Glazed Carrot Puree with Fresh Ginger

From The Food Life by Fairway's Steven Jenkins

Reprinted with permission. From The Food Life, published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2008.

• Servings: 4.

Steven Jenkins was one of the original owners of Fairway, a uniquely New York grocery market. In his memoir, The Food Life, he includes 40 recipes by Mitchel London, Fairway's chef de cuisine who also worked with many of the city's other top food merchants.

This recipe for carrot purée uses fresh ginger, giving the carrots more complexity, and also boils down the cooking water to make a glaze that adds more intensity to the carrots' natural sweetness.

This is a great recipe for Thanksgiving or other holiday meals. You can make it several hours in advance and reheat just before serving. The recipe is also easy to multiply to serve more or have leftovers.

Use your rasper to grate the ginger because it will produce a very smooth result that will let the ginger essentially melt into the puréed carrots.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch carrots (about 5 medium), scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch rounds
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 to 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the carrots in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Add the butter and bring to a boil. Simmer until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the carrots to a food processor blender, leaving the cooking liquid in the saucepan. Add the ginger and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Return the carrot cooking water to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, taking care not to burn the liquid (there are a lot of natural sugars from the carrots in it), until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons and is syrupy, about 15 minutes. Add this glaze to the puree and pulse to blend.
4. Serve immediately or rewarm before serving.