This is true comfort food. From its preparation to serving to eating, the carrot pot roast is a wholesome and highly aromatic dinner. It’s perfect for serving with a bottle of wine and sharing with friends. To achieve the right richness of texture and flavor, it’s essential to make the demi-glace. Be sure to serve this with plenty of crusty bread.
This recipe is an excerpt from The Chef's Garden: A Modern Guide to Common and Unusual Vegetables -with Recipes
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Turn on the exhaust vent, if you have one.
In a large skillet, heat a thin coating of vegetable oil until very hot. In a large bowl, toss the carrots with the salt and flour. Add the carrots to the skillet, and cook over high heat, turning occasionally, until they are deeply browned all over and even black in spots, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a medium ovenproof braising pan, about 10 inches in diameter.
Reduce the heat to medium high and add more oil to the skillet, if needed. Add the pearl onions and garlic, and cook until deeply browned and black in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the braising pan.
With the heat still on medium high, add the potatoes to the skillet and cook until charred, about 12 minutes. Transfer to the braising pan. Add the leek to the skillet and also cook until charred, about 3½ minutes. Transfer the leek also to the braising pan.
Add the wine to the skillet and cook, scraping up any browned and black bits from the bottom. Add the thyme and peppercorns, bring to a boil, and cook over medium-high heat until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the reduced wine to the braising pan. Add the demi-glace to the braising pan, then transfer the pan to the oven (uncovered) and cook until the carrots are fork-tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly. Remove and discard the thyme and peppercorns.
While the oven is still hot, heat four serving plates. Use a slotted spoon to divide the vegetables among the plates. Set the pan over medium-high heat on the stovetop. When the liquid is just barely simmering, add the butter, slowly, whisking until melted. Spoon the liquid over the vegetables and serve.
These are the most beautiful vegetables I have ever seen!
A.W.
Great recipe to serve for a holiday or other special occasion dinner. It is time intensive but you can make the demi-glace ahead of time. A few things to know (1) I had almost no liquid left after Step 6. Given that the demi-glace recipe makes 4 cups and this recipe only needs 1 cup, next time I’ll 2X the liquid ingredients (2) open windows and start exhaust fan for Steps 2-4 or you’ll set off smoke alarms (3) In Step 6, there were no peppercorns left after cooking to be removed, but none of us bit into one. I guess they dissolved in the cooking process. (4) If you are not using the super tiny petite potatoes shown in the photo, slice yours to 1/2 inch thickness and count each slice as 1 potato (5) I was worried because after a lot of time and effort to make the demi-glace sauce, it tasted like crispy vegetable broth – nothing I’d want to serve on its own. But you add the wine and cook with the carrots, it becomes amazing. Just follow the recipe and it will turn out great.
These are the most beautiful vegetables I have ever seen!
Great recipe to serve for a holiday or other special occasion dinner. It is time intensive but you can make the demi-glace ahead of time. A few things to know (1) I had almost no liquid left after Step 6. Given that the demi-glace recipe makes 4 cups and this recipe only needs 1 cup, next time I’ll 2X the liquid ingredients (2) open windows and start exhaust fan for Steps 2-4 or you’ll set off smoke alarms (3) In Step 6, there were no peppercorns left after cooking to be removed, but none of us bit into one. I guess they dissolved in the cooking process. (4) If you are not using the super tiny petite potatoes shown in the photo, slice yours to 1/2 inch thickness and count each slice as 1 potato (5) I was worried because after a lot of time and effort to make the demi-glace sauce, it tasted like crispy vegetable broth – nothing I’d want to serve on its own. But you add the wine and cook with the carrots, it becomes amazing. Just follow the recipe and it will turn out great.
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