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Carrots a la Flamande
Take young carrots (which alone are suitable), wash them well, cut off the heads and points, and place them in boiling water for five minutes. Take them out, drain, rub off the skin with a coarse cloth, cut them into very thin slices or star shapes, and put them into a saucepan with a cupful of water, a little salt and pepper, and a piece of butter the size of a small egg. Cover them closely, and simmer gently for twenty minutes, shaking the pan occasionally in order that they may be equally cooked. Mix the yolks of 2 eggs with 1 cupful of cream, and 1 dessertspoonful of finely chopped parsley. Draw the pan from the fire for a couple of minutes, taking off the cover; put a tablespoonful or two of the liquid with the eggs and cream, then pour the whole gradually into the saucepan. Stir the sauce until it thickens, and serve the carrots with the sauce poured over them. Time to stew the carrots, half an hour.
A classic egg-and-cream liaison over glazed carrots. The one thing that decides success is heat control at the end: once the yolks go in, the sauce must never approach a simmer or it will curdle.
- Butter the size of a small eggRoughly 1.5 to 2 oz (3 to 4 tablespoons). Egg-sized butter measures in this period are usually reckoned at about 2 oz; "small egg" suggests the lower end.
- DessertspoonfulTwo teaspoons. It sits between a teaspoon and a tablespoon in Victorian and Edwardian measure.
- Rubbing off the skinThe five-minute blanch loosens the skin on genuinely young carrots so a rough cloth takes it off. Supermarket carrots sold as "young" are often mature and thick-skinned, in which case peel them and skip the blanch.
- The two times givenThe body of the recipe says twenty minutes of gentle simmering, while the closing note gives half an hour, which may be intended to cover the five-minute blanch and heating-up as well. Thinly sliced young carrots in a covered pan with a cup of water will be tender well inside that; go by texture, not the clock.
- Tempering the saucePulling the pan off the heat, uncovering it for two minutes, and slackening the yolk-and-cream mixture with a spoonful or two of the hot liquid is the whole technique. Return the pan only to the lowest heat and stir until it coats the spoon, somewhere around 170-180F; much hotter and the yolks will scramble.
- Water levelThe recipe expects liquid left in the pan at the end, since a tablespoonful or two goes into the eggs and cream. A closely covered pan reduces very little, so if a great deal remains, lift the lid and boil it down before adding the eggs, or the sauce will be thin.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantity of carrots; the egg-and-cream liaison as written would sauce roughly a pound of trimmed carrots, enough for about four as a side dish. It does not reheat well once the liaison is in.