Weeks 8 & 9 - Term 1, 2015

The final Blog post for Term 1 already!!

It has been a great term – the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program philosophy based on “Pleasurable Food Education” has been in the forefront of our kitchen and garden classes all term!

It is wonderful to get so much positive feedback from our students,  parents and staff – thank you all for your enthusiasm and support. An unexpected piece of feedback came last week from our school dentist; he asked take some photos of our students and the foods that they had prepared, saying that he believed that the huge improvement in the health of our students’ teeth was due to them participating in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program!!

Especial thanks to our volunteers – we would really struggle without you!

Congratulations to the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation who recently announced that there are now 800 schools delivering the Kitchen Garden National Program! This means 10% of all Australian schools with a primary curriculum are running this successful, proven, Australian-made pleasurable food education program.

 Our menu for the past two weeks has been

Pasta with a Vegetable Sauce
Sicilian Toast
Pumpkin and Spinach Salad
Massaman Vegetable curry
Pizza of the Imagination

Our Recipes:

Pasta with a Vegetable Sauce

Ingredients:

Pasta dough (see separate recipe)

1kg (approximately) vegetables

2 onions

3 cloves garlic

1 cup olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Sauce

·        Chop onions and garlic and fry in olive oil

·        Chop/tear/slice vegetables

·        Add to pan and cook until just tender (remember that some vegetables cook more quickly than others so add them last)

·        Taste and add salt and pepper as needed

·        Add to cooked pasta and stir gently

·        Grate cheese and serve separately

Basic Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

3 cups pasta flour

2 teaspoons salt

4 eggs

Flour for dusting

Method:

·        Place everything into food processor

·        Blend until a soft dough is produced – you may need to add one or even two more eggs if the dough feels too dry

·        Cover in plastic wrap and leave for at least one hour

·        Break into 6 pieces

·        For each piece:

·        Flatten

·        Make into rectangle

·        Run through machine on widest setting 6 times – folding it back to original size each time

·        Change to next setting and roll once

·        Repeat to second thinnest setting (cut in half if it gets too long)

·        Dust with flour if pasta gets sticky

·        Repeat with other 5 pieces

·        Use machine attachment to cut pasta of your choice

·        Rest pasta for as long as possible

·        Boil in salted water 5 minutes

Sicilian Toast

Ingredients:

25 slices crusty bread

12 eggs

100g parmesan cheese

6 tablespoons parsley

1 ½ cups olive oil

·        Whisk eggs

·        Grate cheese

·        Chop parsley

·        Mix cheese, parsley, salt and pepper

·        Dip bread into egg mixture for 30 seconds, no longer

·        Fry until golden on each side

·        Repeat with remaining slices

·        Keep toast warm

 Pumpkin and Spinach Salad

Ingredients:

600g pumpkin

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

150 g spinach

75 g toasted almonds

Dressing:

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons oil

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard

·        Chop pumpkin and fry gently with oil and honey, salt and pepper

·        When cooked sprinkle with sesame seeds and fry for 5 minutes

·        Shake lemon juice, oil, mustard and honey in jar

·        Put pumpkin in serving dish, add spinach and almonds and mix gently

·        Cover with dressing

Massaman Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

2kg seasonal vegetables

1 tin coconut milk

2 heaped teaspoons massaman paste

2 onions

6 cloves garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 bunch coriander

·        Chop onions

·        Crush garlic

·        Fry onions and garlic

·        Add paste and stem and root of coriander (chopped) and continue frying gently

·        Choose  vegetables and then chop, tear or crush

·        Add coconut milk

·        Half fill coconut milk tin with water, swirl and add to pan

·        Add vegetables, lemon juice and soy sauce and boil for 30 minutes

·        Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Note:

Some vegetables may cook very quickly so do not add them till near the end of cooking

Pizza (makes 2 pizzas)

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (see separate recipe)

2 cups vegetables

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Olive oil

Fresh basil or other seasonal herbs

Flour

2 cups tomato paste

Method:

·        Turn oven on to 200 degrees

·        Roll out dough into 2 rectangles

·        Place on lined trays

·        Spread with tomato paste

·        Choose vegetables

·        Chop, slice or tear vegetables

·        Crush garlic

·        Grate cheese

·        Cover with vegetables, garlic and cheese

·        Bake 25 minutes

·        Chop fresh herbs

·        Sprinkle fresh herbs on top of cooked pizza

Pizza Dough  (makes 2 pizzas)

Ingredients:

3 cups (400g) bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

4 teaspoons yeast

4 teaspoons oil

1 ¼ cup water

Method:

·        Place ingredients into bread maker in the order listed above

·        Press MENU to setting PIZZA

·        Press START

·        Dough will be ready in about 45 minutes

Note:

If you do not have a bread machine:

·        Mix ingredients as above & knead for 10 minutes

·        Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour (until double in size)

Add caption

Here are some photos of our garden:

And just a few more photos: