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22/02/16
Posted by Katie oGrady

Cooking with Children – Mother’s Day Recipes

Little ones love to cook especially if it involves licking chocolate off a wooden spoon! It’s a fantastic way to spend time with your children – it’s fun, messy and in fact a great way for them to develop their confidence, learn about healthy food choices and develop a variety of skills including:

  • Maths (weighing and measuring ingredients)
  • Science (mixing ingredients and observing what happens, discussing the process and seeing the end result)
  • Time
  • Creativity
  • Early Literacy and Communication (reading recipes and following instructions)

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, why not treat your wonderful mummy to a heart-warming meal! These are some of our chefs’ favourite dishes that are certain to bring a smile to her face.

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs with Herb Sauce – Jackie

Ingredients
500g boneless/skinless chicken breasts
15ml lemon or lime juice
15ml olive oil
½ tsp paprika
2 courgettes cut into ½ inch slices
8 baby tomatoes
8 shallots skinned
8 baby sweetcorn halved
1 red pepper deseeded and cut into 8 pieces
1 green pepper deseeded and cut into 8 pieces

Sauce
300ml plain yoghurt
30ml clear honey
15ml lemon juice
1 tbsp of chopped fresh mixed herbs
1 clove of garlic crushed

Method

  1. Cut the chicken into small cubes. Place in oil, add lemon and paprika and mix well – leave to marinade for at least an hour
  2. Oil 4 – 6 skewers (metal). Thread the chicken and vegetables onto skewers alternating until all ingredients are used up. Brush each kebab with any remaining juice
  3. To make the sauce, crush the garlic clover with the flat side of a knife and add a little salt – it will become a paste. Then mix all the sauce ingredients together and put to one side
  4. Grill the kebabs for 8 to 10 minutes turning during cooking
  5. Once the kebabs are cooked, either drizzle the sauce over the kebab or place the sauce in a separate dish and serve separately

 The kebabs can be served with rice or pitta bread and a salad.

 

Bacon and Pea Macaroni Cheese – Chris
(Vegetarian option without bacon)

Ingredients
6 rashers of bacon
2 leeks
1 tbsp oil
140g frozen peas
400g macaroni pasta
200g soft cheese
85g grated cheese
1 tbsp mustard

Method

  1. Fry bacon and leeks for 10 minutes
  2. Add peas (pop the peas in frozen, no need to cook)
  3. Boil pasta, whilst you leave the peas, bacon and leeks to cool
  4. Add the pasta to the bacon, leeks and peas making sure you keep 150ml of the cooking water that was used to cook the pasta to create the sauce
  5. Add half the grated cheese and all soft cheese to the cooking water
  6. Stir into the lovely sauce
  7. Pour onto the pasta mixture
  8. Sprinkle rest of grated cheese and put under the grill and cook for a further 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown

 

Chocolate and Strawberry Cake – Clive

For the cake
Ingredients
4 level tbsp cocoa powder
4ozs unsalted butter (softened)
100g dark chocolate melted
Few drops of vanilla extract
12 ozs dark Muscovado sugar
2 large eggs
10 oz plain flour
2 x 200ml carton crème fraiche
2 x 8 inches round sandwich tins (buttered and base lined)

For the ganache topping and filling
Ingredients
300ml whipping cream
200g dark chocolate
A few drops vanilla extract
8-12 ozs strawberries

Method:

  1. Set the oven to 180C or gas mark 4
  2. Make cocoa mixture using the cocoa powder and stirring in 6 flozs of boiling water, the mixture should be smooth
  3. Beat together the butter, melted chocolate and vanilla and then beat in the sugar and cocoa mixture
  4. Whisk all together add the eggs one at a time along with a spoonful of flour per egg
  5. Beat in cream fraiche and chocolate mixture and fold in the remaining flour. Divide the mixture in prepared cake tins
  6. Bake cakes for 30 – 35minutes. Cool and turn out on a wire rack
  7. To make the ganache topping – bring the cream to boil and pour over broken chocolate, stir until chocolate melts. Add vanilla and cool
  8. Slice the strawberries for the filling and save half to decorate the top
  9. Spread half of the ganache over one of the cakes and arrange sliced strawberries on top. Place the other cake on top and spread remaining ganache allowing it to run slightly over the edge
  10. Decorate with halved strawberries