Adventures of an American Chef On The Run: Honey Apple Pie Carrots

As many of you know, I love apple pie.  Part of this love is due to the sugary cinnamon sweet flavor.  I found a recipe similar to this a long time ago and decided to try my own variation tonight.  Its now one of my favorite carrot side dishes, I present to you honey apple pie carrots.  They're sweet and flavorful, the cinnamon mingles nicely with the characteristic carrot flavor. Let's get on with it, shall we?

You'll need carrots, about a pound of them split between John and I was enough for us each to have a full serving.  I used honey from Guerrero, brown sugar and ceylon cinnamon as well.  Some la gloria butter goes into the mix too,as does a pinch of salt.

Start by slicing the carrots. How thick is up to you, just keep it even.  Keep in mind thicker slices will make the dish take a lot longer to cook.

Transfer them to a pan.

Once you've got what you need in the pan, fill it with water and put it on the stove on high, to bring to a full boil.

Keep it boiling until the rounds are tender.  Test this with a fork, if it slides in easily they're ready to be drained, partially anyways.

Drain most of the water, saving a bit to help develop the sweet sauce.

Add sugar, depending on your tastes.  This is also the point to add butter, I added about 3 tablespoons for our amount.  This can be done with a little or a lot of sugar, I tried to go for an inbetween.  I ended up adding more later to taste, so if it's not sweet enough down the line, you can still add sugar as long as you allow it to dissolve completely before considering it done.

I used about a half teaspoon of cinnamon for our two servings.

Probably about 4 tablespoons of honey went into this.

Turn on the heat and return to a boil.  Allow this to continue for a good while to allow the sugars to caramelize effectively and to allow them to seep into the carrots, making them sweeter.  They should look something like the photo above when they're done. A dash of salt stirred in will finish these off completely. 

I fried some chicken tenders in lard to accompany this dinner, just in case you were wondering.

There you have it, sweet cinnamony apple pie carrots.  With a name like that, who wouldn't love them?  I enjoyed these more than I enjoyed the chicken, to be honest, and I'm okay with that.  This is for sure something I intend to make more in the future.  Next time you're looking for a side dish, try this one out!