Roasted Cauliflower

This isn’t so much a recipe as an idea. An idea you should definitely try. Every time I make this Jacques says, “Why doesn’t everybody roast their cauliflower?” And maybe you do already. But I only started doing it a few months ago after reading about it somewhere, so in case you haven’t tried it yet, do so.

As is the case with many other vegetables (broccoli, asparagus, sweet potato…) roasting brings out these amazingly sweet flavours in cauliflower. Flavours I didn’t know existed. It comes out burnished and crispy, the perfect side to a piece of meat or fish. I’m sure it would also be wonderful tossed with pasta with some parmesan, maybe fresh tomatoes and capers.

Roasted Cauliflower

Serves 2

One small head cauliflower, about 1.5 lbs.
2 to 3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
about 6 grinds black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the outer leaves and stem from the cauliflower. Chop, or break up with your hands, into small to medium-sized florets. Chops the stems into bite-sized pieces. Toss in a large bowl with the oil, salt and pepper. Taste to see if there is enough salt. You could also add herbs and spices if you like.

Spread out in an even layer on a sheet pan. Roast for about 30 minutes, checking half-way through and turning with a spatula. When done, cauliflower should be tender and golden-brown in spots.

What’s New

Lucie is now ten months old. The moments, they are flying by fast. So fast. She crawls a mean streak, moving from room to room with ease. Standing is also a favourite activity. As is clapping her hands, and grinning.

She is eating all sorts of foods, usually whatever I cook for myself and Jacques. She’s taken a liking to pancakes and lately has eaten whole bananas in one sitting. She likes eating with her fingers more and more, often pushing the spoon away. She has an extremely cute way of pushing pieces of food into her mouth with her index finger.

When I think about having to leave her for eight hours at a time to go to work, my heart feels tight. I’m not sure I’ll be able to bear it.

I go back to work April 29th. I’m ready, and also not ready at all. This past year has been the longest and shortest of my life.  Long because it feels like about 10 years ago that I lay in that hospital bed and looked at my daughter for the first time. Short because I can’t believe how big she is already. Soon she will be walking and talking. Soon she will be a toddler. How did this happen?

Those of you who are still reading may have noticed this space really languished the past few months. I’ve struggled to regularly post about what I’m cooking and eating. Not because it’s not good - I’ve made a lot of great things in the kitchen lately. I just can’t seem to organize myself to photograph them and write about them.

Of course everyone says, “Oh, you’re a new Mom, you must be so busy, I’m sure you don’t have time to blog!” Well, yes and no, people. When I talk to other parents with kids under one I feel incredibly grateful. Of course parenting takes time – most days lunch, for example, is never finished in under an hour – but Lucie is so happy to play by herself that I usually have lots of time to accomplish my own things during the course of the day. 

So I really have no excuse. And I’m not here to make excuses anyway. I think I’m trying to figure out what this space is now that my life has changed so, so much. I feel the urge to write about Lucie, about my family life, and I don’t really want to quell that urge. Of course I still want to write about food too. I hope I can come to a happy medium.

Now that the evenings are longer there is hope for taking some decent photographs of the food I’ve been cooking. There is a wonderfully tasty and easy kale pesto I’d really like to share with you. A divine tomato sauce that we’ve been inhaling lately. Some beautiful cheese buns that are a cinch to make and addictive to eat. I hope that I will back before long with a few of these recipes to share.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the days with my daughter. Her bubbly laughs, her fierce determination, the amazing sounds she makes when she sees another baby on the street. And I’ll go from there.

Wild Earth Cafe, Edmonton

Wild Earth is the cafe I wish I had in my neighbourhood. It’s in Mill Creek, so I don’t get over there very often, but when I do I remember how much I love it.

Back in the fall I wrote a post about great cafes in Toronto, and bemoaned the lack of such good ones here in Edmonton. After writing that I thought about it some more, and I spent some more time at Transcend Cafe in Garneau, about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. I realized Transcend was actually the kind of cafe I was looking for – a comfortable vibe and delicious coffee. It does get busy, so it’s best to go during the week if you want a place to sit. The one thing they are lacking is a nice choice of GF sweets. I enjoy their gluten-free pao de quiejo, tapioca starch cheese buns, but they’re a unique treat that I’m not always in the mood for. 

Wild Earth has the whole package. Great atmosphere, delicious coffee, and a wide array of GF and non-GF sweets and main dishes. It is also a bakery that sells a variety of breads and sweets to take home (one of them is a GF cookie mix). We walked over there last week with our friend Irene, when the weather was nice. It’s not a short walk, about 45 minutes, so the trip felt like a special event. As I sat and savoured my latte and cookie, I realized that if Wild Earth was in my neighbourhood I would be there very often.

Let me tell you about that cookie. It was labelled a “monster” cookie, though I’m not exactly sure what that means. It was on the large side, about 5 inches wide, with the deep taste of brown sugar, and peppered with chocolate chips,  nuts, and oats. It was baked perfectly, so it was crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect for coffee-dipping. That’s my kind of cookie.

It was a delightful afternoon. We chatted and played with Lucie (who seems quite close to crawling). We lingered over our drinks. I love getting out of the neighbourhood and into different parts of the city, especially when it involves a beautiful walk along the river valley, and great cafes like this one. 

What are your favourite Edmonton cafes?

P.S. Just looked at the website and realized Wild Earth has a newish location in the Epcor Tower downtown! I will have to check that out soon.

Wild Earth Cafe
8902 99 st.
(also locations in Laurier Heights and Downtown)
Edmonton, AB

Happy Holidays

It has been a few weeks of some good celebrating around here. We kicked things off with an amazing supper at the Red Ox Inn for our fifth anniversary on December 16th, then followed it up with a champagne breakfast the next morning at home.

Last week there were some elaborate Christmas preparations, including many cookies baked (you have to try these gems) and my first gluten-free Acadian pâté (meat pie), which was a resounding success on Christmas morning.

There was lots of feasting in the past few days, with turkey dinner on Christmas eve at Jacques’ brother’s house, and a 13-pound fresh ham here for Christmas dinner. More meat has been consumed in the past week than we usually eat in months – and there is lots left in the fridge.

(Just noticed in the above picture that of course, the Sriracha makes an appearance even on the Christmas table)

Another hit was our first homemade rillettes – made, surprisingly, with sardines. Rillettes is usually made with pork or other meat that is shredded and mixed with its own fat, then spread on bread. We fell in love with it in France a few years ago. The rillettes made with sardines was different, of course, but with green onions, cream cheese and lots of lemon juice, it was absolutely delicious.

I also made our traditional Danish rice pudding for Christmas eve. This time we swapped out the almonds for hazelnuts and walnuts and it was fantastic.

Something else amazing we discovered this holiday season? Mulled wine! I used this recipe (minus the eau-de-vie) and it got raves at our holiday party. Definitely going on the annual favourites list.

Lucie was, of course, incredibly spoiled with many beautiful gifts. This time of year definitely makes us realize how loved she is. Our gifts for her grandparents were photo books I made online with the best shots from her first six months. I was so excited to make and send these, and it was great to see my mom and Jacques’ parents open them over Skype. The reactions were great!

After looking at several sites I decided to make the book using Pinhole Press. Though it was on the pricier side, I really liked their designs and I’m really happy with the end result. I’m sure I’ll be creating more of these books as Lucie grows. We also received a beautiful photo book of my sister’s baby, Cash. So lovely!

As wonderful as the holidays are, I am really looking forward to starting the new year and getting back into routines. It’s kind of a crazy thing to say, since my life right now has very few routines compared to the way it used to be. But seeing January 1st on the calendar really makes me think about life in a new way, even now. It’s a time to set new goals and create new habits, and reflect on the past year. 

I hope to be back in a few days to talk about just that. For now, I hope you all enjoy the rest of the holiday season!