Let's Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook

by DL Acken, Aurelia Louvet

Overview

"Vibrant, fun, and full of tips and recipes that manage to be kid-friendly without being too kiddish. Perfect for budding school-aged cooks!” —Stacie Billis, Co-host, Didn't I Just Feed You podcast

A colourful, comprehensive cookbook that teaches kids (ages 9+) and beginner chefs to cook, and arms them with accessible yet impressive recipes they can make with little-to-no parental supervision.

If the young gourmands on MasterChef Junior are anything to go by, lots of kids are eager to get into the kitchen. So why wait until they’re off at college facing the (gross) communal microwave in their residence lounge? Seasoned cookbook author Danielle Acken, food stylist Aurelia Louvet, and their six proteges (age 7 to 17) are here to help. Let's Eat brings together kitchen basics, tools, terminology, and 60+ recipes with loads of variations to suit a range of tastes.

The book opens with a chapter of recipes to build basic techniques—making eggs, rice, pasta, salad dressing, mashed potatoes, bread, and roast chicken (what? Yes, really)—that will set kids up for culinary success, before branching into breakfasts, fresh snacks and sides, hot main courses, and desserts. Learn to make hits like:

• Sticky Soda Pop Ribs
• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Falafel Veggie Burgers
• Deviled Eggs
• Pulled Chicken Tacos
• Sweet Potato Curry
• Teriyaki Baked Salmon
• Oven Baked Doughnuts

Following this fun, choose-your-own-adventure style primer, with its bold, colourful photography, kids will soon advance from quick afterschool snacks and summer picnics to breakfasts in bed and full-course family dinners (with dessert, of course).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771514132
Publisher:	Heritage Group Distribution
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Danielle (DL) Acken is a Canadian-born international food writer and photographer who splits her time between London, UK and her farm studio on Canada’s beautiful Salt Spring Island. See her work at dlacken.com.

Aurelia Louvet is a dedicated home cook and food stylist based on Canada’s gorgeous Salt Spring Island. Having lived and eaten around the world, Aurelia is known for her evocative style that combines modern North American sensibility and classic European beauty. Visit her at aurelialouvet.com.

Read an Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

If you’ve picked up this book, you’re probably excited to get in the kitchen and learn to cook some of your favorite foods. Before you jump in, have a read through this introduction to find out how we wrote the book and what the icons mean, and to become familiar with the terms, tools, and techniques mentioned in the recipes. With the help of William (17), Georgia (15), Charlie (13), Chloë (11), Félix (10), and Alice (7)—who tested, critiqued, tested again, and devoured everything in sight—we’ve put together a collection of recipes that will give you a solid knowledge base to get you started. These are the building blocks that offer multiple variations for you to experiment with . . . sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure book.

The first chapter, Learn These First! gives you a group of recipes that you’ll refer back to as you go. They’re the foundation for a bunch of recipes scattered throughout the book. Rise & Shine! features some of our favorite breakfast recipes—and we’re sure they’ll quickly become yours as well. The Keep It Fresh! chapter is filled with fruits and veggies recipes and covers everything from salads to Sides, While Make It The Main Event! Is Packed With Familiar Family Favorite Main Courses. Pop It in a Pot . . . Or a Pan! is a chapter full of one-dish meals. Some are baked or braised in the oven, some simmered in a slow cooker, but all are easy and require fewer dishes in the end—a bonus if you’re on cleanup duty! And of course, there’s Don’t Forget Dessert!—as if you could!

Before you cook be sure to:

• Read through the introductory material. We’ve given you a list of tips, terms, tools, and techniques to help you on your culinary journey.
• Read through each recipe completely before you start to cook and be sure you understand the tools and terms used. If you don’t know what something is or means, check the lists on pages xx–xx.
• Look for the warning icons. If you see one, ask an adult or a more experienced cook to stay close at hand to help you.

• means that you’ll need knives or other sharp tools
• means that you’ll use hot cooking methods
• means that you’ll need to handle raw meats
• means that one of the top allergens are included in the base recipe (see page xx for alternatives to allergens)
• means that the recipe includes a long prep or cook time that you should note before diving in
• If a recipe seems like it may be too difficult, ask an adult or more experienced cook to help you through the first time you try it. After you’ve made each of these recipes once, you’ll be able to fly through easily the next time.

Now let’s get cooking!

 

 

GOOD KITCHEN PRACTICES

There are a few rules that make working in the kitchen safer, easier, and more efficient. Follow these and you can’t really go wrong.

• Wash your hands: This is the golden rule! Always wash your hands before you start cooking to ensure you don’t add germs to whatever you’re preparing. If you’re working with raw meats, be sure to wash your hands before AND after handling them. Wear an apron: This will protect your clothes.
• Read the recipe: Before you start to cook, read the entire recipe to make sure you understand what is required and that you have the time, tools, and ingredients you need. There’s nothing worse than jumping into a recipe for dinner only to see that it needs to “rest overnight.”
• Do your mise en place: This is a French cooking term that translates roughly as “everything in its place.” It means having all of the items in your ingredient list measured, peeled, chopped, etc. BEFORE you begin to cook. It may seem like an extra step, but it will make cooking so much easier and efficient.
• Clean as you go: This is one of the best habits you can adopt in the kitchen. Half of cooking is cleaning, and if you tidy up, wipe counters, return pantry items, etc. while you cook, you’ll save yourself from facing a huge mess at the end.
• Be sure to use a timer for foods cooked in the oven or breads that need to rise. A few minutes too long and your dinner may be burnt or your bread may be flat.
• Turn off all burners and ovens: Double-check that you have turned off all heat sources and appliances once you’ve finished using them. Now check again.
• Check best before and use by dates: It’s a good habit to check the dates on your dairy, condiments, opened sauces, etc., especially if they have been in the fridge for a while. Best before and use by dates have different purposes. A best before date tells you when a product will still be at its optimum quality. Most products are still good for a few days after their best before dates. Use by dates are for safety. Don’t consume anything after its use by date has passed. You run the risk of getting sick.

Table of Contents

Read before you cook!

• Good Kitchen Practices
• Tools
• Techniques
• Other useful terms
• Ingredients
• Allergens

Learn these first!

• How to cook eggs
• How to cook bacon
• How to mash potatoes
• How to cook pasta
• How to cook rice
• How to roast a chicken
• How to make salad dressing
• How to make bread

Rise & shine!

• Smoothies
• Granola bars
• Easy puff pastries
• Magnificent muffins
• Scones
• Quick jam
• Avocado toast
• Pancakes
• French toast
• Waffles
• Yogurt parfaits
• Omelets
• Sweet or savory bread pudding

Keep it fresh!

• Iced tea
• Veggie dip
• Pineapple cream cheese dip with fruit skewers
• Guacamole
• Carrot and apple salad
• Caesar salad
• Potato salad
• Honey-roasted carrots
• Sesame roasted broccoli
• Spring roll salad

Make it the main event!

• Deviled eggs
• Coconut shake ’n’ bake
• Best burgers
• Falafel veggie burgers
• Sticky Teriyaki baked salmon
• Slow cooker pulled chicken tacos
• Crispy sesame chicken
• Pizza your way
• Sticky soda pop ribs
• Loaded nachos

Pop it in a pot . . . or pan!

• Chicken noodle soup with easy bread rolls
• Sweet potato Thai curry
• Slow cooker baked beans
• Chili con carne
• Creamy pesto pasta
• Mac & cheese
• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Pajama pants pulled pork
• BBQ pork buns
• Chicken pot pie
• Shepherd’s pie aka pâté chinois
• Sheet pan dinner

Don’t forget dessert!

• All-in oat cookies
• Super snappy sugar cookies
• Gingerbread cookies
• Doughnuts
• Brownies
• Best ever banana bread
• Pound cake
• Fruit pie
• One-pot pumpkin pie
• Fruit sorbet
• Milkshakes
• Popsicles
• Fudge
• Birthday cake
• Homemade hot chocolate mix

With thanks!

Allergen substitutions chart

Index

Editorial Reviews

"This is an extraordinary kid’s cookbook." —Youth Services Book Review

"With a toolbox of basics (how to boil an egg; how to mash potatoes) . . . it’s sure to inspire your littles to make dinner for the family." —Globe and Mail

"new books for gifting, or keeping, this holiday season." —EAT Magazine

"a choose-your-own-adventure style cookbook that aims to arm young cooks with the skills they need to follow recipes on their own, with little to no parental supervision." —Globe and Mail

"DL Acken is a food writer and photographer who splits her time between the U.K. and Saltspring Island, while Aurelia Louvet is a food stylist based on Saltspring. The two teamed up to produce Let’s Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook, which teaches basic kitchen techniques to tween and teen chefs." —Montecristo

"Fostering improved literacy, problem-solving, critical thinking, and independence, Let’s Eat will inspire hours of fun and memorable experiences in the kitchen. Get in there as a family and enjoy this book together!"  —Daily Mom

"Let's Eat . . . is for older children ready to tackle real cooking. The book "includes familiar things, like burgers and tacos, but also more adventurous fare, like crispy sesame chicken and falafel." —Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Your older kids will really get a kick out of this book . . . dive into some essential basics, some well-loved foods, and others that are sure to bring proud chef smiles from your children." —First Time Parent

“If you've been searching for that elusive kids’ cookbook that takes young cooks seriously—but not too seriously—while also respecting that they are kitchen beginners, pick up Let’s Eat and head directly to checkout. This fabulous book is vibrant, fun, and full of tips and recipes that manage to be kid-friendly without being too kiddish. Perfect for budding school-aged cooks!” —Stacie Billis, Co-host, Didn't I Just Feed You podcast

From the Publisher