Roasted carrots with goat cheese, chives and lime #186

Here in Sweden it is a great season for carrots, they are cheap, tasty and beautiful and come in all shapes and colors, at least if you visit a good vegetable shop. I really like to serve vegetables almost on their own and let they play the main part of a dish. That approach might not work so well if you are serving a main dish but for a starter or in this case tapas it´s absolutely perfect.

I also felt while making this dish that I´ve probably been making something similar before, so I checked and for a trip down memory lane you can check out my previous recipe with roasted carrots, then served with Greek feta cheese instead.

Roasted carrots with goat cheese, chives and lime

carrots, any size, color or shape you like

butter

lime

soft goat cheese

chives

olive oil

salt, pepper

What to do

Trim and rinse the carrots, if the skin is thick then peel them as well, fry in a pan in a combination of butter and olive oil on medium heat until they are golden and almost cooked through. Check using a small knife while they are cooking so they don´t get to soft, adjust the heat if necessary. When done season with salt and pepper. 

Cut a lime into wedges and add to the pan, roast the lime with the flesh side down until it´s browned, almost burnt. Remove from the pan. Slice the chives.

Plating

Spread a spoonful of goat cheese on the bottom of each plate, add the carrots on top and squeeze a wedge of lime on the carrots, leave each wedge on the plate. Sprinkle the chives on top with a bit of salt, pepper and a few drops of olive oil, serve.

Egg with truffle caramelized onion and beef broth #185

Eggs and truffles always go good together, to make that into a complete dish I added some caramelized onions, fresh herbs and a flavorful but still mild beef broth. Only tricky thing about this dish is getting a good beef broth, sometimes you can find good broths or stocks at good supermarkets, if you don´t want to cook your own then look for one or ask around if there are any to be bought near where you live.

Egg with truffle caramelized onion and beef broth

eggs

beef bones with a bit of meat left on

onion

mixed fresh herbs, for example chives, parsley, chervil

truffles, fresh or oil (I used summer truffles in truffle oil in this recipe)

carrot

garlic

bay leaf

salt, pepper

butter

The beef broth

In a frying pan roast the bones and meat until golden, season with a bit of salt and pepper, add a chopped carrot, a clove of garlic, a bay leaf and cook for a few minutes. Add water until it´s covered and let simmer on low heat for at least 6 hours, this is usually best to prepare a day or two ahead and then keep refrigerated until serving, then just heat and check the taste before serving.

Keep adding water as it will evaporate during cooking, once time is up strain the stock and discard the bones and vegetables, check the flavor and reduce if necessary.

The onion

Peel and slice the onion, add to a frying pan with a little bit of butter and some salt and pepper, cook on low heat until it starts to brown and the onion is completely cooked through, check the taste and add a bit of sugar if it´s not sweet enough.

The egg

In a small frying pan cook the egg with a little bit of butter on low heat until the egg white are done, season with salt.

Final steps and plating

Chop the herbs, heat the beef stock, add the fried egg in the middle of a bowl or soup plate, put the onions on top and add the truffle and herbs. Pour the warm beef broth on top, serve.