Maple Bourbon Glazed & Braised Carrots

I love carrots. Especially their bright orange color. Usually, I eat carrots raw as carrot sticks. But I often forget how sweet carrots are when cooked. Another one of my favorites is roasted carrots with potatoes. It is rare to find a dish where the carrots are the star. One of the standard culinary carrot dishes I learned to make in culinary school was glazed carrots. Unfortunately, it rarely lived up to its potential. I believe due to the technical execution which consisted of boiling the carrots in too much water in a narrow sauce pan, resulting in watery and mushy carrots with no color left. Herein lies my redo of this classic. Braising proves perfect for glazing. Braising is when something is cooked in a wide covered dish with no added moisture over medium to high heat. Here my seasonings consist of my seasonal favorites: maple syrup, Kentucky bourbon (yes, it is gluten-free, made from corn: my choice Eagle Rare), nutmeg, and butter. My favorite cut for carrots is oblique which is easy, making all cut about the same size, and very fancy looking. Here's a link of oblique cut demonstration video. Special enough for the holidays. Easy enough for anyone to make. Tasty enough for everyone to enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 pound carrots, peeled, cut oblique
1 tablespoon butter (or olive oil)
2 tablespoons (real) maple syrup
3 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon
dash nutmeg
salt, black and white pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Directions:

In a large skillet (make sure you have a tight-fitting lid for it), heat the butter, maple syrup, and bourbon over medium heat with occasional stirring, simmering for about 5 minutes to cook off alcohol. Add in cut carrots, a dash of nutmeg, pinches of salt and pepper. Stir. Cover with lid. Occasionally stir. After about 10 minutes, the carrots should appear darker and glazed. Check with a fork for tenderness and taste for seasonings. Once tender per your preference, remove from heat and toss in parsley if you would like. Serve immediately.

-Erin Swing
The Sensitive Epicure

This is part of Food Network's Fall Fest, highlighting the produce that is in season. Check out The FN Dish. The seasonal produce we are focusing on the carrot. Come over to Twitter where we are discussing it on #cookingwith and #fallfest. Here are other delicious features on carrots :

Thursday Night Dinner: Pickled Carrots
Virtually Homemade: Roasted Red Onions and Carrots With Pomegranate Gremolata
Haute Apple Pie: Carrot, Apple and Radicchio Slaw
What's Gaby Cooking: Thyme and Honey Roasted Carrots
Glory Foods: Honey-Carrot Bread
Daily*Dishin: Carrot Cake Hawaiian-Style
FN Dish: Quick Carrot Sides for Thanksgiving
Cooking With Elise: Spiced Carrot Marmalade
Dishin and Dishes: Roasted Honey Balsamic Glazed Carrots
Daydreamer Desserts: Carrot Cheesecake
Mooshu Jenne: Apple and Carrot Hearts Salad
The Sensitive Epicure: Maple Bourbon Glazed and Braised Carrots
Daydreamer Desserts: Carrot Martini