• Yield: Makes 4 servings

  • Time: 10 minutes prep, 2 to 3 hours cooking


It appeared mysteriously spartan on the menu at Coi, Daniel Patterson's ashram for food in San Francisco's North Beach: "Carrots/Coffee." What did it mean? It turned out to be genius--sweet, smoky, and earthy genius. Pencil-thin carrots are baked on a bed of coffee beans that warm gently, releasing their oils. This unexpected dish celebrates all the advantages of slow cooking: the coffee fumes gradually infuse the vegetables, creating an ephemeral sensation of something roasted that one can identify as "coffee" only after the tongue whispers to the brain.


Ingredients

  • 1 lb/455 g thin carrots (no thicker than 1/2 in/12 mm in diameter), peeled

  • 1 tsp olive oil

  • 1 small garlic clove, minced

  • Coarse sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

  • 1 cup/90 g medium-roast coffee beans, preferably decaf

Instructions


Preheat the oven to 225°F/110°C/gas 1/4. Place a cast-iron skillet over medium heat to heat for about 5 minutes.


In a large bowl, combine the carrots, olive oil, and garlic and toss until the carrots are slicked with oil and the garlic bits are distributed evenly. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.


Add the coffee beans to the hot skillet and remove from heat. Shake until the coffee is aromatic and the beans look a bit oily, about 3 minutes. Scatter the carrots over the beans in a single layer and cover the pan with a lid or a sheet of heavy-duty alumi¬num foil. Bake until the carrots are fork-tender and infused with coffee oil, 2 to 3 hours. 


Lift the carrots from the bed of coffee beans and serve immediately. Discard the coffee.


Store: for up to 3 days, covered in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in a low oven.


From Cooking Slow: Recipes for Slowing Down and Cooking More by Andrew Schloss, Chronicle Books, 2013.

Andrew Schloss
Andrew Schloss is a restaurateur; the author of 12 cookbooks; a writer whose articles have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, Bon Appetit and Family Circle; and president of product development company Culinary Generations, Inc. He is the former president of The International Association of Culinary Professionals and former director of the culinary curriculum for The Restaurant School in Philadelphia. His website is AndrewSchloss.com. His latest book is Cooking Slow: Recipes for Slowing Down and Cooking More.