Roasted Carrots with Shallot Honey Glaze

This recipe is a quick and fool proof way to roast carrots. It doesn't take long to prepare and in the end you have sweet, soft carrots with lots of flavor! Cut the honey measurement in half for a slightly less sweet version.

2 lbs Baby Carrots with the tops

(or sub carrots cut on the bias in 2 inch chunks)

2 t olive oil

1 T butter

Salt & Pepper

Glaze: 

2 T butter

1 shallot, minced

2 T bourbon

2 T honey

1 T water

1 t fresh thyme, minced

1. Place roasting pan in oven and pre-heat temperature to 500 degrees.

2. If using baby carrots cut down greens on top to one inch.

3. Once oven is up to temp, remove roasting pan and add olive oil and butter to it, stirring to melt them together. Then add carrots, salt and pepper. Stir to coat well with olive oil butter mixture. Bake for 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven.

4. In a sauce pan over medium high heat, melt 2 T butter. Saute shallot for 1 minute in melted butter. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon, honey and water. Return to the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook approx 5 minutes or until the mixture turns into a syrup. Do not walk away! This can burn very easily.

5. Remove carrots from the oven, pour glaze over the carrots and stir gently to coat. Bake 5 more minutes or until carrots are crisp and tender.

6. Plate on a serving dish and sprinkle with fresh thyme. 

Enjoy!

Pork Potstickers

Pork potstickers are a staple in our chinese take out orders. The flavors of the meat, the texture of the dough and the finger licking dipping sauce all make this a favorite. We set out to make these at home and recreated a recipe that we love!

DIPPING SAUCE:

1/3 C soy

2 T rice wine vinegar

1/2 t sesame oil

1/2 t fresh grated ginger

1 green onion thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

red pepper flakes (optional)

sesame seeds (optional)

FILLING:

1 lb of ground pork

1 C finely chopped cabbage

(I use shredded cabbage for coleslaw and chop further.)

4 green onions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 t grated fresh ginger

2 t soy sauce

1 t sesame oil

1 t salt

1 egg

1 package of potsticker/dumpling wrappers

1. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients. Wisk together and set aside.

2. Combine all filling ingredients and mix together well with hands. 

3. Lay one wrapper on the counter. Place a small amount of the filling in the center. Dip your finger in water and brush 1/2 of the edge of the wrapper to wet it. Fold in half, pinching the edges together to create a seal. (You can crimp them, but I found the flat edges crisp up better in the pan.) Place potsticker on a plate and repeat this until you have run out of dumpling wrappers, or filling... or both!

4. Heat approx. 1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil in a fry pan. Place potstickers in without any of them touching (you will need to cook these in batches.) 

5. Cook batch 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. After browning on the second side, pour approx. 1/2 C water into the pan and cover with a lid immediately. Steam potstickers until the water has dissolved, approximately 2 minutes. Cut one open to make sure meat is cooked (add more water to steam longer if needed).  Remove batch from pan and set aside, covering to keep warm. Repeat until all have been cooked.

6. Plate with dipping sauce and serve.

Enjoy!