Carrot Souffle

Over the last few months, carrots have been very cheap.  Not baby carrots, but whole carrots.  You know, the ones you have to peel and chop yourself.  

I think our generation considers whole carrots a bit old fashioned and frankly, a hassle.  They're not ready to eat as soon as you buy them and that's just unacceptable to some people.  Well my friends, that's part of the reason they're cheaper.  Plus, how well do they really wash the ready-to-eat veggies?  Wouldn't you trust your own washing better than the someone else's?  How do they even wash the vegetables?  I have no idea, do you?

Recently, I have been buying organic whole carrots for $0.88/lb (pictured above) and regular whole carrots for $0.49/lb.  The cheapest I have found baby carrots (regular, not organic) is $0.99/lb so it's quite a bit of savings if you can find the time to wash, peel and cut your own carrots.  

Since they have been such a good price I have been stocking up.  We eat them pretty regularly (raw, steamed, roasted, in soups, etc) but sometimes I still get too many in the refrigerator and I have to figure out what to do with them before they go bad.  One method to get them out of the fridge is to wash, peel, chop them into 1/2 inch pieces, transfer to a freezer bag and store them in the freezer.  Then they are ready to be used as a base for soups, stocks, sauces, etc.  Did you know that using a combination of chopped onions, celery and carrots is called a mirepoix?

This week I used some of my carrot surplus for a carrot souffle; this recipe uses 2 pounds of carrots so it put a good dent in my stock.  I have had it before at a restaurant but it's been a long time. I was pleasantly reminded of how delicious this souffle is.  It's creamy, it's sweet, it's just down right delicious.  It's almost more of a dessert than it is a side dish.  Don't be fooled by the fact that it's made from carrots, this recipe is not a healthy recipe.  It's chock full of butter and sugar and all things wonderful.  

**Do not serve parsley with the carrot souffle.  I simply used it as a prop.  Don't you think it makes the orange color of the carrot souffle pop?  I sure did!**