Having a Teen and a Tween in the house, I think nowadays it is very important for boys to know how to cook. Why should only girls learn how to cook? My Tween loves to help us out in the kitchen and my Teen is slowly catching on to the idea as well. We usually let them choose a meal a week that they cook for us, I figure if it is something they like to eat, they are more likely to have fun cooking it. So far it has worked for us.
A few weeks ago I got a book in the mail called “teen Cuisine“. I had hopes that my teen would take a look at this and hopefully will make some new ideas other than Mac’ n cheese. Once my Teen saw the book my plan worked, he said on his own, oh mom can I use this book and pick something for dinner this week?? Of course I didn’t tell him that this was my plan… but it worked…
Let me tell you a little about this book; the author Matthew Locricchio was born into a restaurant and catering family and as worked with food most of his life, he knows how to teach children how to cook, he already has a few other best sellers on the market. You can check them out Here
This book teen Cuisine is a one-of-a kind cookbook that introduces adolescents to more than 50 mouthwatering recipes. What impressed me with this cook book was the pictures.. wonderful illustrations, by James Peterson, of the dishes that are in this book, almost every recipe has a picture, I love that. I likely will grab a book in the bookstore that has lots of pictures of over a cookbook that has nothing but recipes, I’m a visual person and need to see the end results before I decide if I like it or not, I most of the time look at the ingredients last, so this is wonderful.
Teen Cuisine has wonderful recipes for any occasions, nicely divided into Brilliant Breakfast, Snacks and co-stars, soups, salads and dressing, sandwich and burgers, Pizza, Side dishes, Entrees and dessert… but that isn’t all, you will also find a wonderful introduction to cooking teaching your Teen ( or Tween, and maybe even yourself) some tricks and tips as well as an entire section in the book explaining different ingredients to your new chef cook and even helping them with metric conversion, which is a big thing in our house, we need to know both German ( European) measurements and Temperature as well as American standards. I love this chart and it was so easy for my Teen to understand and figure out.
Another reason I like this book is, the ingredients are every day ingredients that you already have at home or would normally buy, no fancy schmanzy products like some recipe books that you will only use once and never again… I love that the author put simple every day products and created wonderful fancy dishes.
But whether you have a daughter or a son in the house, we would highly recommend this to any Tween or Teen in your home to check out, you can purchase your copy through Amazon
This is what my Teen cooked for dinner for the family… and may I add .. it was very good… he took pride in making the dish and presenting it to us.. yes, it’s a “normal” dish, but that’s what this book is all about teaching your little ones to cook, and yet it was a “normal” dish having my Teen be the chef made it so much better:
We had Hamburgers with Crisp Oven Fries
Crisp Oven Fries:
Serves 4 to 6
This is what you need:
4 medium Idaho, russet or baking potatoes
5 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried sage
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt plus extra for flavor if you like
On your mark….
- Wash and scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt.
- Cut the potato in half lengthwise and lay, cut side down, on a cutting board.
- Cut each half into 16 to 20 strips about ¼ inch thick, this is a slow process so take your time
- Drop the cut strips into a bowl of hot tap water
- Let the potatoes soak for 10 to 15 minutes
Get set….
- Preheat the oven to 475 F with a rack in the middle slot of the oven.
- Coat a nonstick or heavy aluminum 10 ½ by 151/2 inch baking sheet with 2 tablespoons of the oil
- Mix the oregano, sage, pepper, paprika and salt in a small bowl and set aside
- Drain the potatoes
- Lay two to three layers of paper towels on a clean work surface. Set the drained potatoes in batches on the paper towels. Wrap completely dry. It it important to get the potatoes as dry as you can. The drier, the crispier.
- Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Pour the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over the potatoes and, whit a spoon, toss well to coat. Sprinkle on the herb mix and toss again to evenly coat all the potatoes.
- Empty the potatoes onto the prepared baking sheet and spread them in a single layer. It is all right if some of them overlap.
Cook!
- Slide the baking sheet onto the middle rack of the oven.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are brown and crispy. Once or twice during the baking, open the oven and, using a spatula, loosen the potatoes. Use tongs to turn the loosened potato strips over to ensure even cooking. Turn the baking tray one fill rotation during baking to prevent burning. If the potatoes start to burn, lower the oven temp to 450F.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and sprinkle with extra salt.
- Serve immediately
Dinner was wonderful.. this recipe was just great…. A little time consuming per my Teen, but well worth it, and he learned to have patience. We defiantly will add this to our menu plan more often as well as a lot of other great items from this book, I can’t wait to try the Fresh Fruit Tostados or the Tomato and cheese Lunch Pie… they all sound yummy and best part my Teen and Tween want to cook for us…. J
We were given a copy of the book for our honest review, all opinions are 100% our own and the Teen performed on his own, no child labor was preformed ( J ) and no compensation other than the book was nor will be received…
Jackie says
That looks like a great book. I think it’s really important for boys to learn to cook. Those potatoes look fantastic… he did a great job. 🙂
Jackie recently posted..Affresh Washing Machine Cleaner Review and Giveaway
mausekind says
Jackie… I think it is very importan for kids to cook especially the boys.. my hubby cooks and he loves it, I hope my boys will love it, too 🙂
Amber says
This book looks great – I’m recommending it to my nephew who’s going to college net year!
Lynda Del says
Ooh, my 13 year-old nephew says he wants to be a chef when he grows up. Perhaps this book would be helpful to him.
mausekind says
this would be a great Start Lynda.. it really is a wonderful book, simple recipes that your teen can start cooking…:-) check it out next time you are at your library or on Amazon. we love it