Everyone knows that teaching kids to cook is something I am passionate about. Through my Petits Chefs and Cooking Basics classes, I’m teaching my students how to cook, yes, but also life skills that will serve them well as adults.
This year, you’ll also know that for Food Revolution Day – TODAY – Jamie Oliver wants everyone to “get kids excited about food”. As a Food Revolution Day Ambassador for Toronto, I know a lot of people want to participate but are perhaps not able to do an “in person” event so once again, I thought it might be fun to get some global participation with the the French Fridays with Dorie gang – aka The Doristas – taking part virtually, just like last year. So, I asked all FFWD members to choose a recipe from Around my French Table that they think every child should know how to make (I personally think AMFT should be required reading in high school but that’s just me!), make it and blog about it today.
When I was chatting with Dorie about this idea, I said: “Imagine a whole generation of kids growing up capable of cooking all the dishes in AMFT!” Dorie replied: “What a thought! I would love to see a generation that can cook and wants to cook for themselves and others. The world would be a better place.”
Now, I’ve made Dorie’s food before with my cooking club – last year, they made madeleines from Around my French Table for our big Food Revolution Day parent-child cooking class. These were so popular that many of the mums were out the next day purchasing madeleine pans! We’ve also made Chicken, Apples and Cream à la Normande which was a huge hit too. So I know that Dorie’s recipes are do-able with kids. As I’ve said before all you really need is a decent recipe and some organizational skills to pull off a “real food” dinner with kids!
So I took advantage of the fact that I was going to be spending last weekend with some dear friends who just happen to have kids who love cooking and asked to borrow them for parts of the afternoon so we could make an all-Dorie meal for everyone! Charlotte (11, who was a master in the kitchen making Mr Neil’s Roast Chicken and who’s written for the blog before when she guest posted from Puerto Rico) was in charge of choosing the recipes. It wasn’t… um… easy….
We had to remind Charlotte (frequently) that she wasn’t to choose dishes that she wanted to try because really she would have chosen them all! With a little parental guidance and some from me as well, we finally settled on goat’s cheese mini puffs, Gorgonzola-apple quiche and green beans with pancetta. A well rounded meal, wouldn’t you say? I like the idea of teaching basic skills like pastry that can be adapted for sweet and savory dishes (and choux is so easy but impressive = bonus!) and hey, who doesn’t love a quiche? A quiche is also a great vehicle for cleaning out the fridge – because you can add anything to the custard depending on what you have on hand. With a choux pastry and a shortcrust pastry up your sleeve, you can go far!
We started with the choux pastry…. Charlotte did an amazing job…
Then we got to the piping. Seven year-old Sophia and 10 year-old James wanted in on the piping too!
No, we didn’t have the plain piping tip on hand (not everyone has multiple piping tips in their house!) but that’s ok. Teaching kids how to cook is just as much about teaching them to make do with what equipment they have. These kids did a wonderful job!
While the choux were baking, we got to work on the shortcrust pastry for the quiche…
And when it came time to roll out the dough, 12 year-old Patrick wanted in on that!
He managed very well, considering how crumbly the pastry was!
Charlotte learned about “blind baking”…
And while the crust was baking, we filled the choux with the goat’s cheese, cream cheese and cream filling…
There were a lot of happy faces around apéritif time… But it was back to the kitchen for the kids… There was still work to be done.
We prepped the green beans and (home-cured) bacon…
Now you can’t tell me that this doesn’t look like a dish that every kid should know how to make…
(Charlotte: “I really like blue cheese” Ok then…)
And the end result?
Gosh now that’s quite a fancy meal, isn’t it? All prepped by kids 12 and under. With very minimal help, just a few pointers here and there. All the adults were very impressed with the meal that just sort of appeared on the table NOT prepped by them. It was a nice early Mothers’ Day gift, wouldn’t you say?
Kids CAN cook real food – you just have to let them try. Imagine if Around my French Table and other cookbooks were required reading in high school? For now, I know that Charlotte, Patrick, James and Sophia are well on their way to being awesome in the kitchen! Charlotte now has her own copy of Around my French Table too 🙂
Check out what the other Doristas think every kid should know how to make on the site today!
Want to get cooking with kids? Jamie Oliver’s official Food Revolution Day recipes are a great place to start! Happy Food Revolution Day 2014!
French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs, we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Go on, treat yourself then join us here!
_______________
Please note: The product links from Amazon, Amazon.ca and The Book Depository are affiliate links. If you click on these links and purchase the product I have linked to or any other product, I will receive a small percentage of the sale price.
Canadians: Win a KitchenAid® 9-Speed Architect Hand Mixer and one copy of At Home with Lynn Crawford. Closes Monday May 19th 2014 at 6pm EST. Details here.
What a delicious meal! Those kids can come and cook for me anytime. 🙂 I love that these are the choices Charlotte made, and that she loves blue cheese. My son just started accepting mozzarella. I dream of the day that he wants a gorgonzola quiche!!!
Thanks for organizing us, Mardi. This was fun.
Charlotte does have sophisticated tastes, for sure!
Oh my word, Charlotte had so much fun cooking with you over the weekend – it was such a treat for her!! And the food was such a treat for all of us – thank you for sharing your passion with the kids and us! C needs to dogear the recipes in her new cookbook that she wants to try first . . . I’m guessing that poached lobster might be in our future . . . 😉 Thanks again!!
I want to hear all about the poached lobster!
Thanks so much, Mardi, for organizing the Doristas for another wonderful Food Revolution Day! You are a teacher extraordinaire!!! Brava on a delicious job well done!
Everything looks delicious! I had forgotten all about that quiche. Thank you for organizing this!
This was a great way to remind myself about all the dishes we HAVE made!
How lovely to combine the two events – Food Revolution and French Fridays with Dorie. A lovely selection of recipes to try and often we overlook the grown-up cookbooks, when in fact, we could find a whole host of recipes to try with kids. I love the fact that they surprise us sometimes by liking string flavours – like blue cheese or goats cheese. Mine like olives, too and other things that we assume they won’t like! I must try and join in with Fridays with Dorie – she was a hugely inspirational speaker last year at IFBC in Seattle. So pleased you had a great time joining in with FRD2014 x
Thanks Ren – anytime I can get kids to cook “real food” I do!
I love that you chose to make choux and shortcrust pastry…definitely something every good cook needs to have up her sleeve! Charlotte is about the same age as my granddaughter and choux pastry is on my agenda for our next baking day! Great post Mardi! Thanks for organizing us again this year!
Totally – “must know” recipes!
Oh wow, what a terrific selection of dishes!! And how wonderful that you made them with kids who like cooking! My mum wouldn’t let me near the kitchen, or only to do small jobs which I’d always be in trouble for not doing quite right. Didn’t deter me in the end though!
Even mistakes can be delicious!
All great choices! I agree with Charlotte that it’s difficult to choose just one. Certainly I would include quiche near the top of my list. All 3 recipes are great “lessons”. It looks like you all had a great time. How fun!!
Tasty lessons too!
Wow a gorgeous and sophisticated meal! I’m so impressed — and thrilled to learn all about this mission. Bravo!
Great post! I do wish I was good with kids as you are. They are new to me and I’m just getting used to one of them. My niece. She was too young to join me in the kitchen but the day gave me impetus to start thinking about it at least. And how I will use cooking to bond with her…and…gulp…her friends. Beautiful shots Mardi!
Ah thinking about it is definitely the first step Trevor!
Oh, how absolutely wonderful, Mardi. I would have liked to participate with you all in cooking those three items myself. I could use a few pointers from Charlotte, Patrick, James and Sophia, myself. I have never knocked gougeres (mini-puffs) sucessfully out of the ballpark. The quiche looks delicious. (I also really, really like blue cheese, Charlotte.) Thanks for writing this enjoyable post. We Doristas appreciate your wanting to include us in this yearly celebration.
Hey, send these kids down under.
Kitchen waiting.
All ingredients available.
Appreciative, hungry folk in residence.
Well done… all of you.
Impressive dishes Carlotte choose to make… love her nail polish looks like my daughters. I can’t get over the number of skills they learned making this meal… bravo.
Actually those nails belong to 7 year old Sophia!
What fabulous choices Charlotte made. Lots of flavor tied in with lots of great new skills. I love the lineup. Thanks for leading us through another Food Revolution Day, Mardi!
It’s all about the skills!
Mardi, absolutely wonderful post, you chose fabulous recipes and kudos to all the little chefs! What a great way to celebrate Food Revolution Day 2014 with our children!
Have a nice weekend!
Thanks so much – but the choices were absolutely all Charlotte’s!
Wonderful post. I did not have time to participate this year. I had my son in the kitchen with me since he was 4 years old. At 10 now he does not spend as much time in the kitchen but I am hopeful for the future. Thanks for hosting Food Revolution Day.
But he sounds like he has a great basic knowledge thanks to those early days!
Such a beautiful meal! That’s a great way to show kids what they can accomplish in the kitchen. Thanks so much for organizing the Dorista edition of this event for us again, Mardi.
I am so impressed. What a beautiful meal! I’m especially impressed by the goat cheese puffs. I wish I piped as nicely as the kids did!
Piping is so much fun!