While the name of this post could be a bit ironic and the inspiration for leading an ass when suspended on a stick, in our culinary arsenal it has just become a weapon of mass destruction. I have currently had a carrot thing going on. Recently, we made carrot-ketchup. On one occasion it was well received, the other, not so much. I actually caught some flack for blending ketchup and carrots as a sauce. Still, I learned from this criticism. Instead of cooking the carrots and ketchup together into a puree, we blended ketchup with garam masala and used it to coat carrots before cooking them sous vide for one hour and forty-five minutes at 83 degrees Celsius. The cooked carrots were then glazed in a sauté pan with a knob of butter and the carrot-ketchup and spice juices. The carrots picked up some mahogany coloring and caramelized gently. A splash of water freed the fond from the sauté pan and allowed it to evenly coat the carrots. I added a heavy handful of chives to the carrots and we were done. Well, almost. We served these lacquered carrots on a dollop of our date-yuzu relish and gilded the lily with shavings of Benton’s aged country ham. And for just a moment, the dining room was quiet and back in the kitchen we smiled.
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