ONE of the great kitchen mysteries is why carrots are the anti-muse for so many contemporary chefs. These are among the most versatile vegetables ever cultivated but in too many cookbooks rarely seem to inspire anything more imaginative than the odd coulis. Even turnips get more creativity lavished upon them.
This time of year, the gap between Brussels sprouts and cauliflower in most recipe indexes is especially mystifying. Carrots are at their best -- sweet, crisp, brightly colored -- and can be the perfect side dish any (or every) night.
Maybe the fact that carrots are an essential component of \o7mirepoix\f7, the traditional foundation of stocks and braises in classic kitchens, deters chefs and recipe writers from getting wild and crazy with them as they do with less quotidian vegetables.
A more likely reason is that it is just hard to improve on the classics unless you eat carrots raw, which is why smart cooks look toward France for inspiration. The most amazing carrot ideas are waiting for rediscovery.
I find myself reaching for "60-Minute Gourmet" as often as possible to make carrots Vichy, Pierre Franey-style. A little sugar and salt, a bit of butter, some water and 30 minutes in a saucepan on low heat are all you need to braise and caramelize sliced carrots. It's a perfect dish, the ideal example of how a classic becomes one.
Even more spectacular is Roger Verge's interpretation of another French standard, which he calls carrots in chive cream. Matchstick-size batons are braised, then finished with a glaze of cream and lemon, and a showering of chives. It takes a little time to do the precise cutting, but it elevates carrots to dazzling for a dinner party. Though the lemon sounds as if it would curdle the cream, it adds a wonderfully surprising hit of piquancy.
My mom had a technique I thought was all her own -- slowly sauteing carrot sticks in fat until they turn dark, sweet and seriously caramelized, even without sugar -- but a French friend volunteered that she also uses it, with sliced onions added. Shallots are even better; either they or onions should be added about halfway through the cooking so that they caramelize in the same time.
Just melt a tablespoon of butter with an equal amount of peanut or vegetable oil in a skillet, add carrots cut into thin strips, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and cook on low heat, stirring steadily, until they almost char. It will take up to an hour, but that is time well invested. The slow cooking concentrates the deep orange flavor of carrots.
