Wildfire Wine: Free Smoked Carrot Recipe
You may not want your wine to taste like smoke. With carrots, it's a whole different story.
Ha! You did think this series would end with a recipe involving wine, didn’t you? Don’t fret, I’ve got some mushrooms in red wine for you, just not here, but over there. Today, I’m not stealing from my (nonexistent) wine cellar. I’m focusing on smoke! And in this vegan recipe, it’s a flavor that is welcome, if not required.
New here? Every month, Climate Culinarians picks one topic and publishes a series of newsletters about it, ending with a recipe (see the weekly structure here). This month was all about wildfire smoke and wine. Subscribe to never miss a new post!
“Smoked” Carrot
This small batch is enough for a bunch of little snacks or two bagels - and for passed bites, if you are planning to serve a choice of those. I had so many guests who thought these carrot slices were salmon/lox … it’s hilarious. You can prepare the whole thing a day or two ahead. So it’s great for parties!
I believe a shared meal is the best opportunity to talk about climate solutions. And about wildfire and wine, of course. So I hope you’ll enjoy these smoky bites in good company.
You will need an ingredient called liquid smoke, which is made from burning wood chips and then catching the smoke in condensers. It should only consist of smoke and water (some brands add ingredients like molasses or food coloring, so look at the label if you want pure smoke).
Ingredients:
1 large carrot (150g)
1-2 inch piece kombu seaweed (dried)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
1/4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp neutral oil like canola oil
Make it:
Pour 2 inches of water in a medium pot. Add kombu.
Cut very thin slices off the carrot, lengthwise. This works really well with a Y-shaped vegetable peeler: Set it close to the carrot top and move down all the way to the tip. After cutting two or three slices this way, you have a flat surface to place the carrot on. Hold it on the top and go on moving the peeler from carrot top to carrot tip. There will be leftover pieces - use them for another meal (or just snack on them).
Bring water with kombu to a boil. Add carrot slices and cook on medium for 4 minutes.
Drain carrots well, remove kombu.
Add all the marinade ingredients (salt to oil) to a small bowl and mix vigorously.
Place drained carrots in a bowl or container and drizzle with marinade. Carefully mix it - I use my hands - so all the carrot slices are covered with marinade. Some of the carrot pieces may come apart, that’s totally fine.
Cover the bowl/container with a lid or plate and let the carrots marinade for at least 60 minutes. If longer, move container to the fridge.
Serve on crackers or rye bread with (vegan) cream cheese, on bagels or sandwiches, or use in a salad.
If you fall in love with the smoky taste of these carrots, it’s easy to make more: Add a carrot or two and double the marinade ingredients except for the liquid smoke, that should be between the same and 1.5x - add it last and keep tasting how much feels good to you.
This is the last part of a series about wildfire smoke and wine. If you missed the other episodes, follow these links:
Wildfire Wine, Part 1: Why some wines taste like ash
Wildfire Wine, Part 2: How to save grapes from smoke
Wildfire Wine, Part 3: Four Books about California wine ... or wildfire
And what’s coming up next Thursday? A new topic! Next month will be about …. well, you wait and see. All I’m saying is it will involve a kitchen essential that somehow got caught up in a culture war.
Eat, read, repeat!
Petrina
Climate Culinarians is a project by me, Petrina Engelke. I write about climate and food, and I help other writers turn their ideas into a book people want to read. In other words: I’m a journalist and a book coach. Read more about this newsletter & me here.