Chayote

Chopping Cucumbers

The intersection of a fourth grade class reading a book that included curries and a great harvest of Chayote developed into an wonderful cooking event. The class worked together to make Chayote Coconut Milk Curry, Cucumber Raita and Fresh Carrot Chutney.  We also had rice and apple, peach chutney.  The cumber raita was pretty close to this recipe but we added some crushed garlic.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cucumber-raita/


The carrot chutney included - 
2 Grated Carrots
1 Tablespoon Grated Ginger
2 Tablespoons Grated Fresh Coconut
1 Tablespoon Chopped Cilantro
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1 TablespoonFresh Lime Juice
1 Tablespoon Palm Sugar or brown sugar

Salt to taste  
(These quantities are approximate)

Grating Coconut                                

Grating Carrots

Chopping Mint 

The Chayote Curry is from 'Indonesian Street  Food Secrets' by Keith Ruskin Miller.

1 lb. Chayote

1 Tbs fresh grated turmeric or 2 tsp. dried
2 cloves garlic
2 shallot
1 tsp. soy sauce

1 Tbs oil
1/2 cup coconut milk

Peel and cut the chayote into 1" x 2" pieces. Saute the spices in oil for 2 minutes.  Add the chayote and a little water, cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the coconut milk and salt to taste and cook until the chayote is tender about 10 minutes.

The original recipe also includes 2 hot chili peppers but we did not include them.

Enjoying our cooking

Passion Fruit Shave Ice

The yard at Peralta has a prolific passion fruit vine that is just starting to ripen.  The kids sometimes call them snot bombs, because they are filled with greenish yellow slime but they have a wonderful sweet, tart taste and delicious aroma.

We cut them in half and scooped out the seeds and pulp and then drained the pulp and added simple syrup.

I had shaved a bag of ice with an electric ice shaver but we had a few hand held ones that we used also. We poured the syrup on the ice and added some pomegranate seeds for additional texture and color and started to dream about what else we could use to make shave ice.

Passion Fruit Shave Ice with Pomegranate Seeds

Apple Cake

We have been making apple cake all week so I thought someone might be interested in the recipe.  The recipe that I use at home is from Saveur, and the cake that I make at school is a based on this recipe. http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Apple-Bundt-Cake

When we bake it school it is not very precise, maybe one group uses 1 cup of apples and another group uses 1 1/2 cups depending on how much grated apple stays on the table and how much goes into the batter so this recipe is more a guide then a strict formula.

2 Cups  Flour

1  teaspoon baking soda

1  teaspoon baking powder

1  teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

3/4 sugar

2 eggs

3 - 4  grated apples

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.  Mix the wet into the dry, the batter can be stiff, pour or scrape into a greased 9" x 12" pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes until it feels firm and pulls away from the sides a little.

APPLES

Kids usually like to eat apples, we made it extra fun by covering our apple slices with whipped ricotta and honey and using raisins and grapes for features.

Strawberry Orange Salad

Cutting the Oranges and Strawberries

The filling for the crepes was so delicious that we had to make a fruit salad with strawberries and oranges.  I don't usually think of these two fruits together but they compliment each other nicely and the end of the orange season is the beginning of the strawberry season so it makes sense.  Strawberries have been wonderful for the last few weeks and we have been using them as much as we can.  You don't really need a recipe for this just cut up strawberries and oranges and mix - some tangerine segments are a nice addition.

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!!!!!!!!!

Caesar Salad

I am aware that we do not eat enough vegetables and I am frequently told by parents that their children are picky eaters or will not eat salad but my experience cooking with students is that they love vegetables and salads.  The salad that no one seems able to resist is the Caesar salad that we make at Peralta.

The recipe for this salad is 
Romaine Hearts
Croutons
Grated Parmesan Cheese

The dressing is -
1 Bulb Crushed Garlic
2 teaspoons of Capers
Grated  Peel from One Lemon
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

These amounts are approximate but should make a nice dressing - you can just mix all the ingredients together for a great dressing.  If you want to you can emulsify the dressing by mixing all the ingredients except the olive oil then add the olive oil slowly stirring all the time with a wire whisk.  My students have lots of energy and enthusiasm for vigorous whisking so we get great thick smooth dressings.

Green Salad with Oranges

We have been making this salad all winter with lettuce from the Peralta Gardens and oranges from neighborhood trees.  It is one of my favorite salads and my students enjoy it.  A few of the older students are getting pretty good at cutting off the orange peels and then slicing the oranges.




Lettuce
Peeled and sliced oranges
Tangerine segments
Sliced jicama
Sliced avocados
Dried Cranberries

I make a dressing with lemon peel, orange peel, lemon juice, orange juice, olive oil, a little dijon mustard and salt