Frittered Away

fritter [frit - er]*

1. verb to squander or disperse piecemeal; waste little by little

2. noun a small cake of batter, sometimes containing corn, fruit, clams, or some other ingredient, fried in deep fat or sauteed

I will admit to being guilty of frittering away many days by spending a lot of time online, roaming from one blog to another, and scouring recipes for hours on end.  I will also happily admit to making small cakes of batter fried in deep fat or sauteed.

Ever since I had that amazing bowl of cauliflower soup at Breadbar in Century City a couple of months ago, I buy a lot of cauliflower.  I've made cauliflower soup a few times since, and have roasted cauliflower with fennel to top polenta.  So once again, I found myself with a head of cauliflower in the fridge along with a large knotty celery root.  I knew the mellow flavours of both would work together and knew I could punch it up with curry, which has turned into one of my favourite spices.  Seriously...cauliflower soup with a drizzle of curry oil makes me swoon.

Curry Cauliflower-Celeriac Fritters
(makes 12-14 fritters)


3 cups cauliflower florets
2 cups shredded celery root
1 egg
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
olive oil for frying


Steam cauliflower and celery to soften, about 3 minutes.  Rinse lightly with to cool vegetables.  In a medium bowl, mix egg with 1/4 cup of the flour.  Gradually add the cauliflower and celeriac, mixing with your hands to mash vegetables and work ingredients.  Add curry powder, salt, and garlic powder.  Continue to add flour until all the elements come together.  It will be sticky and a little messy.  


In a skillet, heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  Form fritters in your hand or drop by the heaping tablespoon into the skillet and flatter with fork.  Fry each side until golden brown and drain excess oil on papertowel lined plate.  Add more olive oil by the tablespoon as needed.  

I topped them with a generous dollop of fat free Greek yogurt.

*definition courtesy of Dictionary.com

One Year to the Day...

...I started this blog.  That's right...it's the one-year anniversary of Kat Cooks Bakes Eats!  When I started writing, I figured if I was lucky, I'd have some friends and family read a post or two and indulge me.  I look at that traffic widget and I still cannot believe the locations that check in here.  I am floored, flabbergasted, grateful, and humble that so many people find their way and actually read this.  The internet is a BIG place and I have a very, VERY small space in it.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now, if I didn't talk about food, I'd be doing you a disservice.  Last week, three of my best friends (affectionately known as The Girls) and I met for lunch at Breadbar in Century City.  It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it.  I had the Cauliflower Soup and finished every last spoonful.  It was amazing.  Served with homemade croutons and drizzled with a curry infused oil.  Like I said...AMAZING.  I came home, determined to make it myself.  I don't think I was home half an hour before I poured olive oil in a jar and added a liberal amount of curry powder to the oil.  Over the past week, I'd shake the jar, turning it over and over to mix the spice and oil together.  I bought a head of cauliflower over the weekend, already had cream in the fridge, made croutons late last week and had vegetable stock in the freezer.  All the ingredients at the ready.  Last night was the night.  The air was turning cooler and the clouds started rolling in (Yes!...we're going to get a bigger taste of Autumn here...rain and cold weather for longer than a day).

I changed the soup up a bit, turning it into roasted cauliflower and carrot soup.  It was absolutely delicious.  I still topped it with the curry oil and homemade croutons.  Just right for a cool evening and definitely would have been better with a grilled cheese sandwich accompanying it, but I was feeling a tad lazy and didn't want to wait to have my soup.

Roasted Cauliflower and Carrot Soup
(by me)


1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
3 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste


Optional:  curry oil, croutons


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss cauliflower, carrots, and garlic with olive oil in oven-proof dish.  Sprinkle Parmesan and a bit of salt and pepper before popping it into the oven.Roast vegetables until soft (not too soft, not too hard, but just right), about 40 minutes.   In saucepan, heat stock and add vegetables.  Bring to high simmer for 5-7 minutes.  Remove pan from heat, and with immersion blender or regular blender, puree vegetables and stock.  Add cream and mix to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.


You don't need to drizzle it with curry oil or top with the croutons, but I highly recommend it.  I love how the curry flavour mixes with the cauliflower.