I have been preparing a lot vegetarian dishes lately per request from my boss lately. They want to eat less meat and more vegetables on a regular basis. A direction or challenge is always welcomed, especially with all of the readily available ingredients locally. One way to easily heighten a dish is with the addition to wood. By that I mean either smoking, roasting or grilling vegetables infusing the flavor of the wood.
There is a 3 star michelin restaurant in San Francisco Saison that uses this philosophy and almost every dish has something they has been touched by their open fire or grill. Just think, would you rather boil something in water or have a taste of roasted, charred, wood flavor? Nothing wrong with blanching some items from time to time but your not enhancing that ingredient, you are just par cooking it. I roasted these carrots on the green egg, with harissa spice. I made the sauce from carrots, turmeric, and vegetable stock.
I made sorghum popcorn with curry oil. Added some almonds and cilantro to round out the dish. The only thing I forgot was the dates. I had all of these wonderful dates from the farmers market but forgot to add them to the dish. Of course it is optional but that would have definitely add another amazing flavor to the dish. The mixture of the sauce with the smokey roasted carrots with spices turned out to be a great vegetarian dish. Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it.
2 lbs of tri color carrots
1 tbsp of harissa
1 tbsp of oil
Carrot Turmeric sauce
6 large orange carrots sliced
1 shallot sliced
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp of fresh minced ginger
1 tsp of jalapeño minced
4 pieces of turmeric peeled and sliced
2 cups of carrot juice or vegetable stock
1 tsp of curry
1 tsp of cumin
1 tbsp of oil
Salt to taste
Popped Sorghum
1/3 cup of sorghum
1 tbsp of curry oil
1/3 cup of chopped almonds
Curry oil
1 1/2 tbsp of curry powder
1 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of curry oil
1/4 cup of micro cilantro
For the Carrot Turmeric Sauce
In a medium sauce pot on medium high add oil, carrots, turmeric, onion, jalapeño, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 3 minutes then add the dried spices and cook for another 2 minutes then add the juice or stock. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Then pour into a vita mix and puree until smooth. Season with salt, set aside and keep warm
For the Carrots,
Get your green egg, or grill up to temperature with wood or lump coal. (preferably around the 400 degree area). Season carrots with oil, harissa, and salt. Place on a piece of aluminum foil and place on the grill off to the side not on top of the hottest part of the grill. Let them roast for 30 to 45 minutes until tender and smokey. Take off and keep warm
For the Curry oil,
In a small pot add 2 tbsp of the oil and the curry powder and cook over medium heat for 30-45 seconds to release the flavor of the spice. Then pour in the rest of the oil and slowly bring the oil up to 165 degrees and then turn off and let the oil steep for 2 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a squirt bottle. Set aside.
For the Popcorn Sorghum,
Add a 1/4 cup of sorghum into a brown paper bag. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until it popped like popcorn. Then pour out and squirt with oil and season with salt. Repeat the process if need be.
To plate,
Add a large spoonful of the sauce onto the plate Then add one whole carrot and a few carrots cut around the sauce. Add the almonds, popcorn, and drizzle with curry oil and finish with cilantro. Serve and enjoy!
