Local Ingredients: Mint Glazed Carrots

Do you ever see a recipe on a blog that you know you absolutely have to try? When I saw a recipe for Mint Glazed Carrots on Foodies @ Home, I knew that I had to make it immediately.  Luckily, I had a lovely bunch of carrots sitting in the fridge from Siena Farms to work with and I decided to adapt this recipe to make this lovely side dish on Thursday night.

I washed the carrots and peeled them.  I started to slice the carrots and I had to pause to take a picture.  Isn't this purple carrot simply gorgeous?

I sliced all of the carrots and gave it a quick toss in a bowl with salt and fresh cracked peppercorns.

Since my skillet was already in use, I warmed up a wok on the stove-top.  I added a few pats of unsalted butter along with my carrots.  I then added the rest of my ingredients.  First, I added two minced cloves of red Russian garlic (also from Siena Farms).

I then added four generous tablespoons of agave nectar.  The original recipe called for honey but I decided to make a healthy substitute.  Plus, I love using the agave that I picked up when I was in Cozumel whenever I can.

I then added a half cup of a nice dry reisling Bret picked up on his way home from the gym.

I added a few more pats of butter (I'd say about two tablespoons of butter in the dish overall) and let the carrots cook in the butter and wine sauce.

While the carrots were cooking, I washed, dried and finely chopped up a handful of mint.  When the wine cooked down and the carrots cooked through, the sauce had thickened up nicely to provide a nice glaze.  Instead of mixing it in with the carrots, I topped the carrots with the fresh mint and it was ready to serve.

I loved how the carrots almost looked like beets from the bright purple carrots.  The carrots were sweet and I thought that the agave nectar would make the carrots overly sweet but the wine and mint really balanced the sweetness out. 

We ate the carrots for dinner as a side to our baked panko-crusted chicken nuggets and Olivia's Organics herb salad (topped with green onion and goat cheese). 

Thanks to Foodies @ Home for sharing this recipe.  Don't you love finding new recipes on food blogs and trying them out in your kitchen? 

What are some food blogs you look to for inspiration in your kitchen?

One last reminder to enter my CSN Stores giveaway, which ends on Sunday night at 11:59 PM!