Carrot Butter Food

CARROT CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside.
• In another large bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, egg, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir in carrots. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture mixing until well combined. Divide among muffin tin. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
• Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. To frost: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and confectioners' sugar until smooth; beat in vanilla and orange zest. Top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons of frosting and spread to cover.

CARROT CAKE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Combine 1 cup butter, sugar and brown sugar in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until well mixed. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Stir in carrots and pecans.
• Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool completely.
• Combine powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter, cream cheese and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Reserve 1/2 cup frosting.
• Frost each cooled cookie with 2 teaspoons frosting. Divide reserved frosting in half. Tint one half green and one half orange. Spoon each tinted frosting into resealable plastic food bags; snip off corner of bags. Make carrot design on top of each cookie, if desired.

CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.
• Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 3 minutes. Add vanilla, water, and carrots. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, then finely chopped pecans.
• Scrape batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn out cakes onto rack. Turn right side up, and let cool completely.
• Using a serrated knife, trim rounded top of 2 cakes. Place one trimmed cake, cut side up, on a serving platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with second trimmed cake, cut side down. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with remaining cake. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Gently press coarsely chopped pecans onto sides of cake. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

CARROT JAM RECIPE

Steps:

• Have ready 4 half-pint jars with suitable lids, if planning to process in a water bath. If not, any container(s) totalling 1 quart will do. Remove zest and then juice the fruits. There should be about 1 cup total juice. Heat all ingredients together over low heat until sugar has dissolved, 3 - 4 minutes. Raise heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until thick, about 30 minutes. Spoon jam into containers. If processing, leave 1/4th inch of headspace in the jars and process while hot. If refrigerating or freezing, cool to room temperature first. This jam will keep, refrigerated, for weeks, but for longer storage, freeze or process in a water bath. Although the jam can be used immediately, the flavor improves after a few days.

SLOW COOKER BROWN BUTTER CARROTS

Steps:

• Peel and slice the carrots. I tend to like the thicker chunks of carrot, so don't go too crazy, just roughly chopped is fine. Set side.
• In a small saucepan add the butter. Turn the heat to medium or just above medium. Stir occasionally until the butter starts to foam and ultimately turns brown. There will be silty brown "bits" that have separated from the yellow liquid. Immediately transfer the mixture to your slow cooker.
• Add the salt, sugar, bay leaves, and vanilla and stir. Add the carrots and stir to coat.
• Cook on high for about 3 hours or until tender.
• Sprinkle with chopped parsley or sage.
• The glaze is really great drizzled over mashed potatoes too...just sayin.

CHUCK'S CARROT BUTTER

Steps:

• For the Carrot Butter: Melt the butter.
• In a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, let the carrot juice reduce by half. It will take approximately 25 minutes.
• Once it's reduced, transfer the reduced juice to a tall, hand blender friendly container.
• Slowly pour in the butter, and blend to create an emulsion. Basically, you want a uniform color a sure sign that the butter and juice have come together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• You can store it in an airtight container in your fridge, but you need to reheat it before using again as the butter will harden, and give it another buzz.
• For the scallops: Score the scallops with a checkerboard pattern and season with salt and pepper.
• In a pan on high heat, add a splash of canola oil. Add the scallops and cook 2 minutes per side. Plate him or her on a simple white dish. Drizzle a generous amount of the carrot butter over each scallop and garnish with a handful of micro arugula.

CARROT CAKE WITH BROWN BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Position oven rack to the middle. Preheat oven to 350° F (177°C). Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch rectangular cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a whisk or hand mixer), add the oil and both sugars. Mix on medium-high speed until combined.
• Add the applesauce and sour cream and continue to mix until completely combined.
• Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Lower the speed to medium-low and mix in the eggs, one at a time until just combined. Mix in the vanilla.
• Add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing on low speed after each addition until completely combined.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold in shredded carrots and up to 1 or 2 cups of any add-ins, if you desire (see notes).
• Pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
• Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack to cool completely.
• Add the cold butter to a small saucepan, preferably one with a light bottom so you can easily see the colour change.
• Heat over medium heat until butter has melted.
• Once melted, the butter will begin to bubble and foam. Continue to stir, cooking until the butter turns a golden brown. This can take about 3-5 minutes, but don't rely on time. Keep your eyes on the butter to see when it starts to turn brown!
• Immediately remove the browned butter from the stovetop and pour it into a small bowl. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator so the brown butter can solidify (around 1-2 hours. I just left it overnight).
• Once solid, remove brown butter from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to soften up again. Scrape butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl (if using a hand mixer).
• Beat the softened browned butter on medium-high speed until fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
• Add the softened cream cheese and continue to beat until pale and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
• Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and beat on low speed after each cup until combined.
• Once combined add vanilla and salt and continue to beat until combined and smooth.
• Increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 5-7 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy.
• You can simply spread the frosting onto the whole cake, or you could decorate like I did!
• To do this, I sliced the entire cooled cake and removed the slices from the pan.
• Scoop the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a ruffle tip (I used Wilton 104).
• Starting on the corner of the slice, pipe in a side to side motion, working your way to the other corner. Make sure the wide part of the ruffle tip is on the bottom and positioned at a 90° angle. Repeat for each slice. Doing this on individual slices rather than the whole cake keeps the design neat!
• Sprinkle some chopped pecans onto each slice, if desired. Serve and enjoy!

CARROT BUTTER

Steps:

• Preheat oven for 350°F.
• Cut carrots into thin slices (if you'd like to peel them you may. If you don't peel them I recommend using organic carrots or at least ones you know weren't grown with chemicals).
• Cook the carrot slices in a large roasting pan with two cups of apple juice or cider for three hours uncovered. Stirring the carrots every half hour or so.
• Put the cooked carrots and the three cups of apple juice or cider in a blender until it reaches the consistency of something you'd like to spread on toast.
• Put the carrot mixture in a large pot. Mix in the brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Heat this on the stove for 10 min stirring constantly.
• Pour into sterilized pint or half pint jars and can.

ROOT VEGETABLE RISOTTO WITH CARROT BUTTER

Steps:

• For the carrot butter: Juice the carrots using a juicer (you should have 4 cups/1liter). If you don't have a juicer you can use store-bought carrot juice.
• Bring the carrot juice to a simmer in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until reduced to 1 cup (250 ml), about 45 minutes. Add the diluted cornstarch. Slowly add the melted butter, using a hand mixer or whisk to incorporate it. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the risotto: Heat the vegetable stock in a saucepan.
• In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the celeriac, parsley roots, parsnips, salsify and shallots. Add vegetable stock, one ladle at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and cooking until almost all the liquid has been absorbed before adding more. Continue cooking and adding stock until the vegetables are cooked but still al dente, about 25 minutes. Stir in the butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, chives and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• For the mushrooms: Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the mushrooms until golden brown. Season with steak spice. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the mushrooms for 5 minutes.
• To serve, divide the vegetable risotto among dishes and top with the mushrooms. Drizzle with carrot butter and garnish with micro herbs.
• Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Lower the heat and add the carrots, celery, garlic, onions, parsley roots and leeks. Cook until the vegetables are slightly colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in the ketchup, peppercorns, celery leaves and parsley leaves. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes (it's important not to cook it for too long). Strain, cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

JUMBO LUMP CRAB CAKES WITH CARROT BUTTER SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the crab in a mixing bowl and set aside. Combine the butter and shallot in a small pot over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the Old Bay, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the mustard, and cayenne. Stir to combine. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream. Pour the butter mixture over the crab. Add the scallions. Fold the ingredients together gently but thoroughly, taking care not to mash the crabmeat. The mixture will look almost runny; don't worry, it will firm up in the fridge. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour; overnight is even better.
• When ready to cook, use your hands to form the mixture into 6 crab cakes that are 1 1/2 inches thick. They should be moist and just hold together. Put the crab cakes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate while setting up your breading station. This allows the flavors to blend and the crab cakes to set.
• To create a breading station, put the flour in a pie plate and season with salt and pepper. Crack the egg into a shallow bowl, add 1 tablespoon water, and beat with a fork until frothy. Put the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl.
• Put a large skillet over medium heat, add a couple tablespoons of the oil, and swirl the pan around to coat the bottom. Working with 3 crab cakes at a time (keep the remaining cakes in the fridge), lightly dredge both sides of the cakes in the seasoned flour, dip into the beaten egg, and then coat completely with bread crumbs. Gently lay the cakes in the hot oil and brown for 3 to 4 minutes on each side (turning only once or they will break up). Drain on paper towels. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and repeat with the remaining 3 crab cakes.
• To serve, pool 1/4 cup of the carrot butter sauce on each of 6 plates, set a crab cake in the center, and, if you like, put a pile of sprouts on top.
• Carrot Butter Sauce
• Combine the carrot juice, carrot, shallot, and salt in a small pot over medium-low heat. Simmer until the carrot is completely soft and mushy, 10 minutes. The liquid will reduce almost, but not quite, by half.
• Stir in the cream and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to combine. It will look kind of a mess, a bit grainy and separated, but not to worry.
• Remove from the heat. Whisk in the butter a few chunks at a time; all of a sudden, the sauce will come together. Pour the sauce into a blender and hold a kitchen towel over the top for safety. Buzz until completely smooth and a beautiful sunset color appears. Serve hot.