Sous-B-Q™: Sous Vide Carrots

Grilling or smoking carrots tends to yield a result that is overly charred while still quite raw. Sous vide eliminates this occurrence.

Procedure:

Peel the carrots and trim off the very ends. Seal the carrots in vacuum or Ziploc Freezer Bags and process in the sous vide bath at 183 F/84 C for one hour. Cold shock the packages in 70 F/21 C water until the water's temperature stays at that temperature for fifteen minutes after you turn off the tap. Add ice or more cold water as needed to accomplish this. Dry the packages and refrigerate @40 F/4 C until needed. Remove the carrots and save the juices--these are excellent additions to stocks and soups. Cut the carrots into strips as shown. Dust in flour along with any other vegetables that you want to smoke. This step is controversial, but if you just use barely enough flour to coat, the marinade will absorb it and form a light crust. Add enough marinade to coat, and arrange carrots on screens on sheet pans. Transfer to the barbecue and process at 180 F/82 C for 4 hours. At this low temperature there is no risk of scorching or burning. Avoid "peeking" into the smoker, because this lowers the temperature, affects results and delays the process. Once the time has elapsed, remove the carrots from the smoker and allow to cool somewhat. After cooling they can be carefully stacked along with any other vegetables being processed--I usually try to do several types at once and then store them until needed. They are excellent cold and can be reheated in a conventional oven or even microwave with excellent results. Once you are ready to serve, there are many options. As a sort of variation on Antipasto, they look like this: Sous-B-Q carrots also make an excellent appetizer on their own. "Stay Tuned"

Norm King