Carrots

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Wikipedia – Carrots

GC#1 :: Cosmic Purple Carrot These colorful delights, introduced in 2005, are purple outside, orange inside, grate well, and are good for coleslaw. Cosmic purple carrots have crunchy roots, a sweet flavor, and are coreless with a slight hint of spice. They have tapered roots which are 7 inches long on average and mature in 70 days, with the 14 inch tops ideal for chickens, rabbits, goats, etc. After losing out to orange carrots long ago, purple carrots have been rediscovered. GC#2 ::  Red Surrey Carrot This carrot is dark orange, highly uniform with a rounded to conical stem end, and smooth textured with minor green coloration and green foliage. Red Surrey is a slightly drier carrot with a grainy texture but still crisp and delicious. When eaten raw, these carrots are moderately sweet with a pleasant floral flavor. These carrots when cooked are sweet and have a very nice earthy flavor and dense texture. GC#3 ::  Rouge Sang Violette Carrot Rouge Sang Violette is a beautiful carrot variety with reddish-violet skinned roots and a variety of colors in the core. Rouge sang means “blood red”, and indeed, this heirloom French carrot has brilliant color presenting a rainbow in cross-section from purple and red to orange to yellow in the center. Unlike some of the “off-color” carrots, Rouge Sang is one of the sweetest carrots grown. These tasty carrots are one of the easiest-germinating carrots and very cold-hardy, measuring 6 inches long by 2 inches wide and over winter well in a root cellar. GC#4 ::  Japanese Long Carrot Japanese Long is a deep-rooted carrot with intensely red-orange roots growing to 2 feet in fertile soil. Since we had limited info on this particular variety, this is a good place to mention that this carrot is Bugs Bunny’s most delectable garden treat and the reason that gun-toting Elmer Fudd is in constant pursuit of Bugsy’s nightly raids of his walipini & hoop house garden patches (Joke). GC#5 ::  Kintoki Carrot Kintoki is a lycopene rich, 30-40cm carrot with tapered roots. This variety produces in 110 days, can be eaten raw, and is great cooked in soup or stir-fried. The leaves can be added into a salad or cooked in a tempura dish. The roots are notably tender and sweet; its sweet flavor makes this variety ideal for carrot juice.  GC#6 :: Solar Yellow Carrot Solar Yellow are very unusual and beautifully colored carrots which are golden yellow inside and out.  The Xanthophylls that gives these carrots their buttery yellow color is reportedly associated with good eye health. As far as researchers can document, yellow carrots originated in the Middle East sometime in the 900s. This variety is crunchy and juicy sweet; great both fresh and cooked. Solar Yellow is a Danvers type carrot that reaches about 6-7 inches in length and takes about 72 days to mature. GC#7 :: St. Valery Carrot St. Valery is a sweet and spicy carrot with crisp flesh. The outside is orangey-pink, with a fine texture and complex flavor that is not too sweet and has no bitterness. This variety has a very strong flavor compared to what you will find in the supermarket and is a wonderful carrot for soups and stews. St. Valery produces in 50 to 80 days from seed and is excellent for storage. This carrot can’t be mechanically harvested, so they have fallen out of favor commercially.

 We will also be growing the following additional carrots:

Carrots (Daucus carota) :: GC#8 -GC#11

8. Ahvaz 9. Caramba 10. Dahgestan White 11. Scarlet Nantes

Carrot Plant Material/Seed Providers:

• SSE = Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org
• HMS = High Mowing Seeds http://www.highmowingseeds.com/

Carrot Purchase Details

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 slice fresh ginger, peeled (about 1 tbsp)
• 1 large onion, cut in chunks
• 1-2 stalks celery, cut in chunks
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs carrots, cut in chunks (4 cups
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 medium potato
• 8 cups water or vegetable broth
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• 2 tbsp fresh dill
• 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
• 1-2 tbsp honey (or to taste – omit to make soup vegan)
• Sprigs of fresh dill for garnish (optional)

Items Needed

Food processor, large soup pot, immersion blender (optional- recommended)

Directions

1. Place the steel blade on your food processor. Drop garlic and ginger through feed tube while machine is running.
2. Process until minced. (Use mini-bowl and mini-blade if available) Set aside
3. Process onion and celery with quick on-off pulses, until coarsely chopped.
4. Heat oil in large soup pot. Saute onion and celery for 6 or 7 minutes, until tender, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if the vegetables begin to stick.
5. Process carrots with quick on/off pulses, until coarsely chopped.
6. Add to soup pot along with reserved garlic and ginger; cook 2 minutes longer.
7. Coarsely chop potato and sweet potatoes. Add to soup pot along with water or broth, salt and pepper.
8. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
9. Process basil and dill until minced, about 10 seconds. Reserve.
10. When the vegetables are nice and tender, puree the soup. Because of the quantity, it is easiest to use an immersion blender and puree the soup directly in the pot.
11. Alternatively, to puree soup in processor, place a strainer over a large bowl or saucepan. Strain soup, reserve cooking liquid. Puree solids on the steel blade attachment until smooth, working in batches if necessary. Stir pureed vegetables into the reserved cooking liquid.
12. Add minced basil, dill, lemon juice and honey to the soup (I used the immersion blender to blend them into the puree). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add additional water if the soup is too thick.
13. Serve hot. Garnish with a sprig of fresh dill, if desired. Keeps 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheats and/or freezes well.

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Layer:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp half n half
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Carrot Layer:

• 1 1/2 cups carrot juice
• 1/3 cup half n half
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions 

Cream Cheese Layer:

1. In a medium bowl combine cream cheese, brown sugar, half n half and vanilla.
2. Using a hand mixer, beat until creamy and all ingredients are well incorporated.
3. Transfer the cream cheese mixture to a piping bag or a Ziploc bag.
4. Snip off the corner and pipe the cream cheese mixture into the bottom of your Popsicle molds, dividing the mixture evenly.
5. Gently tap the molds onto the counter to remove any air bubbles and to help spread the mixture into the corners.
6. Freeze for 30 minutes or until mixture has firmed up.

Carrot Layer:

1. In a sauce pot, combine the carrot juice, half n half, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
2. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Turn off the heat, add the vanilla and stir.
4. Transfer the mixture to a 2 cup measuring cup and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
5. Place in refrigerator until well chilled.

Combining Layers:

1. Once the cream cheese mixture has firmed up in the pop molds, carefully pour the chilled carrot mixture over the cream cheese layer, dividing the mixture evenly.
2. Insert sticks or handles for your pops and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours.