Darina Allen celebrates International Carrot Day
BET you didn’t know there was such a thing as an International Carrot Day, well indeed there is. It is celebrated every year on April 4.
I’m completely baffled as to why this date was chosen considering most gardeners haven’t even sown the seed yet.
We got our early crop into the soil in the greenhouse at the end of February but they are only just above the ground now.
Nonetheless, there are lots of fat crunchy carrots still around in the shops and greengrocers.
They were piled high on Joseph Burns’s stall in the Midleton Farmers Market last Saturday, side by side with parsnips, freshly dug and still covered in earth.
That’s the way I like to buy them, they keep better, taste better and ultimately I suppose have even more nutrients because the skin is not damaged in any way by washing.
Carrots are one of our four basic vegetables alongside onions, cabbage and potatoes. We pretty much take them for granted.
They are a powerhouse of nutrients, can be eaten raw, they store for months and will keep for several weeks even in a home fridge.
Carrots are one of the few vegetables that virtually every child will eat. In fact one of my grandchildren ate almost nothing but raw carrots for months when he was three.
When children from local schools come to visit the farm and vegetable gardens during the seasons we encourage them to pull a carrot from the ground, wash it under the tap in the greenhouse and then they munch it with relish.
Most have never seen a carrot growing; they presume they come already washed in a plastic bag from the supermarket.
It’s a similar story for most other foods - milk, meat and some are disgusted at the thought of them coming from the ground and from an animal, such is the paranoia around hygiene and food safety.
There is a serious piece of education to be done and urgently.
Carrots are a rich source of both alpha and beta carotene and also vitamin K, B6 and dietary fibre.
They’ve also been associated with eye health but their impact on our night vision may be overestimated.
Nonetheless, they are super nutritious and because of their sweetness the cook can have fun using them in many sweet as well as savoury dishes.
The tender young leaves can be used in carrot pesto or dipped in a batter and deep fried.
Wild carrots are thought to have originated in central Asia, Persia (now part of Iran and Afghanistan).
They were bred selectively over the centuries to reduce the bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core and now there are carrots of many colours - red, white, yellow, purple, black and of course orange.
They are sometimes long and tapered or more squat.
Carrots are amazingly inexpensive considering they take an average of three months to grow from seed.
We all know they are super versatile, and include them in chunky or creamy soups, tagines, stews, as a vegetable, or roast them.
You can boil them, grate them for salads, add to a carrot cake, transform them into carrot spaghetti with a spiralizer, you can make carrot crisps, or make a surprisingly delicious jam or chutney - and then there’s carrot juice.
We’ve also been getting lots of compliments when we add carrot juice to a risotto.
Here’s the recipe we use plus some other favourite ways to enjoy this under appreciated vegetable and now, how about a carrot party!
- 1 lb (450 g) carrots
- 1¼ pints (700 ml) milk
- 8 whole cardamom pods
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
- 5 tbsp caster sugar
- 1-2 tbsp sultanas
- 1 tbsp shelled, unsalted pistachios, lightly crushed
- 10 fl ozs (275 ml) cream, optional
Peel the carrots and grate them either by hand or in a food processor.
Put the grated carrots, milk, and cardamom pods in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil.
Turn heat to medium and cook, stirring now and then, until there is no liquid left.
Adjust the heat, if you need to.
This boiling down of milk will take at least half an hour or longer, depending on the width of the pot.
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat. When hot, put in the carrot mixture.
Stir and fry until the carrots no longer have a wet, milky look. They should turn a rich, reddish colour.
This can take 10-15 minutes.
Add the sugar, sultanas and pistachios. Stir and fry for another 2 minutes.
This halva may be served warm or at room temperature. Serve the cream on the side.
Taken from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery
This recipe for carrot cake, by far the best one I know and was given to me by a dear friend. It keeps for ages.
- 7oz (200g) fine wholemeal or spelt flour
- 3 level tsp mixed spice
- 1 level tsp bread soda
- 3oz (75g) soft brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, preferably free range
- 1/4 pint (150 ml) sunflower oil
- grated rind of 1 orange
- 7oz (200g) grated carrot
- 4oz (110g) sultanas
- 2oz (50g) dessicated coconut
- 2oz (50g walnuts, chopped
- Cream Cheese Icing
- 3oz (75g) cream cheese
- 1½oz (45g) icing sugar
- 1½oz (45g) butter
- grated rind on ½ orange
- juice of 1 small orange
- 1 rbsp lemon juice
- 3oz (75g) soft brown sugar
toasted flaked almonds or pumpkin seeds (crystallized – optional)
Loaf tin 9 inch (23 cm) x 5 inch (12.5 cm) x 2 inch (5 cm) lined with silicone paper
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
Put the flour, spice and bread soda into a bowl and mix well.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and oil in another bowl until smooth.
Stir in the dry ingredients, add the orange rind, grated carrot, sultanas, coconut and walnuts. Pour into the lined tin.
Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch.
Meanwhile make the glaze. Mix the sugar with the orange and lemon juice in a bowl.
While the cake is still warm prick the top with a skewer, pour the glaze over the cake and leave in the tin to cool.
This cake can also be made in a round tin (7x 3inch/17.5 x 7.5cm deep) which needs to be lined and will only take 1hour in the oven.
When this cake is made in a round tin, the cream cheese icing is very effective and is a very tasty finish.
Do twice the icing to coat a round carrot cake.
Mix all the above ingredients together and spread over the top of the carrot cake.
Sprinkle with toasted flaked almonds or pumpkin seeds, crystallised if you fancy.
This is super delicious, made with fresh carrot juice, you really have to try it, my grandchildren love it too.
This risotto is so good. We love it on its own or with a pan-grilled lamb chop and rocket salad.
- 425ml (15fl.oz) home made chicken stock
- 225ml (8fl.oz) fresh carrot juice, (4 medium carrots, weighing approx 400g/14oz)
- 25g (1oz) butter
- 50g (2oz) onion, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 200g (7oz) Basmati rice
- 50ml (2fl.oz) dry white wine
- 50g (2oz) finely grated Parmesan or Coolea cheese
- 2-4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Put the chicken stock, carrot juice and 450ml (16fl.oz) water in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer over a low heat.
Meanwhile, melt half the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the chopped onion, cook gently until soft but not coloured, about 5 minutes.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Increase the heat, add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated and translucent, 2-3 minutes.
Add the wine, stir and cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes.
Add 125ml (4fl.oz) hot liquid, stir until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Continue adding broth, a small ladle at a time till it is all incorporated and the rice is tender and still a tiny bit al dente, 25-30 minutes.
Stir in remaining 10g (½oz) butter and half the Parmesan.
Taste, correct the seasoning, sprinkle with chopped parsley and freshly grated Parmesan and serve.
In the Fez and Meknes area many meals start with an array of little ‘salads’, not greens doused in French Dressing but little dishes of spiced or sweetened raw or cooked vegetables to tempt the palate before the tagine arrives.
- 6 large carrots, scraped and grated
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- ½– 1 tsp of orange blossom water
- pinch of salt
Mix the carrots with the sugar, lemon juice, orange-blossom water, and salt.
Marinate one hour before serving.
Taste and correct seasoning.
Eat with Moroccan bread.
One of our current students made these yummy gluten-free pancakes last week.
They’ve been quite the hit!
Sh’lair loves these pancakes for breakfast because they are so simple and one always has the ingredients in the house.
- 1 banana
- 2 eggs
- small pinch of cinnamon or pinch of ground cardamom (optional)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Peel the banana, mash it in a bowl until you have a fairly smooth paste. Add the eggs and cinnamon or cardamom if using and stir.
Make sure the whole mixture is smooth and there is no runny egg or lumps of banana.
Heat the olive oil in the pan, using a spoon or small ladle, add the batter. You want a smallish pancake, like drop scones.
After 1 minute, turn them over and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes.
Serve the pancakes with maple syrup or honey and yoghurt. Garnish with slices of raw banana and sugar.
The super popular Bunsen restaurant on Wexford Street and Temple Bar in Dublin has come to Cork.
Tom Gleeson, past 12 Week graduate has recently opened his award-winning ‘burger joint’ on 4 French Church Street in Cork. Check it out.
Tel: 021-2390660; www.bunsen.ie
The National Dairy Council recently announced a new recipe competition to celebrate cheese. Create an original recipe using cheese as the main ingredient. There are two categories to choose from:
There are two categories to choose from:
Passionate Cooks and Foodies — A delicious, healthy and nutritious family-style recipe that you might cook mid-week.
Trainee Chefs/Culinary Students — A special occasion recipe you might cook for a dinner party or celebratory occasion.
The judges for the competition include Irish Chef Clodagh McKenna, Irish Olympian and food author Derval O’Rourke and Vanessa Greenwood of Cooks Academy in Dublin.
www.ndc.ie for details on how to enter
