Pupils learn to cook

Jun 4 2007

By Jane Picken, The Evening Chronicle

Young chefs on Tyneside have been cooking up a healthy treat for their families and teachers. Health Reporter Jane Picken finds how they conquered the kitchen. Children in Walker could teach the adults a thing or two about creating a culinary feast. After almost 13 weeks of tasty cooking lessons, children at the Thomas Gaughan Community Centre, on Pottery Bank, aged nine to 11, were able to serve-up a three-course meal to their families as the course finished last week. They had all taken part in the Kids Can Cook Little Chefs project, intended to teaching youngsters how to make a range of healthy and tantalising dishes from scratch. Story continues ADVERTISEMENT And the Kids' Café was the perfect opportunity to showcase their skills to hungry family members. To start, diners were offered pea and ham soup or prawn cocktail, followed by chicken cordon bleu with rosemary potatoes, or lasagne with garlic bread - both served with a mixed salad. For pudding, the 11 youngsters served up summer fruit cheesecake and apple and raspberry crumble. Among the happy eaters was Alison Jones, 28, from Walker, whose 10-year-old niece, Becky Charlton, had been attending the Little Chefs classes and took part in the Kids' Café last week. She said: "It was a brilliant evening, and cooking is a great thing for the children to learn about. There's not a lot for children to do around here after school and this is something which teaches them skills but keeps them off the streets. "I had the prawn cocktail, chicken and summer fruit cheesecake - and it was all lovely. While she's been doing the course Becky has been trying to do more cooking, whereas before she wasn't really that interested in it. "And when they finished the course the children were presented with a basket full of all the essential cooking equipment they need to make sure they keep doing it." Becky, a pupil at Wharrier Street Primary School, in Walker, has been on the course for 13 weeks, learning cooking tips which she will be able to use at home. Becky, who lives with mum Nicola Jones, 31, and her brother Leonard, 14, and little sister Kelsey, seven, said: "I really enjoy cooking now and I even made spaghetti bolognese for my family, which went down really well. "The restaurant has definitely been my favourite part, and it was nice to cook for members of my family." The Kids' café was set up in 1998 by local volunteers and workers from St Anthony's Children's House and the Thomas Gaughan Community centre with the support of Newcastle Nutrition. Thankfully, the scheme secured funding from the Newcastle Children's Fund in 2002 and was able to appoint a co-ordinator and assistant. Essentially, the Kids' Café promotes healthy eating and exercise in amusing and memorable ways to young people and their families living in the East End of Newcastle. Sessions for primary school pupils are held during the school holidays at the Thomas Gaughan Community Centre, Byker Sands Family Centre and St Vincent's Primary School. The Kids Can Cook Little Chefs project is now in its third year and has been a huge success since it started, prompting organisers to set up an advanced scheme for 12- to 16-year-olds. Kids Café co-ordinator, Sarah Miller said: "The children taking part in this project have all worked really hard and their kitchen skills and healthy eating knowledge have improved dramatically since the first session. "All of the children are working more independently in the kitchen and are now very confident in weighing out, preparing and cooking ingredients. "The children all receive a Little Chef's pack full of cooking equipment and files with all their recipes in so they can carry on cooking when the project finishes." The chef course starts with an introduction to the kitchen, covering essential safety and hygiene rules, before getting stuck into making bread and cheesecake. Then, over the following 12 weeks, the children learn how to make a variety of delicious dishes, including peach and blackberry fruit crumble, chicken and lamb kebabs, pitta bread and dips, salads, chicken curry and fish pie. The course culminates in Week 13 with the restaurant, where the children don waiters' uniforms and serve up specially-prepared treats for their families in the Kids' Café. --------------------------------------------------------- Guilt-free deserts Desserts don't have to be full of sugar or fat, and the World Cancer Research Fund has put together a menu of delicious treats that won't leave you guilt-ridden. They include: Banana and date muffins (190 calories per muffin and 5g of fat) INGREDIENTS 240g (8 oz) self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 120g (4 oz) light muscovado sugar 60g (2 oz) stoned dates, chopped 3 ripe bananas, mashed 1 egg 175ml (6 fl oz) skimmed milk 4 tbsp sunflower oil METHOD Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cases. Measure all the ingredients into a bowl and beat well. Distribute evenly among the paper cases. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6 for 20-25 minutes, until well risen and cooked through. Cool on a wire tray. Warm almond peaches with honey (serves two) --------------------------------------------------------- INGREDIENTS 4 peach halves (canned in natural juice, or 2 fresh peaches if available) 50g (2 oz) ricotta cheese 10 small amaretti biscuits, lightly crushed 4 tsp clear honey finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon METHOD Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4. Line an ovenproof dish with non-stick baking parchment. Place the 4 peach halves, stone-cavity side up, on the baking parchment. If using fresh peaches, remove skin (by placing in a large bowl and pouring boiling water over them, leave to stand for 2-3 minutes, and then skin should peel away easily), halve and remove stone, and place on the parchment as for canned peaches. Spoon the ricotta cheese into a bowl and blend with a wooden spoon to a smooth consistency. Add the crushed amaretti biscuits, honey, lemon zest and juice. Blend together well. Spoon an equal amount of filling mixture into each peach half and bake for 20 minutes. Drizzle a little extra honey over the peaches and serve.

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