Eggstatic Entrees

Eggstatic Entrees

The SSC Library Teen Cooking Club made some Eggstatic Entrees for the month of April.  We are lucky to have a wonderful partnership with Wegmans Markets to purchse all of the food needed for this ongoing cooking program.  With Spring in the air, the egg symbolizes the promise of life.  I wanted to breathe life into recipes we've never tried.  

Egg Drop Soup

We had several delicious options to test.  First on the menu was Egg Drop Soup.  I never tried this recipe at home and never eat it in restaurants, so it seemed like a worthwhile adventure.  The girls who tested the recipe learned two things.  The first attempt was too hot and they stirred in two directions, so the egg wasn't very pretty.  The second attempt was cooked at a much lower heat and stirred in one direction.  The appearance was better, but the taste to everyone was "waaaaayyyyy too salty!"  With new chefs, learning to use discretion with ingredients like sugar, salt or spice is important to grasp.  Not everyone likes the amount of salt one chef suggests over another.  I stress to start with less, then add more along the way. 

Pizza Nests

Next on the menu was Spaghetti Squash Pizza Nests.  There was no room to fit eggs in the nests 😊, but plenty of eggs in the recipe.  Squash is not a favorite of these teens, so I wanted to show them a new way to work with this terrific source of fiber.  It's cheap and lasts forever in the pantry.  There were a few muffin spaces left in the pans and I wanted to test out a product that seems to be gaining attention in the culinary world--veggie noodles.  

Veggie Noodles--YUM!

The Veggetti is a "Seen on TV" product and the test I tried proved it to be valuable.  I picked up slender zucchini and had students make veggie noodles with it.  Various veggie noodles are popping up in our markets, but the cost is out of this world!  I stress to my students to watch the price per pound of prepared foods versus raw foods.  A little elbow grease takes your dollar a lot farther than packaged food.

Veggetti-fied Zucchini

Using this new tool was fun and easy to use.  We substituted these noodle in place of the spaghetti squash to make more Pizza Nests and fill the pan, but they were not as favored as the original recipe.  Baked Spaghetti squash cooked downs faster than the zucchini noodles, which were too long and threw off the texture.  I would try veggie noodles in place of pasta in a different recipe next time.

Uncooked Casserole

An overall favorite recipe was Cheesy Egg Casserole.  The recipe source, Crazy for Crust, claims to cook this for Christmas morning and now I know why.  The ingredients are simple and quick to whip together into a casserole.  I thought cottage cheese would be snubbed as a gross concoction, but the young lady in that team came up to me saying "Do you know how much torture it is to cook with cottage cheese?  I LOVE IT and can't resist eating it from the tub!!!"  Surprise, surprise!  

Beautiful Brown

The recipe browned so beautifully.  Everyone wanted a bite once they saw this hue.

Happy Grater

The last recipe made for a very happy grater (:  Lemon Thumprint Cookies looked so much like sunny-side up eggs that I couldn't resist choosing this tarty dessert.

Raw Cookie Dough

The cookie dough was something like a sugar cookie.  There were really two recipes to complete this task.  Lemon Curd tops the cookies once they are baked and cooled to give that lemony-yellow dollop of goodness.  You can purchase lemon curd, but I stand by my statement that processed food costs so much more than homemade.  A small 8 ounce jar cost nearly $5, but over 16 ounces were made from scratch in less than 5 minutes (for @ $1) and there was more than enough to top several batches of cookies.

Lemony Goodness

The budding chefs enjoyed these recipes and everyone claimed a different one as their favorite.  Egg Drop soup was the loser, because it was too salty.  We'll call that our Flop of the Month.

Spring Break Socializing

Spring Break for the school district kept several students away in fabulous destinations.  Those who enjoyed stay-cations benefited from the delicious treats we made.  I look forward to celebrating our moms in May.

Mmm-Mm-Mother's Day

Check back next month to find the amazing recipes we tackle for the Mothers in our lives.

Thanks for visiting!

  

Fall Feast

The Southeast Steuben County Library Teen Cooking Club sessions returned in October after a two month hiatus.  Down time did nothing to the program participation, in fact, the quantity of students surged!  Luckily, we have the spacious USW 1000 Union Hall to cook up a storm and contain the 30 teens buzzing with excitement to create the concoctions I collected.

USW 1000 Union Hall houses the SSCL Teen Cooking Club

To start off the event, I set up tables with recipes on each station.  Each recipe was labeled with a number.  Attendees drew from a bucket to find out which recipe was their's to accomplish.  This method has been valuable in breaking up "besties" and siblings, while meeting new friends with similar interests.  

Station 1 created a Butternut Squash Broccoli Quinoa Casserole.  I just love the way quinao (pronounced "keen-wah") is read by the students.  Only the veteran students know the grain and it seems to be overlooked by many households.  I wanted veggies to be used and loved in this main dish.  CHEESE makes the difference.  The dish was warm, colorful, and filling.

So yummy, we doubled the recipe!

Station 2 was assigned Harvest Pumpkin Soup.  Pumkins and soup scream fall to my belly and everyone seemed to agree.  The recipe claims you should puree the mixture, but I allowed the team to choose to leave it chunky or smooth.  The "chunky" vote won.  Lots of kids loved this recipe, which was our appetizer as we waited for all recipes to finish in the ovens.

"This is so warm and makes me feel cozy."

Station 3 were given the favorite recipe that disappeared before it hit the counter, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Due to the pumpkin, these sweet treats are high in fiber and very moist.  They were the dessert before dinner, since the squash in the casserole took longer to soften than expected, but no one seemed disappointed by this fact.

Cookies before cooking...they vanished right out of the oven.

Station 4 was given a double dose of recipes to allow enough tasks for each student.  Old Fashioned Apple Crisp speaks to the season of harvest.  The Finger Lakes region is abundant with apple orchards and the cost of apples goes way low in autumn.  With a large crowd, we doubled the recipe.  This was another sweet treat with a knack for vanishing.

Gone too soon...

For the Harry Potter fans, like myself, who anticipate the upcoming film "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," (click here to borrow the book from our library!--books are always better than movies...)I felt it necessary to introduce a beverage from the much-loved book series. Butter Beer is a quick, 5 ingredient recipe that is sure to please, though it would taste much better served at the Three Broomsticks in Hog's Meade.

The bespectacled bud imbibed like he was in Hog's Meade.

So many great recipes and equally fun company.  These chefs-in-training worked hard and ate 'til their bellies burst.  As families arrived to retrieve their kin, it was irresistible for their noses to guide them to the serving counter.  What little food was leftover ended up being tasted by parents and siblings.  Everyone wanted recipes, and I promised this recap for the exact purpose of taking the lessons home.  Please enjoy!

Go worldwide with us next month with guest chef, Nithya Krishnan.  We will be experimenting with new ingredients and recipes foreign to my knowledge--I can't wait!