Leeky Carrots

Are you one of those, like my mother, brother and myself who groan a little internally when presented with a dish of carrots as the accompaniment to a meal? Do you look at those orange sticks/cubes/disks and think: 'What are you here for? What do you want with me?'. Well, your troubles are over my friend (as long as you don't feel the same about leeks, but c'mon, who does?? Leeks are wonderful. They also changed my view of carrots entirely, so here you go):

Serves about 3 people but, once again, it depends on your appetite and quanitites can always be changed.
Ingredients:
4 large carrots - sometimes I've had the luck of finding carrots in a local market of various colours, including purple (they were normal I swear) making for a very bright and colourful dish
3 large(ish) leeks - with the (flarey) ends chopped off
Salted butter

Cook in a saucepan with a lid that fits (it seems obvious but if you've seen our collection, you'd understand this does need emphasising)
1. Chop the leeks and carrots Julienne style - now I shall explain this further because I had no clue when I first did this and I did just have to google the term when writing this to check:
Leeks: for each leek, cut along it lengthways so that both halves have a flat side and a cuved side. Place each half flat side down and chop each length in half to make them easier to deal with. Now, chopping lengthways, and with each chop as close to the last one as possible, create mathstick (or very thin) pieces of leek,
Carrot: As with the leek, it is easier if you chop each carrot along it's length and put it flat side down on the surface. If they are quite large, you can then chop them in half the other way to make them easier to deal with. Following the above method, start from one of the longer edges and chop the carrot into fine matchstick pieces (if easier, you can chop the carrot into batons and then slice them into thinner pieces from this position). 
2. Place a reasonably large knob of butter in the saucepan over a medium heat and allow to melt. Add the carrots and leeks.
3. Place the lid on the saucepan and allow to cook for approximately 15 minutes checking the vegetables occasionally and stirring to make sure no bits get burnt on the bottom of the pan - try to minimise this activity though as you don't want the lid to be removed too often.
4. Once the carrots and leaks have cooked and softened, you can remove from the heat and season more to your tasting

You should find that the flavour of the leeks has leeked (ha!) into the carrots producing a delicious (and much less carroty) taste. 

Yumm!