Egg course part 1: How to get into the egg

This week the Little Chefs learned how to break eggs, and the older ones also tried their hands at scrambling. So no recipe this time, just a few tips if you'd like to try this at home:

- for most recipes it's best if the eggs are at room temperature, so remember to take them out of the fridge in advance
- prepare with extra eggs beyond what's needed for the recipe: they might not all end up in the bowl
- for the same reason, wipe clean surfaces and aprons are advisable
- when all is set, this is how the Little Chefs learned to break eggs:

1. Use the edge of table to crack the egg, rather than the edge of the bowl: it easily tips over. Especially don't crack the eggs on the side of the frying pan!
2. Always break each egg into a cup, and pour it into the bowl once you've checked it's fresh.
3. If a piece of eggshell has fallen into the bowl, fish it out with a bigger piece of eggshell.

That's about it! A bit messy, but totally possible for a 2 year old to do, and they really enjoy it. In the following weeks we'll try a few egg-based dishes, so the Little Chefs can make good use of this new skill. I was also going to try to teach them how to separate eggs, but they were too tied up eating enormous amounts of scrambled eggs to pay attention! So that's still to come...

Raw ingredients part 3: Rainbow salad

You can use all sorts of colourful vegetables, here is what went into ours:

For 6 portions

Ingredients:

3 sweet red peppers, cubed
4 carrots, grated
Tin of sweetcorn
Half an iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 cucumber, cubed
A jar of black olives, chopped in half

Dressing
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons yoghurt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Handful of grated parmesan

Method:

- spoon a layer of each salad ingredient into a clean jar until your jar is full of rainbow coloured vegetables: red pepper, orange carrot, yellow sweetcorn, light green lettuce, dark green cucumber and black olives
- mix the dressing ingredients and spoon some on top of the vegetables
- tip onto a plate or eat straight from the jar

And a few tips:
- we used jam jars, and there wasn't much space to stir the dressing around: you could try a larger jar and shake it a few times to get the dressing mixed in
- you'll probably have leftovers from most ingredients (except the olives if your little chefs are anything like mine): mix them with some vinaigrette for an adult salad

*The bold text in the recipe shows the steps that the Little Chefs did (with supervision).*

Raw ingredients part 2: Toddler tiramisu

This is a tiramisu without raw eggs, coffee or alcohol, so it's suitable for kids. Check the tips if you'd like to know how to turn it into an adult tiramisu.

For a large bowl or 4 individual (big) portions

Ingredients:

250 g mascarpone
300 ml whipping cream
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
40 sponge fingers (plus extra for munching)
150 ml milk, in a soup plate
1 ripe mango, chopped into 1 cm cubes

Method:

- mix the mascarpone, the cream, the sugar and the vanilla extract in a big bowl with a spoon until it's mostly combined
- then beat the mixture with an electric whisk until it's thickly whipped
- take a large glass bowl or 4 small bowls
- place a sponge finger in the milk, leave it there for 2 seconds, then turn it around and dip the other side for 2 seconds too, then place it in the bottom of the bowl
- continue until there is a layer of sponge fingers in your bowl
- cover the sponge fingers with a layer of the cream mixture
- sprinkle some mango cubes on top
- do another layer of sponge fingers, cream and mango
- cover with cling film and chill in the fridge, ideally for a day before eating

And a few tips:
- make sure you only have a shallow pool of milk in the plate when you dip in the sponge fingers, otherwise they disintegrate quickly, and it will be hard for the kids to fish them out. Refill the plate with milk if it's run out.
- we made this in the winter, so we used mangos, but in the summer it's delicious with sliced strawberries. Berries macerate when they come in contact with the cream, so for prettiest results it's best to eat right away.
- for an adult version, dip the sponge fingers in 125 ml strong coffee mixed with 20 ml rum or amaretto instead of milk, and sift cocoa powder on the top instead of sprinkling with fruit

*The bold text in the recipe shows the steps that the Little Chefs did (with supervision).*