Kids in the Kitchen

We are in the middle of Summer. The days are warm, the evenings long, and for many families our meals get simpler. These easy meals are the perfect opportunity to get kids into the kitchen.

I believe that one of the most important things that we can teach our children is a love of food, a respect for food and from those, we teach them how to prepare food. I was brought up with food growing in the backyard; I saw the life-cycle, the seed, the plant, the fruit or vegetable and then the meal on the table. I helped with this process, planted seeds, weeded and watered the garden, harvested crops and watched and helped with the preparation of the food. I respect food; I respect the effort that goes into producing our food.

We are teaching our children this respect. They travel with me when I collect produce from local growers, they see the trees with the fruit laden, and they see the farmers working to harvest the crop. They see the fresh food on the shelf at The Fresh Ingredient, and they see it on the kitchen bench at home. They love to stand on a stool and help to cut up vegetables, stir a cake batter, shake a salad dressing, or assemble a burrito. Our children understand that food comes from nature; it is not a pre-packaged, plastic product that gets heated, or rehydrated. It was a living thing, which helps us, as humans survive. I often hear little Miss 5 telling her brother (4) that “if you don’t eat good food you won’t grow up to be big and strong”.

Child-rearing books and experts tell us that we should model the behaviour that we want our children to exhibit, use good manners, stand-up straight, read books, be kind. We should also model food behaviours, let them observe us as we eat our fruit and vegetables, as we work to avoid wastage, as we prepare meals. Studies have shown that if children are involved in the preparation of a meal, they are more likely to eat that meal; they have a sense of ownership.

Our children love pasta and they love cheese, so this is a winner in our home. They can be involved in the preparation of this meal by helping to grate the carrot and cheese, measuring out the milk, weighing out the pasta and butter, measuring out the vegetables, and helping to assemble the bake. It can be served with a simple tomato and leaf salad, or a spinach and avocado salad, my personal favourite!

Cheesy Vegetable Pasta Bake

Ingredients

·       350g shell or penne pasta

·       30g Udder Farm butter

·       2 tablespoons cornflour

·       2 cups Udder Farm milk (full cream or light)

·       2 cups grated cheddar cheese

·       1 medium carrot, grated

·       2 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves

·       1 cup fresh corn kernels

·       ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method

·      Grease a 2L capacity baking dish.

·      Preheat oven to 180°C.

·      Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water, following packet directions, until just tender.

·      Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in cornflour and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat; slowly pour in milk, whisking all the time to make a smooth white sauce. Return to heat, continue stirring until sauce thickens.

·      Drain pasta, return to pot and stir in white sauce. Add cheese and vegetables, stir well to combine.

·      Spoon mixture into baking dish and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and heated through.

Cheesecake Ice-Cream

This recipe was a hit with family and friends at a recent dinner. It is a 2 stage process, but not that difficult, and definitely worth it! It is extremely rich, and therefore, a "sometimes" food to be eaten in small amounts and shared with friends.

Vanilla Bean Condensed Milk
Ice-Cream
Ingredients
•400g can condensed milk
•500ml Udder Farm Cream
•1tsp vanilla bean paste






Method
1.In a stand mixer whip cream until soft peaks form, add vanilla bean paste and then at low speed add condensed milk, mix until just combined.
2.Transfer to jug and chill in fridge for 2-3 hrs.
3.Churn in ice-cream maker, as per machine instructions.
4.Place in airtight container. Freeze.


Cheesecake Ice-Cream
Ingredients
•350g cream cheese, softened
•1/3 cup caster sugar
•1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
•1/2 cup Udder Farm Cream
•125g Toblerone, chopped
•1 litre Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream, softened
Method
1.Remove Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream from freezer
2.Using a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add cream, beating constantly until combined.
3.Fold cream cheese mixture and Toblerone through softened ice-cream. Transfer to an airtight container. Freeze for 4 to 5 hours or until firm. Serve.

Roast Tomato, Fetta and Avocado Salad

Small local tomatoes are currently available at The Fresh Ingredient, they are perfect for this recipe.


Ingredients serves 2-3
500g small tomatoes
3 Australian Organic Garlic Cloves, peeled and thinly sliced lengthways
2tbs Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
50g Udder Farm feta cheese, crumbled
1 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup tightly packed small basil leaves.
Method
1.  Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with If You Care brand parchment baking paper (available from The Fresh Ingredient). Combine tomatoes, garlic and 1 tablespoon oil in a bowl. Toss gently to coat. Spread over tray. Season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes for 25-30 minutes or until tender. Set aside for 20 minutes to cool.  
2. Divide tomatoes and arrange in the base of each bowl, top with avocado, feta and basil. Drizzle each with 1 teaspoon oil and season with black pepper. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavour to develop. Serve with pan-fried chicken or a small piece of steak. 

Caramelised Onion & Roasted Sweet Potato All-In-One Quiche

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

¾ cup pastry mix
¾ cup grated Mainland Tasty cheese
4 Free Range eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup Udder Farm Pure Cream
½ cup Udder Farm Full Cream Milk
1 tsp softened unsalted butter
2 tbs Binnorie Marinated Fetta
1 medium brown onion
1 medium red onion
1 medium sweet potato
2 tbs continental parsley, chopped
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs brown sugar
pinch salt
good grind of black pepper

Method

1.    Pre-heat oven to 180C.

2.    Peel sweet potato and chop into 2cm pieces. Using 2 tbs olive oil coat sweet potato & place in baking dish. Roast for 20 mins or until lightly golden. When cooked, set aside.

3.    Thinly slice red & brown onion.

4.    Heat 1 tbs olive oil & 1 tbs butter in a non-stick fry pan, when butter has melted reduce heat to minimum & add sliced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally for 15mins or until onion is soft. Add brown sugar, cook for 2mins, stirring, until onion caramelises. Set aside.

5.    In a large bowl combine pastry mix, grated cheese, cream, milk, 1 tsp softened butter, marinated fetta, eggs and salt and pepper. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add caramelised onion, roasted sweet potato and chopped parsley. Stir to combine.

6.    Pour into a greased 6 cup oven-proof dish. Bake for 40 mins, or until golden & set.

Serve with a green salad.

Pastry Mix is available in flour section of supermarket. I use Lion Brand.

Slightly Spiced Cauliflower Gratin

Cauliflower is on special this week at The Fresh Ingredient, and because so many people ask me what to do to make cauliflower more interesting, here is one of my cauliflower standbys (serves 4)

Ingredients
1 cauliflower, cut into florets
60g butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (made from day-old bread, sourdough if you can)
cheese sauce
500ml (2 cups) milk
30g butter
2 tbs plain flour
1tbs Herbies “Balmain & Rozelle Spice”
40g (1/2 cup) coarsely grated tasty cheese
Salt & ground white pepper
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the flour & Herbies Spice mix and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until mixture bubbles and begins to come away from the side of the pan. Remove from heat.
3. Gradually pour in half the milk, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk until mixture is smooth. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking until smooth and combined.
4. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat. Add the cheese and stir until cheese melts. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
5. Meanwhile, cook the cauliflower in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 7 minutes. Drain. Arrange the cauliflower in a 1.5L (6 cup) capacity ovenproof dish.
6. Melt butter in a frying pan over high heat until foaming. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat.
7. Pour cheese sauce over cauliflower. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and heated through. Remove from oven and serve immediately. Works well with lamb, chicken or beef.

Roast Vegetable & Marinated Goat Fetta Tart

The Fresh Ingredient currently has Butternut Pumpkin and Zucchini on special, so I decided to try my hand at a little roast vegetable tart.

With more time on a weekend I would make the pastry from scratch, but for a quick, tasty & slightly fancy weeknight dinner, this works!

I served these with lamb cutlets & a roasted beetroot, roasted garlic & fetta puree.



Ingredients

1 zucchini, halved and cut into 2cm pieces
1 sml butternut pumpkin cut into 2cm pieces
2 red onions cut into small wedges
Wollombi Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
100g Binnorie Marinated Goat Fetta
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water
Paradise Beach Basil Pesto to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2. Combine pumpkin & zucchini in a bowl & toss with olive oil.
3. Spread vegetables in a single layer on baking tray, drizzle red onion with oil.
4. Roast vegetables for 25mins or until tender, turning only once.
5. Cool vegetables on the tray.
6. Line a baking tray with non-stick paper.
7. Using a pastry cutter, cut six circles from the pastry.
8. Arrange pastry circles on baking tray(s).
9. Place teaspoons full of Marinated Goat Fetta in the centre of each pastry circle.
10. Arrange a few pieces of each cooled, roasted vegetable in each circle, leaving enough room to fold up the edges, build up, rather than out.
11. Fold pastry up around the vegetables & pleat the pastry.
12. Lightly beat egg yolk and water & using a pastry brush wash the tarts with this mix.
13. Bake tarts for 25-30mins or until pastry is golden brown.
14. Add a small dollop of Paradise Beach Basil Pesto & serve warm.

Enjoy