The holiday season is also the citrus season, so Christmas is the perfect time of year to make this simple citrus carrot recipe. Plus, the bright taste of the hand made orange peel makes this lively enough to compete with all of the other great dishes on your holiday table. Although easy to prepare, the candied citrus is best when allowed to dry for 24 hours, so prepare that a day or two in advance. I used rainbow carrots for added color, but of course you can use any carrots for this recipe. Roasting the carrots enhances their sweetness and deepens their color. I like to roast them ahead of time, and then saute’ them right before service. This lets me make space in the oven for all of the roasted items that I like to offer for my holiday dinner! Finish this off with some freshly chopped tarragon to make a classic flavor pairing and enjoy with almost any main course.
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Easy Citrus Glazed Rainbow Carrots
All ingredients
Instructions
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To make candied orange peel
Slice ends from top and bottom of orange so that it lies flat.
Using a sharp knife, cutting down towards your cutting board, slice off orange colored part (zest) of rind, avoiding as much of white part as possible.
Cut peel into 1/4 inch strips.
Combine water, 1/2 cup of sugar, and orange peel in small saucepan and bring to simmer.
Simmer slowly for 20 minutes, remove from heat, and allow to cool in syrup for 5 minutes.
Remove from syrup, toss into remaining granulated sugar to coat, and place on parchment paper to dry. This is best when dried for 24 hours.
Reserve syrup for later use in this recipe.
You will have some orange syrup left after you prepare this recipe. Use it as an ingredient in cocktails or to flavor baked goods. -
To prepare carrots
If roasting carrots, toss whole carrots in oil and salt.
Place in 375 degree oven, and roast for approximately 45 minutes, until tender. Set aside to cool.
When carrots are cool enough to handle cut on bias and set aside until time to serve.
If blanching carrots, slice whole carrots on the bias.
Bring 1 qt of salted water to boiling.
Blanch carrots in water until tender.
Drain carrots and set aside until time to serve.
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When ready to serve carrots, heat an appropriately sized saute' pan on medium heat.
Add butter and allow to melt.
Add carrots and saute' until fully heated.
Toss in candied orange peel, and 1/4 cup of orange syrup.
Continue to saute' to reduce liquid to a glaxe.
Toss in chopped tarragon.
