Mazur Baby Carrots

Mazur Baby Carrots

by

Luclare Cuisine Inc.

What’s Up Doc?

Every time I think of carrots I think of Bugs Bunny.  For some of us - one of the few true intellectual titans of 20th Century American cinema.  Bugs always had a carrot at hand as he artfully matched wits with adversaries such as Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, or that little Martian guy whose name I can never seem to remember.  I can still hear Elmer singing "Kill the Wabbit" with boundless enthusiasm - my first, and thankfully only, exposure to German Opera.  But today I’m not particularly intrigued by fictional cartoon characters (even though Warner Brothers seemed to make them a little more real than fictional for many of us).  Today I’m more focused on the culinary, as opposed to cartoon, legacy of carrots.  

I’m sitting in my kitchen and looking out the large window in my breakfast area.  A small rabbit is running through the back yard (a real one - not Bugs).  The leaves are turning and soon the clocks will be too (do they really save daylight with Daylight Savings Time?).  Thanksgiving will be here in a few weeks - in other words turkey time, family time and time to give thanks for everything and everyone in our lives. Many of us will be looking for new and different recipes to add to our family holiday traditions.  I have a good one for you - Mazur Baby Carrots!!!  A variation on a traditional Polish dish - it’s easy to make, delicious and it would make old Bugs proud.

Now before some of our fellow bloggers get upset let me clarify something.  Carrots don’t actually have babies so if you make this recipe there won’t be a bunch of Mommy and Daddy Carrots named Mazur running around saying “Oh my God, what happened to the kids”?!?!?!  I can only assume these baby carrots are adopted or something so I guess you can enjoy the dish without too much guilt.

For those of you with inquisitive minds Mazur is a derivative of Masovia – a historic region in northeastern Poland dating to the Middle Ages.  For those who are really inquisitive the major city in Masovia is Warsaw – the largest city in Poland.  For those who are really, really inquisitive you should probably read something else since that’s all I know about the history.  So let’s get on with the cooking...

Ingredients:

2 lbs (907 g) of baby carrots

1 cup of water

1 Tbsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1 Tbsp of flour

2 Tbsp of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of whole milk 

fresh nutmeg 

In a large pot combine the baby carrots, water, sugar, salt and stir all the ingredients. Over high heat bring the water to a boil, decrease the heat to low, cover and cook the carrots until tender, about 45 minutes.  

While the carrots are cooking, make the cream/white sauce. In a small pan over medium heat melt the butter, add the flour, stir until the mixture turns golden brown, add the milk and stir until smooth.  

Once the carrots are tender, add the sauce to the carrots and the liquid that’s at the bottom of the pot. It’s the carrots liquid that’s going to enhance the flavor of the sauce. Stir, increase the heat to medium, cook until the sauce is reduced (by about a third) and thickens. Next grate fresh nutmeg, taste, if needed adjust seasoning.

That's all there is to it!!!

For a video of this recipe go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2G-Av_sqrQ

Enjoy!
Smacznego!