Lesson Plan #8 Feb.25th-Feb.28th

Lesson Plan #8 Feb.25th-Feb.28th

Parents & Guardians,

Our Winter Cooking Elective Session has come to an end. We had a great time teaching your kiddos. Hope they enjoyed it as much as we did! Feel free to come back and visit our blog, as we will have new recipes for the next trimester. Hopefully your child will have the opportunity to be in our class again.

This week we incorporated a few new things into our cooking lesson. New spices were introduced to the kids lesson like, ground cumin. This is a spice used in many countries. The history of cumin goes back over 5000 years. The ancient Egyptians used it as a spice in foods as well as in the mummification process. The Greeks and Romans used cumin as a spice and also applied it for medicinal purposes. Interestingly, it was used to make the complexion more pale. It is a major ingredient in chili powder as well as curry powder. It is associated mostly with Indian, Mexican, and Vietnamese foods, but the ancient Greeks kept a dish of it on the dinner table, a practice which continues today in Morocco.

We added ground cumin to our chicken to give it a smokey flavor. It compliments the chicken and makes for a perfect filling for taquitos. Again, we reiterated how stoneware retains heat and cooks evenly throughout. We placed our chicken in the stoneware and microwaved it for 5 minutes, then we shredded it. You can cook your chicken by boiling it, baking it, or placing it in the crockpot. Leftover roasted chicken also makes great taquitos.

We taught the kids how to infuse oil by adding garlic and onions and sautéing it in hot oil. Making infused oils is a process of transferring flavor and scent into the oil of your choice. This process can also be used to add flavor to cooking oils.

It is a simple process of infusing flowers, herbs or spices into an oil by heating or letting it sit in a sunny spot so that the volatile oils can transfer into the carrier oil. We did this process and used our garlic and onion infused oil for our rice. Bake instead of frying. We used olive oil spray on our baking sheet as well as spraying the taquitos on top.

Cooking Tip* Microwave your corn tortillas to prevent cracking when rolling your taquitos. Microwave them just until pliable. Roll your taquitos and place it with the edge down. Corn tortillas also have natural lines, roll the taquitos the same way as the lines. This makes it easier to roll and prevents cracking.


How to set a table

Place the main dinner plate so that it is centered with each chair.

Fold a napkin and place it to the left of the dinner plate.

Place the forks to the left of the plate, on top of the napkin. Place the forks from left to right in the order that they will be used. Smallest fork should be the furthest away from the plate on the outside. Align the forks with the bottom of the napkin.

Place the knife to the right of the plate, with the serrated side toward the plate. If using multiple knives, place them beside one another, with the first knife to be used on the outside.

Place the soup spoon to the right of the knife or knives.

Place the desert fork above the plate, perpendicular to the direction of the other utensils. The handle of the fork must be on the left side.

Place the desert spoon between the plate and desert fork, with the handle on the right side.

Place the glasses above the knives, in the order in which they will be used, from left to right.

Place your bread plate on the left side above the plate and to the left.


***To remember the proper sides to place the knife, fork and spoon, we told the kids to remember this easy reference and refer to the number of letters in each word. Knife and spoon both have five letters, as does the word "right." Fork has four letters, just like the word "left."***

Voila, the kids are ready to set the dinner table for Easter :)

Have a great Spring Break!!!

Baked Chicken Taquitos and Spanish Rice

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:


3 cups shredded roasted chicken
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend (or cheddar)
12-24 corn tortillas
cooking spray
Sour cream or salsa

Directions:


1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. We simply sprayed our pan and didn't use foil.

2. Combine the shredded chicken in a bowl with the cumin, salt and garlic & onion powder- mix in the cheese.

3. Place 2 corn tortillas at a time in between two damp paper towels and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds to soften them (helps to prevent cracking when rolling). You can also microwave 6 tortillas placed on a microwave safe plate for 1 minute. Make sure you fan the tortillas around the plate in a circle and place a microwave safe lid over the plate. We used a microwave splatter guard.

4. With 1 tortilla in front of you, place about 1-2 Tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the center of the tortilla and roll it up tightly. If you want meatier taquitos, simply add more chicken, just make sure you can roll it. Place the taquito seam-side-down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas and filling.

5. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray (we used olive oil spray), and bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until crisp. Serve with guacamole, sour cream or salsa.


Spainsh Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups of Rice (Your choice of rice-we used Jasmine, you could use long grain rice,but not minute rice.)
2 garlic cloves-cut in half
1 small onion- chopped in large pieces
2 Tablespoons of Knorr Tomato Bouillon Powder
4 cups of water
1-2 TBS Olive Oil or oil of your choice.

Directions:

Heat pan, add oil (enough to coat the bottom), garlic and onion. Infuse oil with the garlic and onion and remove from pan. Add 2 cups of rice. Stir Fry rice until oil has coated the rice (Approx 2-3 minutes). Add 4 cups of water and your Knorr seasoning.

*There are many ways to make Spanish rice. This is one of the simpler methods. You could also make it by using a Spanish seasoning called Sofrito made of red and green bell peppers, onions, garlic, spices, cilantro and tomatoes.

Lesson Plan #7 Feb.18th-22nd

Lesson Plan #7 Feb.18th-22nd

Angel Food Strawberry Shortcake

Due to extended day next week on Thursday, Feb. 28th. Our Thursday class had their last cooking and baking lesson for the trimester.

I must say, this weeks recipe was ridiculously delish! Fresh Strawberries, Homemade Angel Food Cake and Freshly made whipped cream! Can you say YUMMO?!

We started our lesson by slicing strawberries using an egg slicer which makes our sliced strawberries uniform and is a kid friendly kitchen gadget ;) We added sugar to our fresh strawberries (reiterated that fresh fruit is delicious without adding anything to it). We taught the kids that when you add sugar to fresh fruit, it will extract moisture in the strawberries and turn the sugar into a syrup by using the juice in the berries (or the fresh fruit of your choice). This is a process called Macerate. In food preparation, maceration is the softening or the breaking up into pieces using a liquid. In the case of fresh fruit, particularly soft fruit such as strawberries and raspberries, they are often just sprinkled with sugar, (which is what we did) then left to sit and release their own juices which becomes a red liquid syrup. This process makes the food/fruit more flavorful.

Every child got to separate the yolk from the egg by using an egg separator. This was a fun process. We explained the importance of not getting any yolk into the egg whites. Why? Well...it matters a lot. When you are separating egg whites, it is for whipping them into a foam. This foam is a protein-based foam, relying on protein ends hooking onto each other. Even small traces of fat will prevent the foam from forming. Egg yolks contain high amounts of fat. Once an egg yolk breaks in your whites, you have to start the separation over because it can prevent your foam from forming. Also, don't use plastic bowls for whipping egg whites (their surface retains some fat molecules even after washing, giving you a less stable foam) and only whip with a clean washed whisk or mixer attachment (not one you have just used for something else, not even if you wiped it clean).

We explained to the kiddos to use a metal bowl when making homemade whipped cream. Cream whips best when it is cold. Keep your cream as cold as possible, and use a chilled bowl (refrigerate for at least 15 minutes; metal bowls get colder than glass). It helps to chill your whisk or beaters as well. Please keep in mind that warm metal will transfer its heat to the cream. If it's warm in your kitchen, you may want to keep the bowl in a larger bowl of ice-water during and after the whipping process. We placed ours in the fridge and used all of it. We taught and showed the kids the difference between medium peaks that formed with the egg whites and firm peaks that formed with the whipped cream.

The kids were taught the difference between regular all-purpose flour and cake flour. Cake flour is 27 times finer then all-purpose flour. They were introduced to a sifter and the purpose of sifting our cake flour, salt and cream of tartar together. Let me say, they all had fun sifting!

*Cook's Tip*
This recipe calls for you to place the sugar in a food processor for about two minutes until the granulated sugar turns into fine sugar. You can use a blender or they sell Castor sugar which is super fine. Also, you can use egg whites that are sold in cartons. Not Eggbeaters but egg whites. You would need 1 cup of egg whites to equal 12 egg whites that this recipe calls for.

Hope your kids enjoyed another great week of our cooking and baking elective.

Angel Food Cake Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake

Angel Food Cake for Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour, sifted
12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)
1/3 cup warm water 1 teaspoon orange extract, or extract of your choice (We used Creme Bouquet)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Then take half of the sifted sugar, add your salt and the cake flour together and sift. Remember to set the remaining sugar aside.In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract(any extract of your choice), and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

PLEASE NOTE: Since eggs are easier to separate when they are fresh, use the freshest eggs possible. You can also use eggbeaters egg whites.

Sliced Strawberries

1 32oz container of Strawberries
3 TBS of sugar (*Optional)Wash and clean strawberries. Remove green stems. Using an egg slicer, place strawberry in the middle and press slicer down. Place sliced Strawberries in bowl, add sugar and mix. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Fresh Whipped Cream

1 cup of whipping cream1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp of vanilla

Mix the whipping cream just until peaks start to form. Add sugar and vanilla and continue to mix until solid peaks form.

Lesson Plan #6 Feb.11th-15th

Lesson Plan #6

Let me start by saying... I love coffee cake better then chocolate. I just don't love chocolate. BLASPHEMY I KNOW! It just doesn’t do it for me, so what can I say? I do, however; love cinnamon and coffee cake crumbles. Can I get a what what? Is anyone else with me? Probably NOT!

I don’t always feel like making a giant coffee cake and eating it for three days straight until it’s gone. No, wait, that’s a lie. I do want to do that, but it’s really for the best if I can just make a single-serve coffee cake. Reduces temptation, right?

We adjusted the recipe all week long. Sara and many of the kids liked the applesauce recipe but I liked the second recipe that has sour cream and egg. I think it's because it didn't have an applesauce taste and it had more of a cake type texture. This week the kids got to use a kitchen gadget we used on our first day of cooking class, a pastry cutter. It was a lot of fun making the crumb topping for our coffee cake. The more the kids cut the butter into our ingredients, the more it started to resemble streusel topping aka crumb topping!!!

We demonstrated how to make an individual serving of coffee cake and then every student had the opportunity to make their very own coffee cake in a mug. They measured every ingredient on their own, mixed and poured. They were very busy. The kids got to use the microwave and were also introduced to a cake tester. We taught them the proper way to check if their baked goodie was done, using the cake tester. A cake tester is a kitchen tool which is designed specifically for use in baking. It is meant to be used to test the doneness of cakes, a crucial step in the baking process which can make or break a cake success. If the cake tester comes out clean, the cake is done and it should be pulled out to cool. If crumbs are left behind on the cake tester, the cake is not quite finished, and it should be allowed to bake a little longer. There are some exceptions to this rule; banana bread, for example, tastes best when there is still some residue on the cake tester. Hope the kids are ready to surprise you at home with breakfast in bed.

Coffee Cake in a Mug- 2 Recipes Choose Your Favorite

Coffee Cake in a Mug Recipe *Perfect for your special Valentine*

Coffee Cake in a Mug

Ingredients

•1 Tbsp butter, softened
•3 Tbsp sugar
•2 Tbsp applesauce
•splash of vanilla extract
•¼ cup flour
•⅛ tsp baking powder
•pinch of salt
•Streusel Topping:
•1 Tbsp butter
•2 Tbsp flour
•1 Tbsp brown sugar
•¼ tsp cinnamon

Instructions

In a small bowl, add the butter and sugar. Stir until well combined. Next add the applesauce, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir just until combined. Spread the mixture evenly in the bottom of a mug. In another bowl, add the streusel ingredients and cut the butter in using a pastry blender. Blend until you see a nice lumpy mixture. Place the streusel on top of the batter in the mug. Cook in the microwave for 50 – 80 seconds. Begin with 50 seconds and then do 5 second intervals until the top looks barely set. Enjoy! Surprise your special Valentine with a special treat for breakfast.

Our SECOND Recipe

This recipe calls for egg and sour cream instead of applesauce. All week long we kept testing, adding and adjusting our recipe. This recipe is not very sweet but would be perfect with a hot drink. If you have a sweet tooth (like I do) you may want to add an additional Tablespoon of sugar.

How to Make Five Minute Microwave Coffee Cake in a Coffee Cup Well, first you’ll need a cup. If you want it to puff up over the top of the cup, use a small one. Or if you want to dig into the cup, use a big one. Add a tablespoon of butter. Soften it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Don’t melt, just soften. Stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar until it’s fluffy and creamy, maybe 30 seconds. Now you can add some egg. You don’t have to, but without egg it’s more crumbly and less cake-y. You can do a whole egg, but we cracked the egg into a ramekin and whisked it up, then split it between two cups of coffee cake. You can use half of the egg for one coffee cake. But really, play it by ear. Try it out and see what tastes best to you. Then stir in 2 tablespoons of sour cream and a few drops of vanilla. We’re talking droplets here, don’t add too much.

Stir in 1/4 cup of flour and 1/8 teaspoon baking powder. If you want some crumb topping (you know you do), in a separate ramekin or bowl add 1 tablespoon butter, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Use a pastry cutter and blender everything together. You can also use two knives to blend it. Now back to your cup. Your ingredients are all mixed up, so add the crumb topping mixture to the cup.

Then microwave it. Start with 1 minute, then do 10 seconds intervals until it’s done to your liking. For my microwave, a minute 20 seconds does it perfectly. It will be REALLY HOT when you take it out of the microwave. Let it cool down for a few seconds, then dig in. This is basically a start for a quick microwave coffee cake in a cup recipe, you can adjust to your own tastes and liking, since this is a serving for one after all. I like it just like this. You may want more of this or less of that to suit your tastes. I look forward to hearing any adjustments you make and finding out if cake in a cup seems worth it to you. Ok, now I'm hungry, off to find my measuring spoon and a clean cup. :)

Note: Eggbeaters may be used instead of half an egg. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of Eggbeaters.

Lesson plan #5 Feb. 4th- Feb.8th

Sugar Cookie Bar-Lesson Plan

Another fun week is behind us. Every child had the opportunity to use a hand held mixer and were taught the proper way to mix and hold the hand held mixer. The younger kids were taught to hold the mixer on the top and by the front so they can have better control of the mixer. We made sure that when they were mixing that they kept the mixing attachments straight down, even when mixing the sides. This helps avoid the dough from splattering out of the bowl.

We explained to the kids the importance of preheating the oven and how the temperature effects the cooking process what they are baking. We reiterated to the kids that they should always read the recipe before attempting to make it. This recipe called for softened butter. We explained that they can also get the same result of softened butter by placing it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Depending on the microwave, you may have to add 5 additional seconds.

The children were given several of tips. First they were told that the more you cream and mix your butter and sugar together, the fluffier cookies, breads, cakes etc. you will have. So we used our hand held mixer and mixed until it was very fluffy before adding anything else.

The kids were also taught how to crack an egg. Using a small bowl, crack your egg and look for shells before adding it to your mix. This helps avoid any unwanted egg shells. We also taught them when measuring salt to do it over a small bowl then add it to your recipe. This avoids "over doing" it with the salt and your recipe ending up with to much salt if you are doing it over the bowl.

TIP* Try using mini bowls and pre-measure all of your ingredients first and simply add them to the recipe. We also told the kids that adding sour cream to baked goods makes for a very moist goodie, they can also try using applesauce for a healthier recipe. This basic sugar cookie dough recipe requires refrigeration for at least two hours but not when making sugar cookie bars. The dough will be sticky but simply butter your hands and spread it in the pan. We used cooking spray on our hands :)

Hope your child is enjoying our class as much as we are enjoying teaching them.

Valentine Sugar Cookie Bars

Valentine Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour is fine)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg 1-1/2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:

1 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup half and half
1 tsp. vanillaPinch of salt
Several drops of food coloring (optional)
*We opted for Sprinkles instead

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. (The longer you beat it, the fluffier your cookies will be.)Add egg and combine well. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until completely blended. Slowly add the flour mixture and stir until well combined. Gently press the batter into the greased baking dish and spread out with hands. (If you butter your hands, this will help with the stickiness.)Bake 17-20 minutes, or until edges become lightly golden.Set aside to cool completely.

FROSTING:

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, powdered sugar, until light and fluffy. Stir in milk, vanilla and salt, combine well. Add food coloring until desired color (*optional). Frost your cooled cookie bars evenly. Cut into squares and serve.

Lesson Plan For Week #4 Jan. 28th-Feb.1st

Week 4 has come to an end.

The Hot & Chessy Bruschetta was a hit! Over the past several weeks, the kids were taught how to make different appetizers that can be made for Super Bowl Sunday or for any family gathering or event. This week the kids were taught how to properly cut a french baugette and how to toast the slices of baguette in the oven. They also learned what type of knife they should use when slicing bread (serrated knife).

Every child had the opportunity to use a serrated knife to slice the baguette. Under very close supervision, we taught the kids to tuck their fingers in while slicing. The kids also had another opportunity to use the salad chopper to slice tomatoes. We love this tool because it allows the little ones to help chop with a tool that is some what safer then some other kitchen gadgets.

The kids used a garlic press again, we reiterated that using a garlic press releases the most flavor and oils from the garlic. We introduced the kids to a new spice called Herbs de Provence which contains Lavender. We educated the children on the different ypes of herbs that can be used. Some of our students did not know that lavendar is an edible flower.

Many of the kids did not want anything to do with the bruschetta because of the tomatoes. We asked for volunteers who do not like tomoatoes to be our first taste tasters. To their surprise, they enjoyed the bruschetta even though it had tomatoes.