Candied Carrots

This is dedicated to my Mom, since I have never cared for candied carrots. LOL!
But MANY of you love them...so here's a recipe for you!



Candied Carrots

2 pounds carrots, cut into sticks
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

To Prepare
- Place carrots in a large saucepan; add 1 in. of water. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside.
- In the same pan, combine the butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper; cook and stir until butter is melted.
- Return carrots to the pan; cook and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until glazed.

To Freeze
- Allow to cool. Place in freezer bag or freezer container. Label and freeze.

To Serve
- Heat in microwave or in saucepan over medium heat and serve.

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Reader Question : Reusing Supplies

Sangeetha N. writes...

Hello!

I just stumbled upon your blog and I've started following you.

Q. I was wondering if and how you reuse your ziplock bags. I've thrown so many because of the gooey oily film that they tend to have after defrosting, I don't trust that washing would clean it up well enough. But I feel guilty about using so much plastic, so I use a fair bit of tupperware. But that requires more space, and if i don't manage to fill the tupper, there is freezer burn.

A. I generally do NOT reuse plastic baggies. One reason is food safety. Because some foods are not thoroughly cooked before freezing, there is the potential of contaminating vegetables if re-using a bag which previously stored raw or partially cooked meat. I know it seems a waste, but I haven't found a better way.

Q. I haven't found a good labeling system for the tuppers. What do you use? I was writing on the tupper with a crayon, but now I have a bowl labeled "mixed veggie" that contains beef, hehe. Should I use stickers?

A. You can use stickers or blank labels and remove them each time or use a wipe-off marker like those made for wipe-able message boards. You can also use marker straight on the tupperware and then remove the writing later with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Q. Is it safe to freeze cuts of meat in just cling-wrap? I sometimes do that in a hurry and I don't know if its unsafe. For instance chicken legs just wrapped up tight in cling film.Thanks a ton!

A. You can as long as it is wrapped well so that during the freezing process no raw juices can escape and leak onto other packages in your freezer. There is no other reason to avoid this except the possibility of freezer burn. The more you wrap the better the quality of your product will remain.

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Cranberry Orange Scones

This week's recipe is courtesy of Ina Garten (a.k.a. "The Barefoot Contessa") from Food Network. My daughter and I watched this episode and practically shorted out the TV remote with drool. These look delicious! And they also received a solid 5 stars from Food Network viewers who have tried the recipe.

This recipe brings to mind two great tips for Freezer Cooking...

Tip 1: Pretty much every bread recipe freezes well

Tip 2: If you watch cooking shows keep a listening ear tuned to the host suggesting freezing. Ina mentioned freezing this dough ahead and baking it as needed.



CRANBERRY ORANGE SCONES
Recipe by Ina Garten

4 cups plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash


To Prepare
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange zest.
- Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas.
- Combine the eggs and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy!
- Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.
- Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't stick.
- Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of dough. You can also choose to cut them into more traditional triangle shapes with a sharp knife.
- Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles.
- Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar.
- Flash freeze raw scones on a cookie sheet and transfer to gallon size ziplock bag when completely frozen.

To Bake
- Bake at 400* for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes.

Optional Glaze
- Whisk together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice and drizzle over the scones.

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