With Halloween and Bonfire Night just around the corner, it’s time for some comfort food. Chef Florence (Flo) Rebattet is founder of En Cuisine Cooking School for children aged 3-18 and finalist on Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars Series 2. Here, she shares three classic dishes that she uses in the cooking school. All are suitable to be cooked by and with children, with varying levels of supervision, so they are perfect for a fun family cook-in.
Published
ROASTED VEGETABLE TRAY
A classic dish which will bring crunchiness and colour to any meal and is delicious served with the Gratin Dauphinois.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 1 hour
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 onions
1 butternut squash
6 carrots
250g Brussels sprouts
4 potatoes
2 heads of garlic
Fresh thyme and rosemary
Chopping board
1. Wash your vegetables and preheat your oven at 150C. 2. Boil some salted water and cook the Brussels sprouts for 15 minutes. 3. Peel your butternut squash using a peeler and chop it into big chunks. Do the same for the carrots, onions and potatoes. All the vegetables need to be the same size to cook evenly. 4. In a tray, drizzle some olive oil and add all the vegetables. Toss with some salt, black pepper, rosemary and thyme. 5. Put the tray in the oven for 40 minutes. Check if the vegetables are cooked before getting them out of the oven.
Little chef tip You can experiment with the flavours by adding some spices. Smoked paprika and turmeric go well with this recipe.
GRATIN DAUPHINOIS
A typical winter dish from Savoie in France. The recipe is from Florence’s mother-in-law who lives in Grenoble.
Prep 40 minutes
Cook 1 hour
Serves 4
Ingredients
1kg of potatoes
1 litre of double cream
5 garlic cloves
Salt and black pepper
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1. Wash the potatoes and peel them using a peeler. Keep the skin in a separate bowl. (These can be fried later to avoid wasting them). 2. Slice your potatoes (around 1cm thickness). 3. Peel your garlic cloves. Chop them into small pieces and then crush them. 4. Put some crushed garlic in the bottom of your pot and rub it all around. 5. Pour some double cream into the pot, sprinkle in some salt, black pepper and grated nutmeg. 6. Lay the potatoes on the cream until covered then pour more cream and seasoning. Repeat until you don’t have any more sliced potatoes. 7. Put in the oven at 190 degrees for 1 hour.
Little chef tip The quality of the potatoes is very important. Desiree is a good variety that works well.
LEMON AND CHIA SEEDS MUFFIN CAKES
This was one of Florence’s first sweet recipes when she started teaching children to cook at En Cuisine, and it has remained very popular.
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Serves 6 muffins
Ingredients
100g of plain flour
80g of coconut sugar
80g of unsalted butter
½ lemon + zest
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
½ tablespoon of baking powder
2 eggs
1. Melt the butter and let it cool down on the side. 2. Combine the eggs and the sugar until the mix is slightly white with bubbles on the top. Then, pour the flour into the mixture and stir. 3. Squeeze the lemon and add the zest. Pour the melted butter in the mix. 4. Add the chia seeds and the baking powder. Stir until all the ingredients are combined. 5. Pour the mixture into the muffin tray and put it in the oven at 220°C for 15 minutes.
Little chef tips You can swap the chia seeds with poppy seeds for a different flavour.
