Texan Magazine
By Matthew Harvey
In this day and age of convenience and fast food, busy schedules for everyone, it’s no wonder that many kids grow up not knowing how to cook a basic meal. When kids are old enough, it’s not too early to introduce them to the joys of cooking. Plus, it can be a fun bonding experience for the entire family.
Just follow a few simple rules:
Rule 1
When working with your kids, start simple. No one needs to start making chateaubriand with their kids right out of the gate. Heck, I’m in my 40s and still haven’t made that.
Rule 2
Have patience.
That’s a big one for me. I have to remember that I may have the experience of making many dishes, but all they’ve done to this point is eat it.
They haven’t prepped or made the food just yet.
They’re going to have more questions than a game of “Jeopardy.”
Rule 3
Let them know it’s ok to mess up.
No one needs to be a perfectionist in the kitchen. So they may grind a bit too much salt, or not cut that vegetable evenly, it’s ok.
Ego from “Ratatouille” is not about to show up to your kitchen to judge you, nor are the judges from “Chopped.”
——-We recently began showing our kids the joys and creativity you can have from cooking as a group.———
To get started, I’d love to share with you these simple recipes.
Cheese Stuffed Meatloaf
Almost nothing says comfort food like meatloaf. You can make this as simple or as complex as you want, use a variety of ingredients and seasonings, and most times, you’ll still come out with something remarkable.
When we prepared our most recent meatloaf, my wife and I decided to have our kids help out. Not only in making it, but in picking out the ingredients.
We ended up using:
Ground beef
Shredded cheese
Pepperoni
Gunpowder, (don’t panic, it’s the name of a wonderful seasoning from the folks at Grill Your @$$ Off, available at Spirits Of Texas, in Bandera, Texas)
Garlic Powder
Worcestershire sauce
Heinz 57
Mustard
Pork rind panko breadcrumbs (however any breadcrumbs work)
We start by adding the ground meat into a mixing bowl and add in the cheese, we use about 8 oz, but you can use more or less depending on how cheesy you want it. You can also remove the cheese if you so desire.
Then, sprinkle enough of the gunpowder and garlic to just cover the top with a light dusting. Let your kids squeeze in a little of the Heinz 57, mustard, and a little of the Worcestershire sauce.
Sprinkle in the breadcrumbs and mix it up.
Once it’s mixed up, spray a loaf pan with some non-stick spray, or let the kids do it.
They’re going to ask why.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Unless you’ve told them and they ask why for the fifth straight time, then breathe and move on. Once the loaf pan is sprayed, put in about half the loaf. Then layer the middle with pepperoni. It makes it taste amazing. Once that’s layered, finish filling the pan the rest of the way and, what we like to do is add a small layer of ketchup over the top.
Then bake in a 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes.
Once done, slice and serve. Now, here’s where you can get into a bit of trickiness.
Not everyone is ready to let their kids handle knives, and that’s ok. However, they do make sharp but safe, plastic kitchen knives that are kid safe. We got one for our kids. They’re in most grocery store kitchen sections. This allows them the ability to learn to chop and slice without the worry of them losing a finger.
But what to serve with meatloaf? There are so many choices. There’s traditional mashed potatoes, there’s less traditional options such as a side salad. Heck, you can do whatever you want, make it your meal.
With us, if we go that route, we’ll throw in some extra grated cheese, or pieces of bacon, or even have a bit of fun and mix the meatloaf into it and just have cheeseburger mac.
Something else we’ve done with the kids:
Oven Roasted Potatoes
All you need is a few potatoes, washed and quartered. We use red russet as they are a bit healthier, or rainbow fingerling potatoes. Once they are quartered, mix in a bowl with sunflower oil, or olive oil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of minced garlic.
Cover a pan with foil, it totally makes clean up ten times easier, and roast for about 30 minutes at 375. Check on them every now and again and turn them or flip them halfway through. This makes an excellent pairing.
I know what you’re asking, am I only teaching them to cook dinner? No, but let’s face it, most of us work, so mornings are a bit harder, until the weekend.
Not only are you showing and having your kids learn fun skills, but you’re also teaching them multitasking, that’s it, they need to give you a world’s greatest parent mug. You’ve earned it.
Here’s a safety tip when kids grate cheese.
Now, yes, you can take the easy way out and buy the pre-grated cheese, but where’s the fun in that. We’re cooking, we’re teaching, it’s fun. Grab the grater. At our house we also have what we call the cheese glove. We picked it up in the kitchen section of an HEB, it’s a cut resistant glove. These things are wonderful. Have your child, or one of your children, put this on and grab the cheese.
Upscale Grilled Cheese
One of the easiest things in the world to teach kids to make is a grilled cheese sandwich, but it teaches kids timing as well, because as we all know, there’s a fine line between a great grilled cheese and burned bread. But we’re not just settling for any grilled cheese, we’re going to upscale it.
First, we’re going to start simple, two slices of bread and butter. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Next is the cheese.
I like to use a combination of swiss, cheddar, and provolone. That’s right, we’re going beyond just American sliced cheese. We’re showing kids that there’s better cheese out there.
Get a non-stick skillet and put it on a medium heat burner. Add the first piece of bread, butter side down, and layer the cheese on the bread. Sometimes I’ll throw in a piece of turkey or roast beef, but that’s for later. Once the cheese is added, put on the second piece of bread with the butter side up. Take a spatula and give it a little press. Let your kids hear the toasting of the bread. After a couple of minutes, carefully flip the sandwich over and toast the other side, again slightly pressing down on the bread. I like to think this allows the cheese to better melt onto the bread, and it may, but it’s something I’ve done for years so why stop now. Lift part of the bread ever so slightly until it gets to the toasting level you want, then remove onto a plate.
Now again, I said there are times I like to add roast beef. I’ve also done turkey, bacon, pepperoni, you name it. It adds more flavor, more protein, and just makes that sandwich so much better. Now when adding meat, I like to have the following layers, bread, cheese, meat, cheese, bread. This way the meat ends up trapped in the melted cheese and the sandwich is still delectable and gooey. Otherwise, it could fall apart, and you have a toasted sandwich. What I recommend with kids is to do the first one, then do another letting them handle things, but you are overseeing, and helping with the flipping, etc. This, while seemingly simple, can cause some anxiety in a new cook because not only do they want to do it right, but they also want to impress their parents with their cooking skills.
Now are there more things you can teach? Of course. The sky is the limit here. And if you’re not comfortable cooking, then you can all learn at the same time. There’s no rule that says you have to be an expert at something before you enjoy it. But these are just a few of the things we’ve done over time with our kids that we hope help inspire you to get your kids in the kitchen and allow them to discover the joy of cooking. It’s not just something for grownups. Kids can get into the fun too. Before long, your kids are going to want to surprise you with what they’re able to do in the kitchen.
