Kids in the Kitchen | The Rambling Epicure

Switzerland: Fresh-fruit Marmalade and Meringue Recipe

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, August 18, 2013 Permalink 0

Summer fruit marmalade meringue, a Swiss specialty. Recipe by Jonell Galloway, Spontaneous Cuisine. The Rambling Epicure. Editor, Jonell Galloway.

Switzerland: Fresh-fruit Marmalade and Meringue Recipe

Spontaneous Cuisine, by Jonell Galloway

From the archives

We often think of traditional Swiss meringue as winter food, but it can also be great with summer fruit, such as plums, berries, apricots, etc., either mixed or on their own.

This recipe can also be appropriate to make with children. They will especially love using the pastry sleeve to decorate the marmalade.

Recipe

Click here for metric recipe converter

Marmalade

1 kg fruit

Approx. 1 dl water

Sugar to taste

Wash fruit. If it has stones, cut in half and remove stones.
Place fruit in a saucepan, preferably copper or stainless steel.
Add water. Cover.
Cook on medium until the fruit starts to “melt” and lose its shape.
Add sugar and mix well.
Set aside to cool.

Note: If you want it to be smooth like a coulis, run it through a chinois or fine colander or sieve.

Meringues

3 egg whites (large free-range or organic eggs give a lot better taste and result)

100 g white castor sugar

Put egg whites in a large mixing bowl. Beat until they form stiff peaks.
Little by little, fold in sugar until the mixtures forms a very stiff paste.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 175° C.
Butter an oblong baking dish.
Evenly spread marmalade in baking dish.
Use a rubber spatula to spread egg white mixture evenly over marmalade or use a pastry bag to spread it in a decorative manner.
Lightly sprinkle with sugar.
Bake in oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

MarketDay: Documentary Photos of a July Farmers Market in Switzerland

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, July 17, 2013 Permalink 0

MarketDay: Documentary Photos of a July Farmers Market in Switzerland

Spontaneous Cuisine: Lebanese Zucchini Salad Recipe

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, July 16, 2013 Permalink 0

Spontaneous Cuisine: Lebanese Zucchini Salad Recipe

by Jonell Galloway

Mezze: summer vegetables with a new twist for your picnics

What are summer vegetables for us are year-long vegetables for the Lebanese and Syrians.

Choosing your courgettes or zucchini

Zucchini should be dark green and firm to the touch. Avoid wrinkly-looking courgettes, which are not fresh.

Choose young, small ones. The taste is more delicate and sweeter. Larger older courgettes often have large seeds, and tend to be bitter.

Recipe for mezze-style courgette (zucchini) salad

This is a kid-friendly recipe.

Gareth Jones: Memories of Old Belgium & Malmedy’s Gooey Kisses

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, July 3, 2013 Permalink 0

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Memories of Old Belgium and Malmedy’s Gooey Kisses, including Recipe

by Gareth Jones

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When two chewy, gooey meringues come stuck together either side of a slather of butter cream or crême chantilly, the pâtissiers of Malmédy call this a ‘kiss’. Their description is obvious – it’s a fond embrace. Such is its fame, the Baiser had a place in the original Larousse Gastronomique compiled by Prosper Montagné in 1938.

The story goes that the Baiser de Malmédy started life in the late 19th century in this region of the Eastern Ardennes that many still prefer to call ‘Old Belgium’. The name appreciates that here, in the small towns like Malmédy, Stavelot, Bastogne, Spa and Francorchamps, the old ways continue and courtesy comes before all else – much as continues in Norfolk and Suffolk, Dorset and Somerset, where people living here still have time for each other.

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Mindful Eating: Getting your Kids into the Kitchen: Fresh Fruit Smoothies

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, June 30, 2013 Permalink 0

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Mindful Eating: Getting your Kids into the Kitchen: Fresh Fruit Smoothies

Getting your Children Interested in Food

From the archives

For younger children, one of the easiest ways of introducing them to the kitchen is to tempt them with a sweet, fruit smoothie.

Smoothies are easy and can be made all year, changing
the flavor according to what fruits are in season.

So as to avoid adding sugar, it’s best to choose a fruit that is very ripe and sweet, and, of course, one that your child likes. Letting your child choose the fruit is also a way of teaching him or her how to shop for fresh fruit, and explain why you don’t buy strawberries from Chile at Christmas. Local fruit is not only fresher and therefore has more vitamins, but it is also nicer on the purse.

Bananas are good all year, and can be mixed with different fruits in the summer. There are endless combinations that change with the seasons.

At the moment, strawberries, melons, peaches, and raspberries are already available in the Geneva region or from nearby France or Italy. Indian mangoes make a divine smoothie, similar to an Indian lassi, and always a favorite for children. The buttery, honey-flavored yellow kiwis from New Zealand have a very short season, but are not as acidic as the green ones, and have just come on the market.

Take a look at what’s in season before you go to the market.

Kids in the Kitchen: Teach Your Kids How to Shop for Food

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, June 17, 2013 Permalink 0

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Kids in the Kitchen: Teach Your Kids How to Shop for Food

by Jonell Galloway

Summertime is the perfect time to start!

Farmers Market

Going to the farmers market can be made into an exciting, weekly event. Summer offers lots of fresh fruit that they can choose to make their smoothies, to put on their breakfast cereal, or to make fruit salads. Vegetables are tastier in summer than in winter, and there is a larger selection, so it is also an occasion to encourage them to try more vegetables. If they choose fruit and vegetables themselves, they will feel more part of the process, and are more likely to eat them.

Making the Shopping List

Start by discussing the fruits and vegetables that are in season with your child before you go to the market. For the Lake Geneva region, you can look at our MarketDay photo albums, published regularly, to get an idea of what you can expect to find. If you are planning on making a meal together, choose the dishes and ingredients together when making your shopping list. If it’s fruit for snacks or smoothies, let them decide which ones they prefer.

It is a good idea to put up a food pyramid and a seasonal products chart somewhere in the kitchen, so you can refer to it when planning meals with the children, and also to explain why they must eat food such as green vegetables or fruit, for example. More suggestions are available in our 9 May 2009 post A fun, interactive guide for teaching your children good eating habits.

Explain the importance of buying local when possible. It is not only cheaper, but fresher, and therefore has more vitamins.

At the Market

Once you’re at the market, let them start looking for the items on the list. When they’ve spotted them, explain how to choose, by color, smell, touch, ripeness, etc., but make sure to ask the vendor if it’s all right to touch first.

This is also a time to let them look for products that have a local origin written on the tags, and to explain that if the products are local, they are also more ecological, because the cost of transport is less, and that in turn makes them more economical. It takes a lot of fuel to bring tomatoes from Holland in July and August when we have them right here in the region. Reduced transport also cuts pollution.

Buying from local producers allows children to have direct contact with the farmers, and to ask questions if they like. Farmers love to talk about what they have lovingly produced, and this in turn encourages children to appreciate farmers’ hard work and the satisfaction that it brings them. There is a reciprocity: the farmer gives you something he or she has produced with care, and you in turn get to satisfy your tastebuds.

Make kids part of the entire process by letting them help prepare the meal or dish afterwards. Once again, they are more likely to eat it if they help prepare it.

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Recipe: Kids in the Kitchen: Making Homemade Halloween Treats with your Children

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, October 28, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

American Jack-o’-lanterns. Photo courtesy of Nosajanimus.

Have you ever thought of making homemade Halloween treats, and getting your kids into the kitchen to help out?

Sharon Bowers’ book Ghoulish Goodies: Creature Feature Cupcakes, Monster Eyeballs, Bat Wings, Funny Bones, Witches’ Knuckles, and Much More! (Frightful Cookbook) arose out of her lifelong love affair with Halloween. Epicurious has featured some of her recipes and ideas in its weekly newsletter.

Itsy Bitsy History of Candy Corn and other Halloween News

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, October 28, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Don’t miss Gourmet Live’s history of how candy corn was invented in a time when corn was seen as low-brow, and how it later came to be associated with autumn.

Click here to read more.

For lots of fun and novel uses for candy corn (and for a few good laughs), you might want to read this article on Jezebel.

Laughing Squid has produced an series of sculptures made from candy corn.

Craftberry Bush shows a step-by-step photographic explanation of how to make candy corn party favors. These are some of the most original Halloween treats I’ve seen.

Food Art: Giant Oreo Cake, food photography by SandeeA

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, June 14, 2012 Permalink 0

These photos are by SandeeA, author of the column Food Play, and who runs a site called La Receta de la Felicidad. SandeeA is never lacking ideas when it comes to playful, fun recipes. Click here to find the recipe for this Giant Oreo Cake. It would be a great recipe to get your kids in the kitchen!

Barbie’s Secret to Weight Loss: Don’t Eat

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, April 2, 2012 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Reprint of our most popular article

Barbie’s secret to weight loss was “don’t eat”: Is that your teen’s philosophy?

The 1965 Slumber Party Barbie came with her very own How to Lose Weight book. The main message was “don’t eat.” Along with this book came a bathroom scale always set at 110 pounds/49.9 kilograms, says Teen Beauty Tips. According to Malisa Morsman, “Barbie is the plastic equivalent of a 5-foot, 9-inch (1.75 m) woman with a 36-inch (91.5 cm) bust, 33-inch (83.8 cm) hips, and an impossibly small 18-inch waist (45.7 cm).”

Photo courtesy of Mental Floss.