A Sweet, Sweet Glaze

In the second and last article about my thanksgiving feast we shall discuss glazed vegetables. This is an age old bistro technique but really rose to popularity in North America in the eighties and nineties. If you’ve ever eaten candied yams or sweet carrots as a side dish then you’ve had this in an altered form of the bistro style (Usually with more sugar). The goal of a good glazed vegetable is to use a very small amount of sugar to bring out the natural sweetness in the vegetables. The usual veggies used are things like sweet potatoes and yams, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and pearl onions.

The best way to make a good glazed veg dish is to ‘turn’ your produce into a slightly rounded shape. What I tend to do is cut the vegetables into 2” long cylinders and then trim the ends to create an oval shape (see the picture). Making them round or oval shape like this lets the veggies roll around in the pan and get perfectly glazed. This is also good practice for improving your knife skills!

Glazed Vegetables

Prepared vegetables (for each type of vegetable to be cooked, you’ll need a separate pan and a separate set of all the ingredients)

A small knob of butter

A large pinch of sugar

A sprig of herbs (rosemary, thyme or bay are classic root vegetable pairings)

Method:

• Put the vegetables in a pot big enough for them to be in a single layer and roll a little tiny bit.
• Cover with water until a half inch over the vegetables.
• Place the rest of the ingredients into the pot (or pots if doing multiple veggies) and bring to a boil.
• Keep the water at a simmer uncovered. The goal is to have the vegetables finish cooking and become tender as the water level simmers off to about 2 tablespoons. If you need to add a bit more water as it boils away or scoop out the vegetables into a bowl and reduce the water if they are cooking too slowly or too fast
• I will fully admit, although I have used this technique seven or eight times I have only ever gotten the water to reach the right level and have the vegetables fully cooked without intervening once. It takes practice and a good knowledge of veggies.
• When it gets down to the right level, season with a pinch of salt and roll around to fully glaze. Remove the herb seasoning before serving.

These can be cooked before hand and kept at room temperature for up an hour or two, simply toss back into the pan and reheat on low when you are ready for them.