Cider Glazed Carrots — The Side That’s Always on the Table

Aunt Linda and Roy and Harper flew up Saturday for a long weekend. Harper is three years old now and is a fully-talking small person who has opinions about everything — what to wear, what to eat, what story to read at bedtime, who gets to push the elevator button. The opinions are spirited and well-articulated and Linda is delighted by every one of them. Roy is delighted in a quieter Roy-way that mostly looks like him grinning at her from across the room.

The cousins all sat at the kid-table for a few hours together Saturday evening for the first time — Brayden five, Wyatt two, Harper three. Brayden took the older-cousin-leader role within about fifteen minutes. Harper took the middle-position role and started organizing the toy distribution. Wyatt was happy to be included and followed whatever Brayden and Harper were doing. The three-cousin dynamic was its own small thing to watch. Linda and I watched from the kitchen for a long time.

Sunday I made cider glazed carrots because they were the side dish that’s always on the table when Linda visits — the dish has been a Linda-favorite for about a decade and is on Mama’s permanent rotation when Linda comes to Sapulpa for holidays. I make them whenever Linda is in Nashville.

The technique: a pound and a half of carrots peeled and cut on the bias into half-inch slices. The bias-cut is the move; round-coin-cut carrots feel pedestrian, bias-cut carrots feel like restaurant-side.

In a heavy skillet, two tablespoons of butter melted over medium heat. The carrots added with a pinch of salt; cooked for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften and caramelize at the edges.

The glaze: a half-cup of apple cider (the unsweetened raw cider from a fall apple farm if available; the supermarket variety works), two tablespoons of brown sugar, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, a half-teaspoon of cinnamon, salt, pepper. Whisked together and added to the skillet.

Lid on, low heat for ten more minutes until the carrots are tender. Lid off, increase heat to medium-high, cook three to four minutes until the cider has reduced to a glossy syrup that coats the carrots.

Off the heat, finish with another tablespoon of cold butter swirled in for the gloss, a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley, a generous turn of black pepper.

Linda had two helpings of the carrots and remembered exactly what they tasted like from the last visit two years ago. The dish is the family side. The dish is the side that says somebody we love is at the table and we made the dish for them.

Linda told me Sunday morning while we were doing dishes together that the carrots had become the dish that meant “Kaylee’s house” in her mental kitchen-map. Other people make her other dishes when she visits them — Mama makes her chicken-and-dumplings, Aunt Patty makes her chocolate pie, Dustin’s mom makes her macadamia-stuffed pork loin — but the cider glazed carrots are mine in her head. The signature-dish-by-niece is its own small inheritance. I had not been aware until Linda named it that I had a signature dish for her.

The cousin-table dynamic Saturday night was the other moment from the visit I am going to remember. Brayden in the role-of-older-cousin took the lead on what they were going to play next. Harper in the middle organized the toy distribution. Wyatt was happy to be in the room with his bigger people. The three-cousin photo Linda took at the end of the evening with the three of them stacked on the couch is on the apartment fridge now.

Bias-cut carrots, cider-and-butter glaze, ten minutes covered then three uncovered. Butter swirl off-heat. Here’s the build.

Cider Glazed Carrots

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch diagonal pieces
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried), for garnish

Instructions

1. Prep the carrots. Peel the carrots and cut them on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces so they cook evenly and look beautiful on the platter.
2. Start the glaze. In a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat, combine the carrots, apple cider, butter, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Stir to coat.
3. Bring to a boil. Let the mixture come to a full boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 18—22 minutes until the carrots are fork-tender and the cider has reduced to a syrupy glaze coating each piece.
4. Check for doneness. If the glaze reduces too quickly before the carrots are tender, add 2—3 tablespoons of water or additional cider and continue cooking. If carrots are tender but glaze is thin, increase heat and cook 2—3 minutes more.
5. Finish and serve. Transfer to a serving platter, scraping every bit of glaze from the pan. Scatter fresh thyme over the top and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 88 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 175mg