CHRISTMAS CARROTS RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Carrots boiled with orange, garlic and herbs: Boil the carrots in salted boiling water with a tablespoon of sugar, a knob of butter and a little handful of fragrant herbs, tied up. Parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay – use just one or a mixture. Cut an orange into eighths and add them to the water, along with a few whole garlic cloves in their skins. If you really want to be a little tiger, add a pinch of cumin as well (seeds or ground) – it subtly cuts through with the most wonderful flavour. As soon as the carrots are cooked, drain them, discard the herbs and all but one of the orange pieces, squeeze the garlic out of its skin, chop the remaining orange piece finely and toss with the carrots, some seasoning and a little more butter. The flavour will be incredible.
  2. Another idea is to fry the chopped-up orange in a good tablespoon of sugar, so it almost jammifies, and serve this on top of the carrots. These two flavours together are one of the coolest things.
  3. Or, roasted carrots with orange, garlic and thyme: just as easy – as soon as you drain the carrots you can throw them into a baking tray with the chopped-up orange and the garlic cloves and roast them at 200°C/400°F/gas 6 for 10 minutes – this will give you a slightly meatier flavour.
  4. Or simply mash the carrots up with the orange and garlic, so you have some coarse and some smooth. Lovely.

Steps:

• 1. If you’re cooking your veg separately, rather than with my perfect roast chicken, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
  2. Peel the vegetables, halving any larger ones lengthways. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled, and bash them slightly with the palm of your hand. Pick the rosemary leaves.
  3. Put the potatoes and carrots into a large pan – you may need to use two – of boiling salted water on a high heat and bring back to the boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then add the parsnips and cook for another 4 minutes.
  4. Drain in a colander and allow to steam dry. Take out the carrots and parsnips and put to one side.
  5. Fluff up the potatoes in the colander by shaking it around a little – it’s important to ‘chuff them up’ like this if you want them to have all those lovely crispy bits when they’re cooked.
  6. Put a large roasting tray over a medium heat and either add a few generous lugs of olive oil or carefully spoon a little of the fat from the meat you’re cooking, and add the garlic and rosemary.
  7. Tip the vegetables into the tray, season with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper and turn the veg over to coat them in the flavours. Spread them out evenly into one layer – this is important, as you want them to roast, not steam as they will if you have them all on top of each other.
  8. Roast for 1 hour, or until golden and crisp, then serve immediately with your roast and some delicious gravy.