Glazed Carrots

I never realized how much of a backlog of recipes/photos I have to post until now. At the beginning of my course at the French Culinary Institute we began with learning how to cook vegetables, and that was sometime around November…

Glazing (or cooking “glacer a blanc” as the French would call it in this instance) is a simple technique that can be applied to a variety of vegetables. In class we would of course tournee, or turn, them first, but who really wants to do that when they don’t have too? (Although the result does look quite nice.) I opted for baby carrots instead.

Instructions:
Place the vegetables in a skillet and fill with water 1/2 – 2/3 up the sides of the carrots. Add a tablespoon or two of butter, a few sprinkles of sugar, and some salt and pepper. (Very exact measurements – I know.) Cover partially with a lid and turn on the flame so that the water simmers. The goal is to have the carrots fully cooked by the time the water evaporates, so you may need to add additional water or remove the lid to speed up or slow down the cooking process. Once cooked and the water has evaporated, a syrup should begin to form in the pan from the sugar that you added in the beginning. Toss the vegetables in the pan to give them a nice glaze and you’re ready to go! Alternatively, you can keep the pan on the fire longer so that the sugar caramelizes further (glacer a blonde or glacer a brun), but don’t let it burn!