Recipe Week! - Quick Braised Carrots

I am the first to admit I'm not that good with side dishes, but this one is a popular one even for those that don't love carrots. We discovered this recipe when I was making baby food for B (did I mention I did that? Might have been compensating for failing at breastfeeding, but rather enjoyed it and plan to try it with M:)) The recipe comes pretty exactly from How To Cook Everything. Actually, as you will see, many of my stock recipes come from this tome. The slight carmelizing of the syrup on the carrots makes this recipe for me. Then again, I'm a big fan of braising overall so that might be it too. With no more meandering, here is today's side dish recipe:

Quick-Braised Carrots with butter
(4 servings - takes about 20 minutes)

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks (julienne)
2 T butter (or canola oil, but butter is awesome)
1/4 c. water
1 tsp sugar or 1 t Maple syrup (later is my preference)
salt and peper to taste

optional: add minced herbs such as parsley, mint, etc... (I generally haven't added this).

1) Place carrots, butter, water, sugar, salt and pepper in a medium saucepan on high heat, bring to boil and cover. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes
2) Uncover and raise the heat a little. Cook stirring occasionally until all the liquid has evaporated and carrots are cooking in the butter. Then, lower the heat a little and cook stirring occasionally until tender (just a couple more minutes). I look for the carrots to brown just a tiny bit so you have a little carmelization. Taste and serve.

(He has an optional version where he adds 1/4 c. orange juice in place of the water along with 1 T. orange zest and 1 T. Ginger... I think I've tried the orange addition and liked it, but don't remember adding ginger).

Experiment away and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!