The days are getting shorter, and the seasons of hibernation are upon us. Fall and winter are notoriously bad for diets. Nothing makes you want to cozy up inside with a hot chocolate and some heavy comfort food quite like colder weather and darker days.
We’ve got another recipe in store for you in this blog post that sprinkles in some alcoholic beverages into the mix. Most of the recipes that incorporate liquor are tasty twists on baked goods or desserts. So, in the spirit of throwing some more vegetables in the mix, this week we brought you a recipe for glazing carrots. Although it’s not all that healthy, it does at least ensure you’ll get your servings of vegetables.
To make these brandy-glazed carrots (via Taste of Home):
Gather the Ingredients
- 2 bags (about 3 pounds) of baby carrots
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup brandy
- ½ cup cubed butter
- ¼ cup parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Prepare the Ingredients
The process to whip up this recipe is easy. First, take the fresh parsley and mince it with a knife into small pieces. Also, make sure that your carrots are baby carrots! You don’t want to have to manually peel all of the carrots for this recipe.
Heat It Up
Grab a skillet and pour in some water, about ½ a cup, to boil. There should be about ½ an inch of water in the skillet. Add all of your carrots, and cover the skillet with a lid. Cook the carrots for about seven minutes. Don’t stir, and let them get a little crisp and tender. After about seven minutes has passed (you can go a little longer if you’d like), drain the carrots and then set them aside.
Using the same heated skillet (sans carrots), throw in the cubed butter and the ½ cup of honey. Cook it over medium heat. Once the butter is properly melted, turn off the heat to the skillet. Pour in the brandy, and then bring the heat back to the skillet until you get it boiling.
Reduce It
You are now going to reduce the mixture, which means that you are going to boil it until some of the water from the mixture evaporates. As some of the water from the mixture evaporates, the sauce will get thicker and the flavor will become more intense. That’s what reduction is all about! For this recipe, reduce it until about ½ cup is left in the skillet.
Final Touches
Add back in the carrots, and toss in the rest of the ingredients. All you should have left is the parsley and salt and pepper. If you wanted to add any additional spices, now would be the time to do so. If you’re a fan of rosemary, I would recommend giving it a shot in this recipe.
Heat everything together for a couple of minutes, and then enjoy! Heap a big serving for yourself and get some of those vegetables in.