Easy Pickled Carrots

Adapted from Epicurious

This recipe calls for 1 1/2 tablespoons of fennel or dill seeds, I prefer dill (which I couldn’t find in Paris). You can use what you’d like, or leave them out. Another addition is to add some thickly cut radish slices with the carrots in step 4, as I did with a second batch.

1 pound (450g) carrots, peeled
1 1/4 cups (310ml) water, plus water for parboiling the carrots before pickling
1 cup (250ml) cider vinegar
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
2 garlic cloves, lightly-crushed
optional: 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel or dill seeds, (See Note)
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea or kosher salt
1 bay leaf

Cut the carrots into sticks. Bring a medium-sized pot of lightly salted water to a boil. (Use a non-reactive pot.)
When the water boils, drop the carrots in and simmer for one minute. Pour into a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain thoroughly.
In the same pot, heat the 1 1/4 cups water with the remaining ingredients. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes.
Remove from heat and add the carrot sticks. Cool until room temperature, then put into jars and chill.

Notes

Carrot pickles should be made at least one day in advance, and will keep for up to four weeks in the refrigerator.