Taher, Wolle, Bergling offer ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ culinary sessions
By Mother’s Day in May, student participants in “Kids in the Kitchen,” a series of culinary arts educational sessions at Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES), will all deserve a tip of the “toque blanche” (French for the typical tall, pleated and starched white chef hat) for their learned kitchen skills.
The opportunity is for students in grades four-through-six and is being held courtesy of the public school’s food service, Taher, and is being taught by Food Service Director Tammy Wolle. Assisting is Heidi Bergling, also of Food Service.
A total of eight Wednesday sessions will be held from February through May, with two courses held each month. The same lesson is repeated at each of the month’s classes. Over the course of the four months, the young chefs will learn to prepare four different meals.
During the class, students will learn to read a recipe, measure, cut, peel, sauté, bake and more, including receiving tips from Wolle. In addition, students will take home the items they prepare in order to complete the cooking – whether in the crock pot or oven.
Classes began today (February 1), in the cafeteria immediately following the closing school bell. They run until 4:15 p.m.
Today’s cooking lesson focused on tasty treats from the crock pot. The crock pot dishes prepared were chicken tortellini soup, Italian lasagna and peach dump dessert. This instruction will be reprised on Wednesday, February 15.
The remaining culinary classes (the identical session is held twice a month) include:
+ Soups and Bread – Instructions on how to prepare buttermilk cornbread muffins, chicken noodle soup and creamy tomato soup will be the culinary curriculum on Wednesdays, March 1 and 15.
+ Make-and-Take Pizza – Pizza pie-making is the focus of the April cooking sessions. These will run Wednesdays, April 5 and April 19.
+ Mother’s Day Special – Mom deserves breakfast in bed on her special day, and this course will prep each Kid Chef with the ability to serve up French toast egg strata, orange juice cocktail and fruit garnish. Classes in May are Wednesdays, May 3 and May 10.
Students may register for future sessions, which are $5 each, by contacting District Secretary Lois Herrig at 427-2325, Extension 100.
Here are the trio of crock pot recipes from today:
Crock Pot Chicken Tortellini Soup
+ Ingredients –
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced.
- 3 celery stalks, finely diced.
- 3 garlic cloves, minced.
- 1 medium onion, finely diced.
- 2 cups shredded chicken. (You may substitute three boneless and skinless chicken breasts. Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of the slow cooker and add the other ingredients on top. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours. Shred the chicken once finished cooking.)
- 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock.
- ½ teaspoon dried basil.
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano.
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme.
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary.
- Salt and pepper, to taste.
- 16 ounces three-cheese tortellini. (If using frozen tortellini, do not thaw before adding to the soup.)
+ Instructions:
- Place the carrots, celery, garlic, onion, chicken, chicken stock, basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary into a 6-quart slow cooker. Mix until combined.
- Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the three-cheese tortellini into the soup and mix. Cook on high for another 15 minutes.
- Serve on up.
Crock Pot Lasagna
+ Ingredients:
- 1½ lb. ground beef, browned and drained.
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces.
- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes.
- 5½ ounce can tomato paste.
- 1 jar pasta sauce.
- ½ cup celery, diced.
- ½ cup carrots, diced.
- 1 cup onion, diced.
- ½ cup green pepper diced.
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese.
- 2 teaspoon sugar.
- 1 teaspoon parsley.
- ½ teaspoon oregano.
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder.
- ¼ teaspoon basil.
- 1 teaspoon salt.
- ½ teaspoon pepper.
+ Instructions:
- Place all ingredients in a crock pot.
- Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
Crock Pot Peach Dump Dessert
+ Ingredients –
- 2 cups sliced peaches.
- 1 tablespoon corn starch.
- ½ Tablespoon vanilla.
- ¼ cup brown sugar.
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- 1 9 ounce Jiffy White Cake Mix.
- 4 Tablespoons butter, melted.
+ Directions:
- Spray crock pot with food spray, add in sliced peaches.
- Sprinkle with corn starch and stir.
- Drizzle with vanilla and cover with brown sugar.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon, then cake mix, to cover the sliced peaches.
- Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the entire cake mix.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-3½ hours.
Below is a photo gallery of the young chefs in the kitchen from today’s lesson:
