I know you’re thinking, “Tea? With Carrots?” Just go with me here. Yes, the chamomile tea infused in butter is sweet and floral, and if you close your eyes and inhale deeply you may catch some mild dessert vibes, but these veggies actually hold their own quite nicely (thank you very much) with a big, savory steak.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds carrots, preferably thin and multicolored if possible (we call this farmer’s market fancy)
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 2 chamomile tea bags
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
- Zest of 1 small orange (2 teaspoons)
Directions
1
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Once fully melted and hot, add the tea bags to the saucepan and steep over the lowest heat for 5 minutes (we’re not going for brown butter here, just to get the chamomile flavor into the butter). Remove from the heat and steep on the counter for 30 minutes. Remove the tea bags, gently squeezing any butter the bags have soaked up back into the saucepan; discard the teabags. then whisk in the maple syrup and salt.
2
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Cut any carrots that are fatter than an inch around in half lengthwise. Arrange the carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet, drizzle the chamo-maple butter over the carrots, and shake to coat on all sides. Roast until the carrots are soft but the center is still a little firm (we can call that medium rare), about 45 minutes depending on the size of your carrots.
3
Remove from the oven, turn the broiler to high, and return the carrots to the oven to broil until slightly blackened, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the oven, season with more salt to taste, sprinkle on the orange zest, shake to coat, and serve warm or at room temperature.
So I made this as my first “Cravings” recipe, and it was really great! When I told my husband what I was making he pretty much said the “tea, with carrots?” thing, and we were both wonderfully surprised with how well this turned out. My husband who doesn’t really eat cooked carrots said he would definitely eat these again. Served as a side with a pork loin.