMIN

Serve these with toothpicksand martinis, perhaps? pound baby carrots 1 tablespoon sugar cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley teaspoon crushed cumin seeds pinch red pepper flakes salt In a small saucepan with enough water to cover, bring carrots, sugar, and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Drain. In a bowl, whisk together olive oil with vinegar. Whisk in garlic, parsley, cumin, pepper flakes, and salt to taste.

Toss carrots into the mixture, cover, and chill. Serve cold. S ERVES 4

CARROT ASPARAGUS TERRINE

For an elegant dinner party, serve slices over lettuce leaves, or serve more casually with toasted baguette slices. 2 cups carrots boiled, steamed, or microwaved, and mashed 2 cups -inch asparagus lengths 1 cup dry bread crumbs cup shredded Gruyre cheese cup minced shallots 4 eggs, lightly beaten teaspoon cayenne pepper salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine carrots, asparagus, bread crumbs, cheese, shallots, eggs, and cayenne. Mix well.

Season to taste with salt. Pour into the prepared pan. Set the pan in a larger baking pan, and pour in hot water to come halfway up the loaf pan. Cover with foil, and bake about 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack, then chill overnight. Turn out, slice, and serve.

S ERVES 6

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Carrots are underground honey.Irish expression

SPICY CARROT AND SWEET POTATO DIP

For dipping, cut pita bread into wedges, then toast in 325-degree-F oven until golden. 1 pound carrots, cut in 1-inch chunks pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 1 teaspoons ground cumin teaspoon ground coriander teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar salt pita chips or crudits In a large saucepan, bring carrots and sweet potatoes to a boil in enough water to cover. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Drain. Transfer to a food processor, and add garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, oil, and vinegar. Process until pured. Season to taste with salt.