Carrot

It’s hard to improve upon a standard, but this recipe for chicken potpie does just that. Each individual serving is topped with a ruffle-edged round of herb-flecked dough. The filling contains all the usual, well-loved components, but the creamy sauce is brightened with lemon zest.

Their subtle sweetness and affinity for spices make carrots a natural choice for other baked goods besides the more familiar cakes and muffins. Here, they provide an unexpected flavor for individual tarts with another surprise: pastry crusts coated in crushed gingersnaps.

Carrots are often underappreciated, and we think they are one of those incredible vegetables that is worth another look. We were inspired to re-create a modern version of a classic Jewish dish called tzimmis, which is served to welcome in the new year. With its great balance of savory carrots, refreshing mint, and lemon juice, plus crunchy, earthy walnuts and sweet honey and prunes, this is one of our go-to roasted veg dishes at the Shop. Serve warm or at room temperature.

With its rich and subtle flavor, veal is one of the traditional meats used in Italian meatballs. Here we layer it with Parmesan cheese, oregano, and aromatic vegetables. At the Shop we use veal breast, which is inexpensive and has a relatively high fat content. It is a bit more work to butcher and grind, but it’s worth the exceptional outcome. Ask your butcher in advance to bone the breast and grind it for you. Serve with Sauce Vierge (page 65) and Braised Green Beans (page 101).

Sometimes you just gotta take a break from hard-core carnivordom, and these are the way to go—just ask our staff, who eat them around the clock. These balls happen to be Mike’s favorite, too. You’ll often find us at the bar with a big bowl, topped with Classic Tomato Sauce (page 56) or Spinach-Basil Pesto (page 58) and a side of steamed or sautéed spinach. And when it comes to kids, this is a great and tasty way to sneak in more veggies.

My love of rice paper began in childhood with candies that came packaged in colorful boxes, mostly pinkish and with children pictured gleefully jumping. Inside were gummy candies, chewable like jujubes, only softer. The fun part was unwrapping the outer paper and getting to the inside wrapping. At first it seemed like another layer of paper, a bit stiff like cellophane. But then you would pop the candy into your mouth and let the wrapping hydrate until soft enough to chew. I always found it a thrill “eating” my way from seemingly inedible paper to edible candy. So it is with rice paper wrappers for Vietnamese spring rolls” What seems at first glance a large plastic disk not for consumption, with hydration becomes supple enough to enfold all manner of comestibles.

These are like tiny inside-out carrot cakes, with the signature cream cheese frosting on the inside and spiced “cake” on the outside.

Coleslaw is an absolute essential in a barbecue joint. We make ours fresh twice a day so the crispness and integrity of the cabbage always contrasts with the tangy, creamy dressing. What I’m saying is, it don’t get better with age.

Here’s another dish that’s a hit on veggie night!

Growing up in a classic meat-and-potatoes family, I can’t remember a meal that didn’t include meat. As an adult, I’ve learned you don’t always have to have meat at dinner. This dish is a perfect choice for a meal that is all veggies and will leave you full and satisfied.

There are as many varieties of coleslaw as there are shades of pink, especially in the South! A lot of coleslaw recipes have sugar as an ingredient, but this one gets that bit of sweetness from sweet salad pickles, which don’t mask the fresh flavors of the cabbage and carrots. We serve this every Fourth of July with Barbecued Pork Ribs (page 84) and Easy Baked Beans (page 133).

Every year we buy a large jar of herbes salées in Kamouraska. It’s a typical Bas Du Fleuve product that lets you enjoy the taste of garden fresh herbs when the temperature is –4°F (–20°C) and your backyard is under a blanket of snow. It is essentially a big spoonful of herbs with carrots and onions that stay fresh because of the brine. You can use this traditional northern condiment with anything: potatoes, soups, seafood, lamb, gravies, terrines, and meat pies.

You can use any type of carrot for this dish: perfect bunching carrots in midsummer, Touchons in the fall, or large carrots to feed livestock in the winter. Use anything but the dreary, bagged mini carrots carved from larger, less valuable specimens (they have more in common with sea monkeys than food). It’s simple: if the carrots look shitty that day, buy spinach. If not, cook them up like this.

This is a staple in pretty much every professional kitchen, and with this easy method, it could be in yours, too. We like to eat the crudités with our Zesty Italian Tartare (page 245).

Try sorghum syrup in place of honey to make these simple glazed carrots. Lee's preferred brand is Kentucky Pure Cane Sweet Sorghum, available at bourbonbarrelfoods.com.

We serve a lot of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. People love the moist cake with the creamy frosting—and, from our informal polling, our customers prefer their carrot cake without raisins or nuts and with lots of cream cheese frosting!

Heirloom carrots, with their deep varied hues of orange, yellow, and purple, are ideal for this salad, but you can use regular carrots and it will be just as delicious. Just make sure they’re organic and smaller in size to ensure the same tender, sweet results. You can use a vegetable peeler or a mandoline to make the ribbons. The vegetable peeler takes a little longer, but produces beautifully thin, delicate strips. A mandoline, on the other hand, is faster but makes thicker ribbons if you are not careful. If you go this route, let the ribbons sit for a few minutes after tossing with the dressing so they soften somewhat.

The olive oil is a nontraditional addition, but Brian believes that it keeps the stock from darkening. He salts it very lightly to avoid overseasoning the dish in which the stock is eventually used. Vegetable stock tastes best when freshly made, but you can freeze it.

Caramelized onions, carrots, and a pinch of sugar give this braise a subtle sweetness, with cider vinegar adding balance. In the end, the chicken and vegetables are cloaked in a luscious, light pan sauce derived from the reduced pan juices. Serve with Dirty Rice with Fennel (page 102) or with plain steamed rice or boiled potatoes. (See photo on page 103.)

Brian likes to serve this slaw with Moroccan Lamb Brochettes (page 124), but it would also complement grilled swordfish, fish brochettes, or grilled sausages. Sometimes, at home with his family, he buys spicy merguez (lamb sausages) from a local merchant, grills them, and tucks them into a baguette with aioli and this crunchy slaw. Choose firm green olives, such as picholines. The texture will be better if you buy the olives unpitted and pit them yourself.