This week Les Petits Chefs delved into – ewwwww – raw meat. When I saw Jamie Oliver’s recipe for chicken sausage rolls in Meals in Minutes, I knew immediately that I wanted to make these with the boys. So simple – just a handful of ingredients and, providing the sausages are not full of nasty ingredients, incredibly healthy. I love recipes that show the boys how to make foods which, when store bought are not always the healthiest, but which are so simple to make that they might not ever want a store bought product again. Having made these now myself, I will most definitely make them again. I might even, you know, grind my own sausage meat, now I know how to!
This week, we used chicken sausages from Rowe Farms. Ingredients: Chicken, salt, spices. No bad stuff at all. Many of the boys pronounced that they didn’t want to work with the raw meat. Others jumped right in:
Note to Les Petits Chefs: At some point this term, you will work with raw meat. Even if it’s just for a few minutes. I do feel that it’s important to know what food feels and looks like raw, and cooked. Those boys who were not working with the raw meat did a rocking job peeling and dicing some apples:
Zesting lemons and chopping rosemary…
And then most of us got our hands dirty rolling the meat into the puff pasty (no, we didn’t make our own – in one hour, it was a miracle we even got this done!!)
Our puff pastry was quite warm by the time we got to this stage so we didn’t cut the long rolls into small sausage rolls before they went in the oven. If we were able to work faster, I would have. But no matter – they turned out beautifully!
The verdict? Boys and parents gave this rave reviews. A couple of the boys didn’t like the apple in there (it’s a combination I love but I understand that some people might not like it) so I suggested they make it again with onions instead for a more savoury flavour. In any case, I was pretty pleased with how this turned out. Get Jamie Oliver’s recipe for chicken sausage rolls (with great step by step pictures) here.
One of the things I love about running cooking club is hearing from the parents about how they make the recipes with their sons at home. Recently, two families have made the Siu Mai dumplings that Les Petits Chefs made with Chef Vanessa Yeung 🙂 And on Monday, one of my little guys turned up with this:
Yes, Petit Chef Richard has convinced his mum to buy the book, gone through the book’s list of essentials for a well-stocked kitchen to make sure they have everything they need and has commited to cook dinner for the family on Sundays. I can’t tell you how proud I am. This is why I do what I do.
Look for Meals in Minutes on Amazon, Amazon Canada or, for free worldwide shipping, on The Book Depository.
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Great job!! Those look so good. When are they coming over to my house?
LOL! I think the boys could definitely start their own catering business!
That looks delicious! I need to start making more of his recipes.
They are so great the recipes from this book.
The sausage rolls look scrumptious! I can imagine how proud you were to hear of Richard’s book purchase and the wonderful dinner he created. That menu is adorable! How very rewarding for you to see that your Les Petits Chefs are so wonderfully transferring what they have learned from you in the classroom to their family’s dinner tables at home.
It truly means so much to me to see this transfer of knowledge to the home 🙂
Oh my, this looks beyond tempting. The creamy filling sounds perfect!
Well not so much creamy but meaty. But yes. Delicious!
HUGE congrats to LPC Richard! I too am proud – and I’ve never met you. Funny, it was about that age I got into cooking for my parents (bread – though Mardi would never believe it!).
And thanks to the entire LPC gang for dinner last night…it was a wonderful treat after a day of flying from the Southern USA back home. I too would leab to the savoury with chicken (apple with pork), but very tasty. 🙂
I did laugh on Mardi’s “must work with raw meat” directive. One year ago, it was SHE who said “eeeewwww” to me. 😉
Apparently old dogs can be taught new tricks!
Hey, if *I* can learn to work with raw meat, anyone can!
Those sausage rolls look fabulous! That’s a recipe that I will definitely try.
I can’t believe how easy these were!
Oh I missed this post! I’m sooooo making sausage rolls. I still love your posts on les petits chefs.. such great work!.
Thanks Kimmy – we had fun with this one!
And, of course, living down under I have to say this: sausage rolls and tomato sauce. I know, I know all you North Americans…. you love ketchup… but it’s tomato sauce.
Well done LPCs.
Actually, the tomato sauce was the one thing I avoided with said sausage rolls…despite your daughter’s prediliction to slather them.
Not slather – you DIP them!
Well I ate MINE with what I still call sauce LOL!
well done, petit chef richard – love how he’s taking this home and cooking dinner for his family!
I’m very proud of my little guys!!