What's Cooking?

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Multi-Age 1, 2, 3 at Chautauqua Elementary

What's Cooking?

International Recipes

We're trying out recipes from many of the nations involved with the International Space Station.

Those nations include:

The United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, and Brazil.

Risen Grot

Thanks to Lars' mom's generosity we got to try Risen Grøt, or Norwegian rice porridge and it was delicious!

Here is what we did-

2 packets of Toro brand Risen Grøt
24 dl milk (10 c)
4 dl water (1 1/2 c)
Butter
Cinnamon and sugar

Pour the packets into a large pot.
Add the milk and water.
Bring to a boil while stirring and let the porridge simmer without a lid for 15 minutes.
You can add more milk if the porridge gets too thick.
Serve with a little butter in the center and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
Mix the leftovers with whipped cream and orange sections-a great dessert!

This website has Risen Grøt for sale.
http://www.scandiaimports.com

Japanese Curry

We made Japanese Curry for the Japanese feast celebrating my trip to Japan.

It is really easy and you just need to buy the curry. Below this recipe there is a picture of one kind but there a lot of brands available at Uwajimaya. Just look for the flavor level you like (mild, med-hot, hot...)

You can follow the directions on the box but here is what I recommend:

Saute any meat and vetables that you like.
Add water and the curry squares and cook until it's thick and delicious.

It's that easy. It refrigerates for a long time and is even better reheated.

Indian Fry Bread

This bread was invented by the Navajo people after the Europeans arrived with their wheat flour but is now enjoyed by tribes all over the United States and in Washington.
It is now enjoyed by the multi-age kids too.

2 c flour
1 t salt
3 t baking powder
1 c water

Lots of canola oil for frying

Heat the canola oil in an electric skillet or in a heavy skillet on the stove.

Mix together the other ingredients and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

Break off a ball about golf ball size and pat out no thicker than 14 inches.

Fry in the hot oil until light golden brown, turning to brown both sides. Drain well on paper towels. Keep covered in a bowl while cooking more to keep warm.

(A good experiment-try a little without the baking powder. That really gets the point across about what baking powder does.)

This is usually served like with soup, stew or pozole.
You can also drizzle with honey, or spinkle on powdered sugar or cinnamon.

Send in your family's favorite simple recipe for this year's cookbook! If you send in the ingredients we'll cook the recipe in class.

Spätzle

This is an easy recipe for German-style pasta.

2 eggs
1/2 c water
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
2 T butter
1/2 c grated parmesan-reggiano
1/4 c chopped parsley

Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the eggs and water and stir until a sticky dough forms.
Heat a large pot of salted water until boiling.
Squish the dough through a spätzle maker, a colander, a pastry bag with a large, round tip or any way you can get the dough into long, round strings.
When the spätzle rises to the surface of the water it's done.
While it's cooking melt the butter in a large skillet.
Add the finished spätzle to the pan and sauté. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley and serve right away.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

1/2 c (1 stick butter), melted in microwave
1 c mashed, squishy banana (about 1 banana)
1 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c peanut butter
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda

Smoosh the butter, banana, sugar, eggs, peanut butter and vanilla together in a mixing bowl.
In another bowl stir the flour and baking soda together.
Add the flour to the other bowl and stir just enough to combine.
Pour into a greased 9 inch by 9 inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Enjoy warm like we did Friday morning thanks to Emma's squishy banana!

Pumpkin Bars

1/2 c soft butter
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 can of pumpkin puree
1 t vanilla
1 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg

Cream the butter with the sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin and vanilla and mix well. In a seperate bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Add to wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees until firm-30 to 35 minutes.
Cool and top with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Parsley Pesto Pasta

1 big bunch parsley
1 clove garlic
1 c walnuts
Lots of olive oil
1 pound pasta

Pick a big bunch of parsley out of your garden. Wash and dry the parsley carefully. Carefully remove all of the stems. Chop the rest.
Put the clove of garlic in your blender or food processor. Chop it up into tiny pieces.
Add the walnuts and parsley. Add a bunch of olive oil. If it does not look saucy enough or will not blend together add more olive oil. You will not believe the color!
Taste it and add more of anything you think it should have.
Serve over hot pasta of your choice.

Sauteed Cabbage with Rice

Here is a great way to get your kids to eat cabbage...

First grow the cabbage yourself in the garden.

Then dice up the cabbage into little pieces. Next sauté the cabbage in a frying pan with some oil, a pinch of salt and a splash of soy sauce.

Serve over your favorite kind of rice.

Let the kids help make it.

You will not believe it!

Cinderella Pumpkin Pie

½ bag of gingersnaps
1 brick of graham crackers
2 T sugar
1 stick butter, melted
4 c roasted pumpkin flesh* (we prefer Cinderella Pumpkins grown in our garden!)
½ can of sweetened condensed milk
½ pint of heavy cream
2 t cinnamon

Crush the gingersnaps and graham crackers to crumbs by hand or in a blender or food processor. Place in a bowl. Mix with the sugar then melted butter. Press into a 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan.
Mix the pumpkin with the milk, cream and cinnamon. You can add other spices that you like-ginger or cloves are good if you have them.
Pour over the crust.
Bake at 350 degrees until browned and not jiggly in the center. That should be for about 40 or 50 minutes.

*Just cut open the pumpkin, scrape out the seeds and save for roasting or planting, cut the pumpkin into chunks if it is big and roast, skin side up, in a 400 degree oven until it is soft.
Then scoop out of the skin into a bowl and measure. Use the rest for another pie or some pumpkin bread or pumpkin pudding.

Apple Crisp

6 freshly picked apples
2 T sugar
1 stick butter
1 c brown sugar
2 c oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Peel, core and slice the apples. Spread them into your baking dish and sprinkle with sugar.
Melt the butter in the microwave in a glass bowl.
Stir in the brown sugar and oatmeal.
Spoon on top of the apples.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until crispy on top and bubbly underneath.
Ryan says his mom would add a little lemon zest to the apples which sounds delicious.

Last Year's Japanese Recipes

Rice with Furikake

Cook short grain white rice according to the directions. If you don't have a Japanese rice cooker consider trying one!

Serve rice in small bowls with chopsticks and top with your choice of Furikake.

Furikake are Japanese seasonings that your can buy at Uwajimaya. They come in a wide variety of flavors:
Nori Fumi-nori, sesame seeds, salt and sugar
Shiso Fumi-shiso leaves, salt and sugar
and many more. The kids liked the Nori Fumi best so far.

Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls)

cooked white rice
fillings of your choice
Note: try corn, cabocha (Japanese Pumpkin), cheese (not very Japanese), vegetables, tuna salad, improvise your own
Furikake sprinkled on a plate

You will need a bowl of warm water because the rice is sticky!

Pick up 1/2 cup of rice. Flatten in your hand.

Place the filling in the middle. Roll up the rice around the filling and compact into a ball.

Roll in Furikake if you like it and eat.

You can also buy onigiri makers that press the rice into cute shapes like triangles, hearts, Hello Kitties and more!

Sushi

The most difficult part of making sushi is finding the ingredients. After that you can improvise, adjust and add or subtract anything you like!

1 cucumber
1 carrot
4 T rice vinegar
3 green onions
4 c steamed white rice
1 T sugar
2 T rice vinegar
20 nori sheets

Peel and slice the cucumber the long way. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon then slice thinly the long way.
Cut off the ends of the carrot. Slice the long way and steam for a few minutes. Cool and marinate in 4 T of vinegar.
Trim the green onions and slice thinly the long way.
Mix the rice with sugar and vinegar in a large bowl.
Lay a sheet of nori down on a sushi roller or clean dish towel.
Cover about 3/4 of the nori with a thin layer of rice. Get your hands a little damp if the rice sticks to them.
Place in a slice of carrot, cucumber and a few green onions.
Roll tightly starting with the rice-covered edge. Roll inside the mat or towel to compact a little.
Slice carefully with a sharp, clean knife.
Try other fillings your family likes like avocado, tuna salad, smoked salmon or cream cheese.

Miso Soup

Miso soup is a Japanese staple and can be found at any meal or at any time of the day.

Here are the basic ingredients and process we used. As with any recipe you can improvise, add or subtract as you like. I also noticed the Paul Motoyoshi is now serving Miso Soup at the Saturday market...

For a big pot of soup-
8 c of water
2 T bonito flakes
2 T White Miso Paste
1/2 lb Tofu cut in cubes
4 green onions, sliced thinly

Heat the water to very hot.
Steep the bonito flakes for a few minutes. You can use a strainer or a tea ball or another method.
Take out the flakes. They are little to fishy for most Americans.

Note: The extras make great cat treats and if you bought them at the asian grocery store are much less expensive than the ones you can buy just for cats!

Stir in the miso paste and cook for a few minutes.
Add the tofu and green onions just before serving.

Yakisoba

We made a very simple version in class. You can add almost any vegetable, tofu, meat or seafood to this recipe for your family.

1 yellow onion
2 large carrots
3 T canola oil, plus more as needed
1 package fresh or frozen yakisoba noodles
(You can use dry noodles but cook and cool ahead of time)
1/2 c Yakisoba sauce or Stir Fry sauce
1 c water, plus more as needed

Dice the onion very small.
Slice up the carrot very small.
Heat 3 T canola oil in a wok or electric skillet or frying pan to medium hot.
Add the onions and carrots and sauté until soft and golden (about 10 minutes).
Add the noodles with sauce and water.
Cover and let steam to unglue the noodles.
Stir occasionally until the noodles, sauce and veggies are combined.
Enjoy.

Wish List for Cooking in Class

Whisk, spice containers and space-wise rack, kosher salt, pepper corns and a pepper grinder, hot mitts, aprons-kid sized. If you want to donate any of these items contact Tina.