I was trying to explain to my 10 month old what Christmas tastes like. It was a fairly one-sided conversation but I’m pretty sure she got the gist of it.
I was cutting pomegranate seeds in half for her like the paranoid mom that I have become and she was mmmm-ing as she swallowed fistfuls of them whole. These had been preceded by some sage-y buckwheat with mushrooms, all flavours that seem very Christmassy to me.
This is a selfish post, as I’m satisfying a craving that just won’t let go. Rhubarb compote (stewed rhubarb?), one of the most unique textures, delightfully seasonal, extremely easy to prepare and for some of us, deeply nostalgic.
We moved to the suburbs when I was 11. This move brought with it a bigger back yard which meant a big garden, already filled with fun and mysterious fruits and veggies that kept popping up before our eyes. We had more raspberries than we knew what to do with (at least above the snout level of our giant dog) and lots of exotic-looking, jungle-y rhubarb plants.
I wanted to do something Easter-y this year, but I wasn’t totally sure what that meant to me. We covered chocolate pretty thoroughly for Valentine’s Day (check it out) and what really tastes like Easter to me in a nostalgic way is simply steamed artichokes (also my very first post ever) thanks to being lucky enough to spend Spring break in Southern California during artichoke-season (swoon).
Then I started thinking of all of those beautiful pastel colours that represent spring and Easter so well. I know this should apply to flowers, but remember Trolls? My Mom had a kids clothing store when we were growing up that was also known as Troll headquarters because she sold such a big collection of them (one of my younger sisters had like a million of them while the rest of us settled for Westbeach sweatshirts).
I made/shot this recipe from start to finish with a reluctantly snoozing/slightly sweaty 4-week-old strapped to my front. I bribed her with a kilo of Brussels sprouts via breast milk for the next 24 hours. It totally worked. The point being, it’s a speedy recipe and a simple way to make Brussels a little more interesting and flavourful.
We use a roasting/steaming method to roast the sprouts. This just means that we throw a splash of water onto the roasting sheet. Without the water to create some steam, they take a lot longer to cook and can come out a little bit too tough.
