Carrots, with their graceful, tapered bodies, create such an image of something ripped by its hair from the comfort zone of cool moist soil. After months of darkness, being nurtured by a soil that gently parts to accommodate its slow growth; suddenly, forcefully yanked into a new, bright environment.
Ever have days like that?
When I first moved to San Francisco from Boston many years ago, I felt completely disoriented by this new, super-active, activity-driven environment I’d been plunged into, so far from the comfort of my family and friends. I had friends back in Boston ready to rent a moving van to come pick me up at a moments notice, but people here told me to be patient; that the rule of thumb for an east coast to west coast move was 2 years to get settled, 5 years to get rooted. It was in fact a painstakingly slow rooting for me, and one of the many lessons I learned was the value of patience; that everything isn’t going to fall into place and feel like home right away, or even after only a few months.
Today, looking back, while I acknowledge there are a lot of really wonderful places to live in this country, and I’ve been lucky enough to live in quite a few of them; I’ve become so firmly rooted here with deep, interconnected roots with new family and friends, that I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Glowing ladies, freshened by a trim and facial
Tangerine-Ginger Glazed Carrots with Cocoa Nibs
Cook’s Notes:
- If you’re starting to plan a chocolate-centric Valentine’s Day dinner, this can make for a great side dish with the cocoa nibs adding just a hint of chocolate with the tangerine and ginger.
- As a little information on cocoa nibs, they are essentially the foundation of all chocolate in an unsweetened form. Cocoa beans that are used to make chocolate beans are roasted and then winnowed to remove their thin shells, or hulls. The roasted beans shatter into fragments in the winnowing process, and these fragments are cocoa nibs. Nibs from different beans are blended to create a particular flavor profile, and finely ground to a thick paste, called chocolate liquor. This liquor, when hardened into bars is the unsweetened chocolate we see on our market shelves. It’s also the foundation of all chocolates. Only recently have nibs themselves become a product. They are wonderful in this recipe where they infuse the glaze with just a hint of chocolate. I’ve also added them to granola. Buy some when see them and start experimenting!
- Save the tangerine shells for making citrus, herb salts. I’ll be posting a recipe for this later this week.
- I used Satsuma tangerines, but any tangerine will work beautifully with this recipe.
Ingredients…
- 2 bunches carrots, mixed colors (about 1 pound without the green tops)
- 1 ½ cups freshly squeezed tangerine
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger, about a 2” piece
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cocoa nibs
- 1 teaspoon salt
Making It…
- Peel and stem the carrots, leaving about 1 inch of the green stems intact.
- Combine the remaining ingredients, and add the carrots. Add enough water to just cover the carrots. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer until the carrots are tender. The length of time for this will depend on the thickness and freshness of the carrots, but 15-30 minutes is a good range to work with.
- When the carrots are tender, remove from the pan. The sauce should be thick and glaze-like. If it isn’t, reduce it until it is over medium heat. Pour the sauce over the carrots.
- Serve warm.
Even the peels are beautiful!
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Pretty, pretty post! Where does one find cocoa nibs?
Thanks Liz! The slender little carrot models did all the work
I get my nibs at Whole Foods in their chocolates and sugars section. I’ve also seen them at Sur La Table. They’re a great thing to add to dishes. I added them to my granola the last time I made it, I got the idea from gingerroot, and it really made quite a difference.
Sweet post. Lovely photos.
Liz, Askinosie has wonderful cocoa nibs (and chocolate of all sorts)!
I can see I need to find Askinosie – I assume it’s a web site? I’m going to google them right now! Thanks Laura! I really enjoyed your blog post ‘Dry Run’ on Huffington Post earlier this week. It was great! I’d love to get good enough at my writing to submit something to them at some point.
Wonderful post, Susan; mouthwatering and beautiful. Hmmm, cocoa nibs with carrots, I never would have thought of that!!
Thanks lapadia! I’ve had some cocoa nibs hanging around, and decided to find more uses for them
They’re really good with the carrots!
What an interesting recipe, and so pretty! So, I had to look up what a cocoa nib is, and am I understanding that it is similar to a crushed coffee bean, but tastes like unsweetened chocolate?
Thanks so much, and you raise an excellent question, Laura – I’ll add a note on cocoa nib in the Cook’s Notes!! Cocoa nibs are the foundation of all chocolate, in an unsweetened form. Cocoa beans that are used to make chocolate are roasted and then winnowed to remove their thin shells, or hulls. The roasted beans shatter into fragments in the process of winnowing – these little fragments are called nibs. Nibs from different beans are blended to create a particular flavor profile, and finely ground to a thick paste, called chocolate liquor. This liquor, when hardened into bars is the unsweetened chocolate we see on our market shelves. It’s also the foundation of all chocolates. Only recently have the nibs themselves become a product. I’ve added them to granola with great successful, and I loved how the nibs partially infused the glaze with just a hint of chocolate.
Thank you – that is exactly the info I needed!
Great!!
That is a gorgeous batch of carrots! I love what you did with them with the sweet citrus cocoa glaze. Delicious!
Thanks so much mjskit!! When I saw them at the store, I knew I had to get them and cook them whole. It seemed a crime to cut them up
Just gorgeous. Your photography is beautiful.
Thanks so much Bevi!! I really appreciate it
What gorgeous photos! I love your use of cocoa nibs here. I am a huge fan and toss them into lots of things (including vanilla ice cream). They pair so well with veggies. The last time I roasted cauliflower I included some nibs – yum.
Thanks Hannah! And you’re right – I had no idea how well cocoa nibs would go with veggies. I tried it on a lark and hunch. Pairing them with cauliflower is another great idea that I need to try. Thanks for the idea
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