Apple-Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

August 2022. Memphis summer, 63 years old, and the heat wraps around Orange Mound like a wet blanket that nobody asked for but everybody wears because that is the deal you make when you live in the South. The smoker calls louder in summer — something about the heat amplifying the smoke, the way humidity amplifies everything in Memphis — and I answer, because answering is what pitmasters do.

Mama in Whitehaven, navigating her days between clarity and fog, still sharp enough to critique my cooking and still loving enough to eat it anyway.

I experimented this week — smoked pork belly burnt ends, cubed and re-smoked with sauce and butter until they were sticky, caramelized, and indecent. The kind of food that makes Rosetta say "Earl, your arteries" and then eat three more pieces, because even nurses have limits, and the limit of smoked pork belly burnt ends has not yet been found by human science.

I sat in the lawn chair next to Uncle Clyde's smoker as the dark came on, and I thought about what I always think about: the chain. From Clyde to me. From me to Trey, maybe, or Jerome, or whoever comes next with the patience and the hands and the willingness to stand next to a fire at three in the morning and wait for something good to happen. The chain doesn't break. The fire doesn't stop. And I am here, 63 years old, in a lawn chair in Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee, watching the smoke rise, and the rising is the living, and the living is the gift.

Now, burnt ends get all the glory — and they should — but every pitmaster worth his salt knows a plate of smoked meat is only as good as what sits next to it. On those long summer evenings by the smoker, while the pork belly does its slow, beautiful work, I like to have something sweet and simple coming together inside. These apple-brown sugar glazed carrots have that same patience built into them — low heat, a little sweetness, and time doing what time does. They sit right next to anything off the smoker, and Mama never once sent them back.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch diagonal slices
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)

Instructions

Cook the carrots. Place carrot slices in a large skillet or saucepan. Add enough water to just cover them. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Make the glaze. In the same skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, apple juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer.
Glaze the carrots. Return the carrots to the skillet and toss gently to coat. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the glaze thickens and the carrots are evenly coated and caramelized, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Serve. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with chopped parsley if desired. Serve warm alongside your favorite smoked meats.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple-Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots — A Side Dish Worth Standing By the Fire For