I saw somewhere on the net (maybe even here) where someone had roasted carrots with butter and tarragon and I had frankly never thought to try tarragon on carrots before. I've been thinking about that combination for some time now and decided to try a creamed dish tonight, in honor of my grandmother, who creamed just about every vegetable on God's green earth at one time or another.
The resulting dish is worthy of being posted here for others to enjoy, I think. I do believe this is the easiest, cheapest, most sinfully rich vegetable I've made in a long time, worthy of serving to company any day!
Let it not be said that carrots are "ordinary"!!
My grandmother on my Dad’s side was very fond of creamed vegetables. She was a country girl raised in a very poor farm family but was a VERY good cook. My great-grandmother taught her well. She grew her own vegetables and love, love, LOVED creamed soups and vegetables. Over the years, I guess she served me creamed peas, new potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, baby onions, spinach, corn………. You name it and she probably creamed it. She had 2 dairy cows on her property, some chickens and a nice garden. She produced her own milk, cream and churned butter, so that helped defray the grocery costs of a family of 9 during The Depression. My non-green vegetable tonight was created in honor of her. She wasn’t big on spices, so I doubt she ever even heard of tarragon, but I think she would have liked these and been proud to serve this dish. My husband isn’t too fond of carrots and even HE liked this dish! Sometimes I think tarragon is just magical at what it does for foods. His thumbs up on an un-favorite vegetable speaks volumes to me. This recipe is not suitable until the Atkins OWL phase, as carrots are a bit carb-y.
INGREDIENTS:
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ½” pieces
Water to cover carrots
1 T. unsalted butter
Dash each sea salt and pepper
¼ c. heavy cream
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum (or your favorite thickener)
1/4 tsp. dried tarragon
DIRECTIONS: Bring carrots and water to slow boil and cook until just barely tender. Drain off all but about ½ c. of the cooking water. Add butter to the carrots and remaining water. Lower heat and add cream. Sprinkle with xanthan gum and simmer on low until it begins to slightly thicken. The cream sauce will turn slightly yellow from the beta carotene in the carrots, but that doesn’t impact flavor. Sprinkle with the dried tarragon and toss. Dip up into serving dish. I served this with pork chops, but these would be good with baked chicken or broiled fish as well.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 4 servings, each contains:
103 calories
8.55 g fat
6.55 g carbs, 1.95 g fiber, 4.6 g NET CARBS
.9 g protein
89 mg sodium
109 mg potassium
85% RDA Vitamin A
Creamed Carrots with Tarragon
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