Cooking with kids

Sitting at the breakfast bar in my home-kitchen with her chin resting on the counter, my granddaughter, Quin, asks, "Gramps; why do you put salt in the spaghetti sauce?"

"Because it adds flavor," I reply and continue to cook.

A few minutes later Quin wonders, "Gramps; why does the water have to boil before adding the spaghetti?" "If the water is not boiling, the pasta will stick together," I respond with a smile.

I love cooking with my granddaughters. My grandchildren's simple questions, inquisitive thoughts and adventurous palates allow me to explore my kitchen with them as if on a culinary expedition. Discovering why food is prepared the way it is, why certain products are preferred over others and the manipulation of potentially harmful tools such as knives and fire make cooking with children exciting.

My kitchen garden offers more to explore. The girls love to pick herbs and sample each flavor. As they taste basil, they discover that it has a minty flavor. They are surprised to learn that tarragon tastes like licorice and when the girls discover the chocolate mint, they begin to giggle.

To help my grandchildren in the kitchen I have prepared five go-to hints to improve their culinary success:

1. Learn to use kitchen knives. Understanding the proper use of a kitchen knife can change an ordinary meal into an extraordinary one. When a cook cuts food uniformly, the food cooks at the same speed making the recipe consistent. Food cut into different sizes cooks at different speeds making food inconsistent in doneness. Please check out my tutorial on YouTube on the proper use of kitchen knives at "Bill Rutherford, Kitchen Knife Skills."

2. Taste everything. Continually sampling the food one cooks matures one's palate. Numerous times I've been surprised at the spiciness of the romaine lettuce I am using or the sweetness of the canned tomatoes I just opened. Without tasting, I struggle to season my sauce or dress my salad correctly. Conversely, when I season without tasting I run the risk of over seasoning. Once I add too much salt, spice or herb to a dish, I cannot remove it, resulting in a failed recipe.

3. Use a thermometer to test the doneness of proteins. It is difficult to cook meat to the proper internal temperature for amateur and professional cooks. An instant-read thermometer resolves this difficulty. Most professional chefs carry an instant-read thermometer in their chef coat and most sanitation departments require that food be "temped" prior to service. Undercooked chicken can result in severe illness and overcooked turkey turns dry and unpalatable. Suggested cooking temperatures can be found at www.restaurantqrcodes.net/min-cooking-temps

4. Use fresh, locally grown food when available. A fresh egg from a local farmer tastes differently from one raised in a mass-produced, industrial farm - the shell is harder, the yoke darker and the taste is richer. A tomato grown locally and picked at the peak of ripeness does not compare to a green-picked tomato ripened in-transit on the way to the supermarket. Food tastes better when consumed at its source.

5. Find a recipe and follow it exactly. I have more than a hundred cookbooks and read them daily. I love searching the books for recipes that I have never prepared and honoring the chef who wrote the recipe with an identical depiction of what he or she intended. After cooking the recipe once as the chef intended, I begin to explore. In my second attempt, I might change the protein, add a different sauce or change the fruit or vegetable with one in-season. Following the recipe the first time allows a home cook to taste the food as intended and then, as the cook's palate develops and confidence increases, change the recipe to fit the cook's personal flavor profile.

With these simple hints I hope to excite my grandkids to continue cooking, to eat adventurously and respect to food they consume. I also hope to have many more years in the kitchen answering simple and difficult questions about food, family and life.

Send comments or other suggestions to Bill Rutherford at bprutherford@hotmail.com or visit pensiveparenting.com.