Kids in the Kitchen

BY SHERYL DIXIT

Its school holiday time again, and as a parent, I’m racking my brain trying to figure out how to keep my two energetic boys occupied through the day. After exhausting the options of playdates, bowling, forays to the swimming pool, soccer practice – I have to admit that there’s not much on the agenda. But because the boys seem as perpetually hungry as bored, I thought getting them acquainted with the world of food would help introduce them to different ingredients, the process of cooking, as well as help them exercise a bit of culinary creativity. We have had no more than a couple of disasters, which we have valiantly consumed…well, they have been edible, but just!

The recipes I have chosen have processes in which children can actively participate, specially if they are older. For the younger ones, the carrying, washing, stirring and occasionally mixing are best. Use a chopper to dice vegetables fine, supervising them as they Beware of messes, because you’ll have them for sure, but it’s a lot of fun. Besides, cleaning up will induct them into the joys of housework!

Chicken Rolls

Made with a filling in puff pastry, these are delicious as a snack or main meal and can’t go very wrong, even if you try.

250 gms chicken mince

1 medium onion

½ tsp chopped garlic

½ tsp chopped ginger

Pinch of powdered pepper

150 gms feta cheese, coarsely crumbled

1 cup finely grated zucchini, carrot

Fresh lemon juice to taste

2 sheets puff pastry

Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Salt to taste

2 tbsp milk

Blend the ginger, garlic, onion into a fine paste and place in a large bowl. Next, add the chicken mince, grated zucchini, feta cheese, pepper and lemon juice and mix well. Place a sheet of puff pastry flat and cut horizontally into two. At one end, place the chicken mixture an inch wide along the length of the pastry from end to end. Roll over the pastry so that the mixture is completely covered and seal the end, brushing with a little milk. Cut length-wise into four portions. Repeat with the rest of the pastry until the mixture is finished. Place the portions on a baking tray and brush the tops with milk. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of each role. Bake in a fan forced oven on 170degrees for 40 minutes or until the pastry turns brown and fluffy. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Chinese Fried Rice

Cheerful, easy and great for kids to prepare, with a little help on the stovetop from mum. Indulge them with addons of ham, bacon or different vegetables to the mix, but put your foot down to jam!

400 gms cooked rice

100 gms cleaned prawns

100 gms boneless chicken, cut into strips

25gms green peas

25gms diced button mushrooms

25 gms diced cabbage

25 gms diced baby corn

25 gms diced carrot

50 gms spring onion, cut into fine rigns

2 eggs, beaten

3 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Get the children to bring you the carrots, cabbage, baby corn, green peas and spring onion. Use a chopper to finely chop the carrots, cabbage and babycorn. Heat the oil in a pan, add prawns and chicken and stir-fry for 2 minutes, until they are fully cooked. Add the eggs beaten by the kids, next the diced vegetables and peas. Keep stirring for a minute, next add the cooked rice, salt, pepper, soy sauce and half the spring onions. Add salt to taste. Mix well, stirring for a few minutes. When all the ingredients are thoroughly cooked and mixed, add the rest of the spring onion. Cook for three minutes more, then remove from heat and serve hot.

Pumpkin Soup

It’s easy, delicious and filling. The kids can help with choosing the pumpkin, peeling potatoes, blending and tasting.

700 gms yellow pumpkin cubed

1 large potato

1 carrot, cubed

1 onion, cubed

300 mls vegetable or chicken stock

200 mls water

3 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch marjoram leaves, chopped finely

50 gms fresh cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the vegetable with oil in a large pot for about 5 minutes. Add stock and water and cook on low flame for half an hour. Leave to cool, and then blend the mixture in a food processor to a smooth consistency. Reheat, adding cream, marjoram leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Try not to let the mix boil or the cream may split. Serve hot with bruschetta.

Fish fritters

A tasty treat and will give the kids a chance to get elbowdeep in a fishy mix!

500gms any firm fish fillet

400gms boiled potatoes

150 gms flour

1 tbsp butter or margerine

1 onion, finely chopped

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Grated nutmeg to taste

2 eggs

Oil for frying

Break the fish into smaller pieces and keep aside. Mash the potatoes and mix with the fish, flour, onion, parsley, butter, pepper and nutmeg. Gradually stir in the eggs to the mix. Shape the mix into small balls. Now mum steps in and heats oil in a pan. Deep fry until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain well and serve hot with sweet and sour sauce.

Banana bread

This could be a special treat, particularly as the price of bananas is currently skyrocketing. But the kids will love it anyway!

100 gms walnuts

150 gms plain flour

75 gms self-raising flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

125g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

Grind half the walnuts to a fine powder and mix with the flours, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk the butter and eggs together and gradually add to the bowl, mixing thoroughly. Stir in mashed banana and rest of the walnuts, roughly broken into smaller pieces. Grease and line the base and side of a loaf pan, and pour in the mixture. Place in a preheated oven of 180°C and bake for 40-45 minutes. Insert a skewer into the middle of the mix and if it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Place onto a wire rack until warm, slice and serve, liberally spread with butter. Yummmmy!

Shades of yellow

Banana, cadmium yellow, chartreuse, chiffon, cream, golden, goldenrod, khaki, lemon, mellow yellow, saffron, topaz, ochre

Did you know… In ancient India, painters made the colour yellow by using the urine of cows who had been fed nothing but mango leaves.

What yellow stands for

Yellow is a ‘warm’ colour and represents sunshine. It stands for cheerfulness, vibrancy, youthfulness, freshness, and also friendship.

In India, they wear yellow to celebrate spring, and one of its shades (saffron) is the colour of spirituality.

But yellow also has negative symbolism, as it stands for cowardice and deceit.

After the World Wars, women in the western world waited for men to return from war by tying yellow ribbons for hope. Even today, yellow can say ‘welcome home’. Because of its brightness, yellow can also mean ‘danger’ or ‘caution’, as in yellow traffic lights, or a yellow card in football.

Famous yellow things

Famous yellow house: Artist Vincent van Gogh’s house in many of his paintings

Famous yellow cartoon characters: Sponge Bob Squarepants, Tweety Bird, Pokemon, Bart Simpson

Famous yellow river: China’s Hwang Ho, so named because of the ochre-coloured sediments in its water

Famous yellow car: New York taxis; Mr. Bean’s car (a British Leyland Mini 1000 which has padlocks and can be driven from the roof); Alice Cullen’s Porsche in the Twilight series ML

The Simpsons

The Colour Yellow

Bart and his family in The Simpsons are all yellow, but there was actually a whole episode called The Colour Yellow. In it, the Simpsons kids find out they have some black ancestry. They are 1/64th black, and while Lisa believes this explains her love of jazz, Bart believes this explains why he is so cool.

Hello yellow!

Match these yellow things to their definitions

E. Type of fish

F. Type of bird

G. Type of fungus

H. Leader in a stage race such as Tour de France

I. The supposed danger to Western populations as the number of Asian migrants increase

J. Cowardly

K. A viral disease transmitted by mosquito

L. Members of a protest movement against the Thailand government