Chicken Nuggets & Potato Wedges

This was the fifth and final session for our first group of cooking club members and for this special occasion parents were invited. After 4 weeks of learning new cooking skills, today was an opportunity for the children to show their parents what they could do. They had learnt how to use an oven safely, knife skills, reading and following a recipe, combining and mixing, how to use herbs, using a food processor, and cleaning and hygiene. Today they would need all of those skills as well as having an opportunity to handle raw meat safely.

Today our celebrity chef was Chloe and here she shows us how to make a complete meal from scratch - now that's impressive!

Potato Wedges (per person)

1 large potato

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1. Preheat oven to 200°C, gas mark 6 and grease a baking tray.

2. Cut the potato into 4-8 wedge shaped pieces.

3. Place the pieces in a sieve or colander and rinse under a running tap to clean then place on a microwaveable plate or bowl whilst still wet.

4. Microwave the potato for 1-2 minutes and set aside.

5. Mix the oil, honey, paprika and thyme together in a bowl.

6. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and stir until the potatoes are coated.

7. Place the potatoes on the baking tray, skin side down.

8. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes until cooked through and golden.

Chicken Nuggets (per person)

2-3 mini fillets of chicken breast

1 piece of stale bread

1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs

Black pepper

Salt (optional)

25g melted butter

1. Cut each chicken piece into 2 or 3 nugget sized pieces and set aside. Note: Wash hands after touching raw meat.

2. Put the slice of bread in a food processor and whizz until it turns until breadcrumbs. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl.

3. Add the herbs and seasoning to the breadcrumbs.

4. Use a pastry brush to brush melted butter onto each piece of chicken.

5. Coat each piece of chicken with breadcrumbs then place it on a baking tray.

6. Move the potato wedges to the bottom shelf of the oven to keep warm then cook the chicken nuggets at the top of the oven for 20 minutes.

After tidying away and washing up all the equipment used for making the chicken nuggets there should be time to make some carrot and cucumber sticks whilst the nuggets are cooking. Remember to wash hands, clean the surfaces and use clean knives and chopping boards for the raw vegetables to avoid contamination from the raw chicken.

Once the potato wedges and chicken nuggets were cooked it was time to serve them up with the vegetable sticks and a dollop of tomato ketchup. What an achievement to cook a complete meal from scratch and it was very tasty too!

Fruit Smoothies

Today's club session was a chance for the children to experiment in the kitchen by making a variety of fruit smoothies. First the children made three different smoothies, following Let's Get Cooking recipes, then, after tasting all 3, the children had a chance to get creative and to decide which ingredients to use to make two more smoothies. Could they make something even tastier?

Our celebrity chef this week was Charlee and here she shows us how to make "Just Peachy" smoothie.

Just Peachy

6 slices of tinned peaches

125g peach yoghurt

200ml milk

1. Open the can of peaches and chop the pieces of peach into smaller pieces.

2.. Measure out the yoghurt and the milk.

3. Place all the ingredients into a blender and whizz until smooth.

4. Pour into suitable drinking glasses to serve.

In the meantime, Amy and Chloe were busy making Cherry-licious smoothie.

Cherry-licious Smoothie

400g can of pitted cherries in juice

250ml cherry yoghurt

1 banana

1. Peel and chop the banana.

2. Measure out the cherry yoghurt.

3. Open the can of cherries.

4. Put all the ingredients into the blender, including the syrup from the cherries then whizz until smooth.

5. Pour into suitable glasses to serve.

At the same time Sarah and Keelea made Pineapple and Pear Smoothie.

Pineapple and Pear Smoothie

1 pear

220g tin of pineapple in juice

4 ice-cubes or some cold water

1. Open the tin of pineapple.

2. Peel the pear, cut into quarters and remove the core.

3. Place all the ingredients in the blender, including the juice from the pineapple and whizz until smooth.

4. Pour into suitable drinking glasses to serve.

With all the smoothies carefully poured into miniature glasses it was time to have a taste of each of them. There were lots of "Mmmm" and "yummy" muttered and then the children decided which smoothie they liked most. "Just Peachy" was the overall winner, with "Cherry-licious" a close second.

The children had a look at the remaining ingredients then came up with some suggestions for two more smoothies. The first was a mixture of strawberry yoghurt, milk, a banana and a few dollops of vanilla ice-cream. The second was made from a few peaches, some milk and a few drops of vanilla extract. Both were tasty but our strawberry/banana combo was a real hit. The children went home with a boxful of fruit and carton of milk. Can they come up with their own delicious smoothie at home?

Oat & Coconut Biscuits

After a couple of weeks practising knife skills, this week we focused on using a cooker safely. This week's recipe was oat and coconut biscuits, a simple and tasty recipe that needs both the hob and the oven to make. Our celebrity chef this week was Sarah and here she shows us how to make these yummy biscuits.

Oat and Coconut Biscuits (Makes 12)

100g oats

100g plain flour

75g dessicated coconut

75g light muscovado sugar

25g oat bran

125g margarine

1 tablespoon black treacle

1. Preheat the oven to 190 °C, gas mark 5 and grease a large baking tray.

2. Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir.

3. Put the margarine and treacle into a small pan.

4. Gently heat the pan and stir to melt the margarine and treacle together.

5. Pour the treacle mixture into the dry mix and stir well.

6. Use your hands to mould lumps of the mixture into biscuits and continue until all the mixture is used up. It should make 12 biscuits.

7. Bake the biscuits for 15 to 20 minutes then cool on a wire rack.

With a delicious smell wafting around the kitchen and whilst we waited for the biscuits to cook and cool it was time to wash up and tidy away. Good job everyone!