Macaroni Cheese

WOW - so many easy dishes that we can make at home!
Today it was macaroni cheese.
Boil us the macaroni and make a Roux - it's as simple as that.
While the recipe we used today didn't have any extras we discussed how you could add all sorts of other tasty bits to the dish to make it a bit different.  We decided that ham, bacon or salami would be yummy.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Edmonds plain baking flour
2 cups milk
salt n pepper
2 cups grated tasty cheese
2 cups macaroni elbows, cooked

Method

Melt butter in a saucepan.

Stir in flour and cook until frothy.

Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until sauce boils and thickens.

Remove from heat.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in half the cheese.

Add macaroni, stirring to combine.

You can stop at this point and eat, however you can follow the next steps if you want.

Pour mixture into an oven­proof dish.

Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

Cook at 190°C for 20 minutes or until golden and heated through.

Chopped cooked bacon or ham can be added to the sauce if desired.

Week 7 - Taco challenge

Today we split into two groups to cook.  This meant that one group of us were able to work on our own and were challenged with following the recipe ourselves.  The other group worked with Mrs Hanlon.  This was a great opportunity to use our skills of organisation and co-operation.

This is the first meal that we have prepared that we have used starter kits for instead of from scratch.  We made soft tacos and crispy tacos.

Curried Sausages - Week 6

Today we made curry sausages.  We were amazed how quick and easy these were.  They would make a great winter family meal.

Recipe

500 g sausages (plain) uncooked

Small amount of oil for cooking onions.
1large onion cut into wedges
2 potatoes - cut into chunks
1Tbsp curry powder
1Tbsp flour
mixed herbs
salt and pepper to taste.

Cook sausages water till firm then slice up.
Keep liquid from cooking sausages for later.

Prepare all other ingredients.

Saute onions in oil until soft and translucent
Add curry power and flour.
Use small amount of liquid from the sausages to create sauce
Add sausages.
Keep adding liquid as mixture thickens to thin sauce.
Simmer for 30 minutes

Serve with Rice.

Butter Chicken - Week 5

Another delicious dish, and it is amazing how simple some of these dishes are to make.

We had lots of conversations today about how we are making our foods from scratch rather than buying a flavour sachet or ready made sauce.  We are getting better at some of our basic preparation skills too. Things like chopping, dicing, and mixing.

Another important part of our learning is the importance of keeping our work space clean and not creating cross-contamination of raw meat with other ingredients that you might not cook.  

Butter Chicken

Ingredients
500g Chicken breast
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1tsp Tumeric
1tsp Cumin
1tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp each Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 Cup Cream
1 tsp Chilli (optional)

1: Chop Chicken breast into bite size pieces.
2: Mix together all the spices (except the Garam Masala) and toss through the chicken.
3: Melt the better in a large pan.
4: Add onion and garlic and cook until soft (do not burn)
5: Add the chicken
6: Stir until golden
7: Add tomato paste and Garam Masala and mix well.
8: Stir in cream.
9: Simmer for 5-8 minutes until rich and creamy.

Kebabs and Mash - Week 4

Today we made beef kebabs and mashed potato.
The classroom smelt SOOoooo good.

Ingredients

Mashed Potatoes
Potatoes (about 1 large potato per person)
small amount of butter
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and wash the potatoes, then cut into small pieces 









Put the potato into a saucepan with water and bring to boil.  Turn down the heat and let them cook until they are soft. (you can stick a fork into them easily)

















Kebabs

Bamboo Skewers (soak in water if you are cooking on the BBQ)
500g Rump steak or similar
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce.

Chop and crush the garlic (or use a garlic crusher if you have one)






In a bowl mix in garlic, soya sauce, brown sugar and sweet chill sauce.

Chop the rump steak into small cubes.

Mix meat at garlic mix together and leave to sit for at least an hour (Overnight is even better)

Thread the meat onto the skewers.

Cook the kebabs in an electric frypan with a small amount of oil , or on the BBQ until the meat is cooked.

Then eat and enjoy like we did.  

SPANISH MEATBALLS

Yipee!
We were finally able to get cooking today!  SPANISH MEATBALLS.

Ingredients: 

Meatballs

• 500g Beef Mince
• 1/4 Cup uncooked short grain rice
• 1/4 Cup chopped fresh herbs (e.g. parsley, Sage or Thyme)
• 2 tsp Paprika
• 1 Egg
• Pinch of black pepper
• 2 TBSP oil (for cooking)

Sauce

• 1 Onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 Carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 green capsicum, chopped (Optional)
• 420g Can Condensed tomato soup
• 1 cup water.

Peel and chop the onion, herbs and carrots.

In a bowl mix together mince, rice, herbs, paprika and egg.  Season with Pepper. 

Roll into even-sized balls.

Heat oil in a large frying pan and quickly brown meatballs evenly.

Add onions , carrots, capsicum, soup and water to the frying pan and stir gently to mix.  Cover and simmer until the meatballs are tender and rice is cooked.

 Serve with green vegetables and rice or mashed potatoes.

We hope you enjoy making these at your house.  They were delicious.

Term 3

Over Term 3 - 15 students have joined me to learn about foods from around the world, to make and sample some of these dishes and create treats for other members of the school.

Even Good Cooks Make Mistakes!

Our final cooking session was Meringues - these were going fantastically... that is until Mrs Hanlon didn't watch  them in the oven properly and burnt them all!!

A good learning point for all - always check the temperature of the oven and remember to set the timer.

Never mind - we are looking forward to another round of cooking in term 4

Perfection

Because pavlova is best left to cool in the oven, we weren't able to try

our dish yesterday so....

today at morning tea Mrs Hanlon brought in some fresh cream, berries and kiwi fruit to 

decorate our pavlova

Look at the result - totally yummy - everyone not in cooking club were totally jealous!

Maybe they should sign up for next term!

PAVLOVA

Today was our last Parmco challenge cook off!

Pavlova - so easy! We are looking forward to eating it tomorrow for morning tea!

careful measuring

Whoops - messy cooks in the kitchen!

My turn next please.

SERVES - 6-8
PREP TIME - 20 mins
BAKING TIME - 35 mins (then, ideally leave in the oven over night to cool, or as long as possible)
INGREDIENTS:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 1 dsp cornflour
• 4 tbsp boiling water
• 1 tsp malt vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 150˚. Flour a baking tray
2. Combine all ingredients into your mixer bowl and place on high for 15 minutes
3. Place the stiff mix into the centre of the tray and do not spread it out - or place into a piping bag and pipe smaller pavs
4. Bake for 35 minutes then turn off the heat and leave the pav in the oven for as long as you can - overnight if possible.

This weeks Parmco cooking challenge was lots of fun. We made Chicken Marrakech - which is kind of a Morocan Style dishes with lots of lovely sweet spicy flavours. 

It was great to see everybody getting stuck in and taking turns, thinking about what they are making and having some interesting conversations about what things taste like, what they eat at home and especially what their favourite foods are.  

Ruby remembers just in time - not to talk with her mouth full!

There are some very adventurous tastebuds!!.

Chicken Marrakech - Looks great kids - Well Done!

Don't forget - WE STILL NEED YOUR VOTES.  We were leading the table for a while there but have slipped back.  Get all your friends and family on line!

AND.....
for all the budding cooks at home, here is this weeks recipe. I bet Mum and Dad would love you to cook dinner one night!

Marrakech chicken with cosucous

SERVES - 4

PREP TIME - 15 mins COOKING TIME - 30 mins

MARRAKECH CHICKEN INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons of olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

700g chicken thighs, bone in and skin removed

Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Pinch of saffron threads, soaked in 30ml-40ml warm water - optional 1 cup coriander leaves, reserving some for garnish

1 cup flat-leafed parsley, reserving some for garnish

COSUCOUS INGREDIENTS:

2 cup couscous

2 cup chicken stock 1 cup peas

1/2 cup parsley zest of a lemon pepper to taste

MARRAKECH CHICKEN METHOD:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on med/low. Throw in the onion and garlic and gently cook for around 3 minutes or until the onion becomes sweet and translucent

2. Turn heat to med and add the spices and chicken, and season well with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken on all sides

3. Add the stock and saffron water (if using) and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is tender

4. Remove the chicken to a serving dish and keep warm. Continue to simmer and reduce the liquid to a nice consistency. 5. Add most of the fresh herbs, reserving some for garnish. Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with the reserved herbs and serve with couscous

COUSCOUS METHOD:

1. Combine couscous with the boiling stock and a little oil, using a fork combine well

2. Cover with cling film and let stand for 3 minutes

3. When soft, fluff up with the fork and combine with other ingredients

THAI FISH CAKES AND LARB GA

We made Thai Fish Cakes and Larb Gai today.

Don't Forget to Vote for Ahuroa on the Parmco website - and kids if you make this at home before Friday 7th you can take a photo of it and enter into the prize draw too!

The Thai Fish Cakes were really easy - and really yummy!

LOOKING GOOD - READY TO COOK

READY TO EAT - YUM YUM

Jon-Joseph wonders if the thai fish cakes are anything like Krabby patties that Mr Krabs uses in his Krusty Krab restaurant.  Maybe we have found the secret formula.

While these were cooking, some of the older students got the ingredients ready for Larb Gai - Deakin thought he would try the chilli seed - watch out Deakin!! they're hot!

The Larb Gai was also really easy to make.

    

We think our dishes look as good as they tasted!

And ....

its easy to make at home too!

THAI FISH CAKES    

THAI FISH CAKE INGREDIENTS:

2 shallots - finely chopped

2 spring onions - finely sliced

500g fresh white fish

1-3 tbsp red curry paste - to taste

1 tsp salt

2 tsp lime juice

1 egg white

Handful fresh coriander

12 stalks lemongrass/or sugar cane (optional)

SALAD INGREDIENTS - Optional:

NB. Making the salad is optional for this week’s challenge, but we thought you might just like to know how!

1/2 cucumber

1/2 cup mung beans 1/2 carrot - sliced thinly 1 chilli

1 shallot

DRESSING INGREDIENTS - Optional:

NB. Making the dressing is optional for this week’s challenge, but we thought you might just like to know how!

1 tbsp fish sauce

Juice of half a lime

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar 20g palm sugar - grated 

THAI FISH CAKES METHOD:
1. Place fish, shallots, spring onions and coriander into a blender and blitz until smooth
2. Add curry paste, salt and lime and blend together
3. Add egg white and continue to mix until paste is thick
4. Divide into golf ball size portions and shape into a small pattie or alternatively shape the mix around lemongrass stalks
5. Shallow fry until golden on each side. Around 4 minutes each side, depending on size.
SALAD METHOD:
Simply combine together, cover and leave unil ready to serve
DRESSING METHOD:
Place ingredients into a jar and shake to combine Drizzle over salad and combine
SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
I like to place the fish cakes into a white dessert bowl then place a small handful of the salad on top. Alternately, gently press the mix around a lemongrass stalk and shallow fry. Serve it next to a small bowl of the salad.

Larb Gai    

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp rice
300g chicken mince
Up to 1⁄2 cup water
Black pepper to taste
1⁄2 red onion - fine diced
1 cup mint - sliced
1 cup coriander- stalks are great too, finely sliced
1-2 tsp dried chillies (to taste)
4 kaffir lime leaves-finely sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lime
TIP: First, prepare your ingredients. Then, ‘cook along’ with Brett by watching the recipe video. He’ll demonstrate how to cook the dish and share his best tips along the way.

METHOD:
1. Heat a small pan on a med/low heat. Add the rice and toast it until golden. Remove to cool. Place into your mortar and grind into a fine powder. Set aside
2. Place the chicken into a cold fry pan and add the water, season with black pepper. Place onto a low heat and cook slowly breaking up any lumps
3. As soon as the chicken is cooked through about 7 minutes, remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, including a tbsp. of the toasted, ground rice

4. Check seasoning and serve with lettuce