Seared Carrots and Fennel with Cumin and Ricotta

After returning home from the book reading last night, I found that T had eaten with the boys so I set about to make dinner for myself. I found a half-bunch of carrots and a head of fennel and, as a slight aside, thought about how much I like cumin and carrots together. Surely, the similar sweetnesses of carrots and fennel meant cumin would pair well with both. I got out my trusty Lodge, heated some olive oil and tossed in a couple halved cloves of garlic. Once everything was steamy hot, I added the fennel and carrots, which I'd sliced, in a single layer. They immediately started to sear and caramelize and everything smelled heavenly. Towards the end, I added a hefty sprinkle of cumin seed, later deglazed the pan with a bit of pear Brandy, plated the whole shebang and topped it with Maldon, fennel fronds and dollops of fresh ricotta.

This.was.divine!