February 29, 2012 By headchef
Taco Soup is a favorite of Little Chef A. It is so easy to make, or basically put together. Most of the ingredients are from a can which makes it an easy pantry meal, or last minute meal.
We LOVE the Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. It makes clean up so quick and easy. Little Chef A is able to put the liner in herself and spray it with nonstick spray.
With her newly aquired knife skills she washed and cut the celery and the carrots into bite sized pieces.
Little Chef C wanted to help open up the cans; corn, tomatoes, refried beans. The first part cutting through is so hard. After I get it going for her she is able to do the rest.
Everything is dumped into the crock pot, super easy! Any Little Chef can dump ingredients.
A beef boullion is unwrapped and added. Be careful watch your Little Chefs with this one. Sometimes they want to eat it! Yuck!
The last thing to add is cooked ground beef. Little Chefs love to stir this around as it is cooking.
That’s it! Let it cook in the slow cooker or put it on the stove top for 30 minutes to warm it up if you are short on time. The eating part is also fun for the Little Chefs. They are able to add topping. We like to add crushed tortilla chips, cheese or sour cream. This last time we added fresh tomatoes because we had them and it was so good! We will do that again, especially in the summer time when we have fresh, out of the garden tomatoes!
February 28, 2012 By headchef
The Pea Soup went over so well Little Chef C decided to make Cauliflower Soup slso from Chef Robert. The final product should have been the soup with lobster in the middle and an herb-lemon oil drizzle. We had the cauliflower head, but not the lobster. Instead of packing everyone up and going to the store we decided to make it without the lobster. We had the intention of making the herb-lemon oil drizzle, but we completely forgot until after we began eating!
I verbally instructed Little Chef C to cut the “trees” off the head. Having never done this before, and obviously having never seen me do this, she starting sawing back and forth on the side making cauliflower granules. After some further, more detailed instruction Little Chef C knew what she was doing but she still had a difficult time cutting the “trees” off the head. My guess is it was a combination of the knife being not so great and the pure awkwardness of the task.
In a saucepan she added salt, water and the cauliflower “trees”. Soon the water started to boil. She was very curious about the steam. She felt it with her hand and realized it was “super hot.”
After Little Chef C was able to easily poke through the cauliflower she drained it, with a little help, into the colander with a bowl catching the liquid. Afterward she poured it back into the saucepan, with a little help after she said, “you do it with me.”
Almost all of the reserved liquid was poured back into the saucepan. She was able to do that by herself.
Using the immersion blender was her favorite part of this recipe. “This is fun” she said. Even after explaining the blender needs to stay in the liquid that didn’t happen. One drop spit out of the bowl and landed on her eye. It surprised her, but she thought it was so funny! Each recipe we make has a key moment that helps them remember their experience. I knew right away this was going to be that moment.
She then poured it though the strainer, but wasn’t sure why it didn’t go right through so quickly. She liked using a spoon to move it around to help it go down a little faster! Sometimes Little Chefs don’t have much patience.
This recipe was pretty simple. Little Chef C only needed help lifting the heavy saucepan many times. All the actual stirring and cutting and blending she was able to do alone. At the table, after realizing we forgot to make the herb-lemon sauce, we asked who liked the soup. Little Chef A said, “It needs a little more flavoring.” She got out the salt and pepper and added it to her soup. “Much better” she said. Of course the other Little Chefs had to follow. Little Chef D is always VERY heavy handed with the salt and pepper. All of a sudden she added so much salt it was inedible. Nevertheless, this soup was a hit. I think it was more successful then the Pea Soup!
Cauliflower Soup
Robert Irvine
1 large head of cauliflower
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Remove and discard the outer leaves of the cauliflower, cut out the core, and separate into florets. Put the cauliflower florets in a large saucepan with the salt and 6 cups of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Maintain a lively simmer and cook for 8 to 12 minutes, or until very tender. Drain through a sieve placed over a bowl to reserve the cooking liquid. Let cool for a few minutes, reserve 6 cauliflower florets for garnish, and then put the rest of the cauliflower and 2 1/2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid back into the pot. Add the butter and puree until smooth, using an immersion blender. Add more of the cooking liquid if the soup is too thick, then strain again through a fine-mesh sieve. The soup should be silky and just coat the back of a spoon. Taste and season with salt if needed. Set aside and keep warm, or let cool and refrigerate, covered, for up to 4 hours and reheat before serving.
February 27, 2012 By headchef
Can you believe these cream puffs were made and decorated by Little Chef A? We have never made these before. She did a wonderful job following directions and executing the frosting. Little Chef A made these with Grandma which made the experience even more memorable. The ingredients are very basic for the puff; eggs, butter and water.
Water and margarine were added to a saucepan and heated to a rolling boil.
Little Chef A added the flour and stirred as hard and as fast as she could. Her arms became tired so Grandma had a turn and I had a turn. Finally the mixture formed a ball!
The eggs were dumped in and the stirring resumed. When the dough comes together the stirring is done.
Little Chef A eyeballed a golf ball sized piece and rolled it in her hands to form a ball.
They were all placed on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for the magic to happen.
Little Chef A was so excited to see how these came out of the oven. They had puffed up and were beautiful!
Now it is time for the filling.
Sugar, cornstarch and salt were added to saucepan.
The milk was gradually stirred in. Each time they pour in milk it runs down the side, just like this! When I see this I say just pour
it in forget about the gradual part.
The milk was heated to a boil and was obviously thickening.
Little Chef A learned how to temper an egg. She mixed the egg yolk a bit, then added in a little bit of warm milk After stirring for a minute she poured it back into the warm mixture.
Little Chef A stirred the mixture for another minute after it boiled. She then added in the margarine and vanilla. The mixture was then set aside to cool.
Now for the fun part…putting it all together! She cut the top third off each puff and filled them.
Cream puffs need some sort of pretty decoration of top, whether it be powdered sugar or frosting. Given the option my Little Chefs would love to play with frosting any day. This time we used the easy prepared frosting. I showed her on a paper towel how to make the green leaves and the red flower. She did it entirely herself on all the cream puffs. She thought it would be pretty to have two green leaves, one on each side.
I loved how this recipe is created from everyday pantry items. The transformation of those simple ingredients to this dessert amazed Little Chef A. They all loved the outcome. This recipe because of the timing and vigorous stirring would not be a first recipe Little Chefs could do on their own. With some assistance it would be possible.
Cream Puffs
Yield: 12
1 cup water
1/2 cup stick margarine or butter
1 cup flour
4 large eggs
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat water and margarine to rolling boil. In 2 1/2 qt saucepan. Stir in flour; reduce heat to low. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at once, continue beating until smooth. Drop by scant 1/4 cupfuls about 3″ apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool away from draft.
Cut off top third of each puff and pull out any strands of soft dough. Fill puff with cream filling; replace tops. Dust with powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
a Neue”,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;>Cream Filling
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 large egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tablespoons softened stick butter or margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in 2 quart saucepan. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly, until mixture thicken and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Gradually stir at least half of the hot mixture into egg yolks; stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in margarine and vanilla. Cool.
February 24, 2012 By headchef
We were spending the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa at their special place. My Little Chefs had the opportunity to make Strawberry Rocky Road with their Grandma! She knows they like to cook and allowed them to make her dessert. They are always excited to cook with me, but to cook with Grandma is even more special.
Little Chef C sliced the strawberries. She cut off the first top and didn’t quite cut enough off. The second time she cut too much of the red part off. Then she was worried she was not doing it exactly perfect and did not want to do that part anymore. She did a wonderful job cutting them into bite sized pieces. It is fun to watch her skills improve!
Little Chef A cut the angel food cake. She is very confident in her cutting abilities now. After a little instruction on the size she was doing it all on her own. “I can do it” she said.
The angel food cake was placed into a pan. Then Little Chef D dropped spoonfuls of glaze on top. She was allowed to be creative and put them wherever she wanted.
The strawberries were placed on top next. Then the layers were repeated.
After two layers it was complete. Of course we had to eat it immediately!
Everyone was able to put their own whipped cream on top. That is always the favorite step! Strawberry Rocky Road is a very easy recipe for children to make. The strawberries and angel food cake are fairly easy to cut through which means good cutting practice. The amount of time is less then 30 minutes which means they did not loose interest. Being able to devour it immediately is another huge advantage of this recipe.
February 23, 2012 By headchef
We were not too far into this experiment when I realized my Little Chefs were not able to take pans in and out of the oven safely because they did not have oven mitts that fit. Sure they could use the adult sized ones, but their little hands were swimming in the mitts. Because of this, they did not feel comfortable pulling anything out of the oven alone. They did not have a good enough grasp of the pan. If they were not confident in themselves then I was not going to let them do this task. I had to find and obtain some kid sized oven mitts. I went online to do some research hoping to find some reviews from people who regularly cook with kids. Much to my dismay I did not find what I was looking for, I was quite dissapointed. I know parents let their kids cook with them. I thought there must be products out there designed for kids. I was sure there were not a lot of people like me who let the kids cook only with supervision and occasional assistance. Let’s be honest who, besides me, is crazy enough that they would volunteer to have their patience tested for hours at a time just to teach their kids to cook each night! Little Chef C said to me tonight as she was cooking and I was directing, “sometimes you cook so we don’t eat dinner late all the time.” How true that statement is! But then I asked her if we should stop cooking and I received an emphatic “NO!”
I was looking for kid friendly knives when I discovered, the company, Curious Chef. They have a variety of products designed for Little Chefs. Surely they would have quality products if they are dedicated to this purpose alone! I read some reviews on a variety of their products on amazon. The reviews seemed to be all over the place. Some were good, a few not so great. Because my options were limited I decided to purchase their knives, oven mitts and rolling pin. (Reviews to come.)
My Little Chefs were SO excited when they came! “They fit!” I checked them out and expected them to be more bulky. I thought they would have more padding, thicker material. If you put the right and the left together they equal in thickness of ONE of my adult mitts. Now I do understand if they are too thick it is very hard to grab hold of anything. That would be unsafe. Think about the child sized snow mittens! They cannot pick up anything, let alone snow because they are so thick! We have since used the Curious Chef Oven Mitts for putting in and pulling out cookie sheets and a variety of other sizes of casserole type pans. Little Chef A has used them the most. Perhaps that is because I trust her the most to be safe around the open oven! (She still has me hold onto her waist as she leans forward! She is very cautious.) When she sets the pan down she almost always says, “My hands are a little warm.” Yikes! I thought maybe there is a right and a left so she switched and still had the same results. That tells me these will not last long because if they are already thin. More use and of course wash will make them even thinner. Little Chef A is smart enough to not drop the pan because she felt a little heat, but the other Little Chefs most likely WILL drop the pan out of fear. We clearly have a safety issue!
I do believe children need a glove and not a towel folded over a few times as they see their favorite Chefs on TV do. They will sooner or later touch something hot with the back side of their hand. These particular oven mitts I do NOT recommend. I am therefore on the search again for child size oven mitts. Perhaps in the meantime I will alter the gloves we have so they can use them safely, or most likely not allow them to put in or pull items out of the oven until we have found another product to try.