Teaching child to cook?

Question

My son is 7 and learning to cook. So far he has mastered scrambled eggs, cookies& a cake(we had a family bday) and grilled cheese. He doesn't want the easy cook stuff like warming up soup and so forth. He wants to really cook. Any ideas of stuff that is simple but not just opening this package and that can, has some kid appeal(he's not the typical kid eater no hot dogs, no mac & chz, no pb&j for him), and taste good? Thanks!

Answer 1

Hello, I love your question! My husband is a gourmet chef from France, my mother was a trained chef and I'm a west Indian woman with spice in my blood :-) Food is a big deal in our lives which we've passed on to our sons ages 8 & 12.
Some ideas - The boys love green salads so i taught them how to make a great dressing - Minced garlic, 1 tsp mustard, a little balsamic vinegar & 1/2 tspn honey or brown sugar, mix to a paste then whip 3-4 tblspns olive oil til thick.

My older sons favorite thing is pasta Carbonara - he can boil pasta of course then brown onions in a large pot, add a box of cream, let that boil gently, add a packet of grated parmesan, whip it all together with an egg and mix with pasta.

The blender is fun - Hummus is a favorite snack with chips or bread:- 2 tins of chick peas drained, loads of garlic cloves, a couple of big dollops of tahini and a big cupful of olive oil with juice of 2 lemons. ( if too thick, add some water.)

They love Indian food so a simple curry :- Onions, peppers, garlic sauteed in hot oil , throw in tomato paste, curry powder, cumin powder, coriander ( basically put all the spices you have in front of them and tell em to put 1 tspn of each in the pan)add some marinated meat and turn it in the frying spices til browned, add tin of coconut milk or meat stock or water and stock cubes, cover and cook.
I prep the stuff and they do the rest.

How about baked bananas? slice a bunch of bananas, add fresh mango or strawberries even to it even, brown half a pack of butter, add cinnamon, brown sugar, let that bubble a minute then add fruit, turn the heat way down, cover and let them caramelise for 15-20 mins turning a few times. Easy-peasy with icecream!

Another favorite they beg for is Chicken cordon bleu which i thought was complicated til hubby showed me!
1 large chicken breast boneless, cut it sideways almost in half, still joined on one side and open out like a butterfly, (this is the fun part), lay a piece of clingfilm over it, get a heavy bottom pan and beat it til its quite flat. Season it with salt & pepper, Cover one half with a piece of sliced cheese and a piece of ham, fold it closed like a sandwich, secure it through with toothpicks or skewers and panfry til cooked, maybe 10 mins each side.

I told my sons that if they want to impress their girlfriends in the future, they should be able to cook a little and keep a clean house!

Answer 2

Get him his *own* cookbook or buy a cooking magazine. Ask him to look through it and mark with a sticky note what he thinks sounds good for his next cooking adventure. You may have to explain what some ingredients are. It sounds like he's inquisitive and making choices will be a good thing.

There's an excellent recipe on epicurious.com for a ham and cheese spoonbread. The only prepared ingredient is ripping open a couple packets of quick cooking grits. If he's into chopping, get him on stir-fry. Teach him how to make stock for soups and stews. Has he tried chili yet? Learning how to roll up enchiladas is fun too.

Answer 3

Get a kids cook book, they have lots of cute ideas that are not too complicated. I know i learned some stuff with a Barbie cookbook when i was little. You yourself are also a good source of knowledge. Have him help make dinners. Look at different (have your son help pick the recipes also) books and magazines for ideas and cook with your son.

Answer 4

That's great! There's nothing worse than a kid going off to college and not even knowing how to cook a hot dog. :)

I'd look for some kids cook books, and definitely have him help you out with making dinners, etc. My mother always let us help in the kitchen, and my sister and I were volunteering to make full holiday meals on our own by the time we were 13 or 14!

Answer 5

I have found that the internet has endless recipes for every skill level. If you have access to the internet, go to a search engine and type in "recipes for kids" and see what you find.

One thing I found very enlightening when I went to culinary school. It is more important to learn the "why" of what you do, than it is to learn the "what". If your son learns why things are done in a recipe a certain way, it will aid him in the future when he wants to experiment and try something new.

Answer 6

what about trying bisquick for biscuits and coffee cakes and things of that nature . I taught my sons how to cook with bisquick. good luck .

Answer 7

check out the cookbooks at your local library. we have some that are written on a kid's level, but are real food. good for him!

Answer 8

Heres a list of recipes he can cook.




http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/cafe/