It’s finally here. My new cookbook, Easy Meals to Cook with Kids, is a three-dimensional reality in all its colorful, glossy glory.

Self-publishing has been quite an adventure (and still is!) but, it’s finally done and on sale. I’m thrilled to share my recipes with you - along with tips on how to safely incorporate kids into the cooking process, advice on how to purchase high-quality ingredients, and lots of other information for families who want to cook together. To get a sneak peak at the inside of the book and to find out how to purchase a copy, click here. If you want a personally inscribed copy, email me at julie@julienegrin.com.

Although this cookbook is written for kids, it’s also perfect for adults who are looking for easy recipes. If you’d like to get a “taste” of Easy Meals to Cook with kids, check out a recipe from the book, Baja Fish Tacos with White Sauce on my website. It’s so good, it will become a staple in your dinner repertoire.

If you’re new to cooking or haven’t cooked with children much, it’s never too late to start. There are so many great reasons to cook with kids - the most important, of course, is that it is an essential life skill. The more meals we make from scratch, the more likely we are eating a variety of natural, nutritious foods.

Here is some advice on getting started in the kitchen - this is an excerpt from my cookbook:

It’s important that your first cooking experience with children is a positive one, so pick a time when everyone is relaxed and well-fed – perhaps a Saturday brunch or a Sunday night dinner.

Start with something familiar. When introducing the concept of cooking to kids, it’s important to start with one of their favorite dishes so that they equate cooking with something they already enjoy. Once they get the hang of it and trust the process, you can graduate to more unusual dishes.

Find assistants. Invite Grandma over or keep your sitter for an extra hour. It’ll be more fun for everyone if there is someone else to help oversee the project and clean up.

Accept that it will get messy. Plan on some mess and you’ll feel less stressed. Kids are great cleaner-uppers so ask them to pitch in. Many kids, as young as 2 years old, love using a sponge and do a surprisingly good job of wiping up.

Give specific instructions. Kids think very literally, so be extremely clear with them. Years ago, I asked my students to peel carrots and turned around. When I looked again, just minutes later, they had peeled the entire carrot down. (From this experience, I realized it was a safe way for them to “grate” the carrot and continued using that method to prep carrots.)

Roll with the punches. If something goes wrong, just laugh. It’s a good opportunity to teach children how to shrug off mistakes and learn from their blunders. Best of all, that “mistake” could end up being a new recipe idea for family dinners!

Respect their wishes. If they aren’t interested in cooking, it’s okay. The non-cooks can still contribute to the meal in other ways such as: washing produce, cleaning off cans, setting the table, folding napkins, deciding which platters to use, garnishing the dishes, clearing the table, and tasting each dish to determine if it needs additional seasoning.

Praise their efforts. They adore making food for family members so give them lots of compliments when they complete a task well – genuine, well-deserved praise builds self-worth and confidence.

Excerpt from Easy Meals to Cook with Kids © 2010. All rights reserved.

It’s been a busy summer so far. I’ve been doing a lot of teaching which has been wonderful. One of my jobs is teaching teenagers how to cook through a new camp at the 92nd Street Y called Passport NYC Camps and the other was teaching for Dr. Oz’s non-profit HealthCorps for the third summer in a row. Teaching the teen camp cemented my belief that the key to better eating is refining the palate. By the end of each three-week session, my teens became food snobs - sub-par food and snacks just aren’t as appealing after being exposed to stellar home-cooking! More on that later….

I’m also excited to announce that my cookbook, Easy Meals to Cook with Kids, is nearly done! It should be on sale next month. I can’t wait to share it with you.

All these exciting things means that I haven’t had much time to blog! So, I decided to share a canning recipe with you from a terrific book, Well-Preserved by Eugenia Bone. There are lots of great canning books on the market - I recommend finding one that suits your needs and taste buds. I didn’t get this blog post up in time to support Canning Across America’s annual summer event - but you can visit their site for more information about food preservation and how to host your own canning party.

This is an excerpt and recipe from Eugenia Bone’s, Well-Preserved. There are also some mouthwatering recipes for Figs in Brandy, Strawberry Balsamic Jam, Cherries in Wine, and Spiced Apples. I chose the apricot recipe because they are in season now. Eugenia not only shares her expert tips on how to preserve and can, she also includes wonderful recipes on how to cook with them throughout the year. What I like best about her book is that she writes her recipes like a cooking teacher - she explains things in the middle of the recipe and they are easy to follow.

I’m eyeing the Ricotta Balls Stuffed with Apricot Amaretto Jam and the Apricot Almond Shortbread…but first, here’s how to make the jam:

Apricot Amaretto Jam

“Of all the fruit jams and marmalades I make, this one is particularly versatile, I suppose because the apricot taste crosses the sweet and savory line with such finesse. It is equally good mixed into barbecue sauce or combined with whipped cream to make a fool. I have to confess I also prefer this jam because it is so easy to prepare the fruit; just split the apricots in half with a knife and flip out the pits. You don’t have to peel them, as the skins are tasty and delicate.

Apricots, which are available in Juy and August, are high in acidity, making this product safe for water bath processing. Because this recipe calls for a short water bath process, you have to sterilize the jars first. The citric acid will help hold the beautiful orange color of the fruit. The jars will keep in a coo, dark place for up to one year. If, after a few months, you notice the apriocts discolor at the top of the jar, don’t worry. This happens when excess air gets trapped in a jar, usually because of an air bubble or because there was too much headspace in the jar. If your seal is good, the food is fine.”

4 cups pitted and chopped apricots (about 3/4 pound)
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon citric acid (I use Fruit Fresh)
1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
3 to 4 tablespoons amaretto

Combine the apricots, sugar, and citric acid in a large, heavy pot and heat over medium-low heat until sugar melts. Pay attention and stir often, because sugar burns easily. Once the sugar is melted, turn up the heat to medium and bring the apricots to a boil. Add the butter. Apricots tend to foam up as they boi, and if the foam spills over on to your stove youwill have quite a mess on your hands. Butter keeps the foam down. Skim off any foam that does form. Cook the apricots, uncovered, at a brisk but not riotous boil. After the first 5 minutes, you will notice that the apricots look thin and soupy. Keep boiling for 15 minutes longer. They will thicken up.
You are basically boiling off the water in the fruit. Stir periodically to make sure that the apricots don’t stick. Take the apricots off the heat and stir in the amaretto to taste.

Bring 4 half-pint jars and their bands to a boil in a large pot of water fitted with a rack. Boil for 10 minutes. The lids are only simmered in a small pan of hot water, to soften the rubberized flange. Remove the jars with tongs (the tongs don’t need to be sterilized). When the jars are dry but still hot, spoon the apricots into jar with a slotted spoon, leaving 1/2 to 3/4 inch headspace. (If your apricots were very juicy to start wtih, you may have extra juice. You can refrigerate it, or boil it down to a thick syrup and can the syrup the same way you do the jam. It is great poured over ice cream and pancakes.) Wipe the rims, set on the lids, and screw on the bands fingertip tight.

Place the jars in a big pot with a rack in the bottom. Add enough water to cover the jars by 3 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium and gently boil the jars for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, allow the jars to rest in the water for 5 minutes or so, and the remove. Allow the jars to cool, untouched, for 6 hours. Right away you will hear the popping sound of the vacuum seal as the jars cool down.

Check the seals. Store in a dark, cool place for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening.

Recipe from Well-Preserved by Eugenia Bone

Food. Healthy. Diets. Eating. Cooking. Sustainable. Local. All big buzz words for 2010. I have dozens of blog posts ruminating in my head that cover all of these topics - attempts to clarify all of this Food Confusion and help people get back on track. But today, I am going to talk about popcorn.

Twice yesterday, I encountered the tell-tale smell of microwave popcorn. And it got me thinking about how people are trying to eat healthier - but struggle with finding the time to prepare food from scratch. I’m particularly passionate about popcorn - love the stuff. When I make it, I prepare it on the stove in a pot with some oil - “old-fashioned” style. It takes me approximately 5-6 minutes. The only ingredients I use are: popcorn kernels, oil, and kosher salt.

Microwave popcorn, on the other hand, takes roughly 3 minutes to “cook.” It contains all kinds of processed ingredients including: Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Natural Flavors, Annatto For Coloring, Soy Lecithin and/or Palm Oil and Freshness Preserved With Tbhq and Citric Acid. (It’s pretty cool that you can read the nutrition labels on packages via Amazon.com). In 2007, they discovered a chemical in microwave popcorn that causes lung problems.

We certainly like things to be instantaneous! Even if it means saving us just a few minutes. It never ceases to make me laugh when I take pictures of my nieces and nephews on my digital camera and they immediately say, “Let me see it!” We are so spoiled by technology now that we often forget that it’s the things that take a little time that we usually savor the most in life.

Last summer, I made popcorn for my Healthcorps students who are in their early 20’s. They were drooling over it. You would have thought I made them a gourmet 5-course meal - because most of them had never had it before! It not only tastes much better but it’s MUCH cheaper and it’s made with “real” ingredients our bodies recognize and know how to digest.

We can keep buying “100-calorie packs” and trying to go that route which, clearly hasn’t worked well for us over the past 20 years. Or, we can face the fact that our bodies want to consume food grown naturally - not engineered in a laboratory. Mother Nature’s food. If we cut out the chemicals, we will notice a lot of positive changes in our health including our energy levels, our skin, our weight, our moods and so on. This is especially important for kids - chemicals in processed foods are linked to all kinds of health, weight, and behavioral problems in children. Michael Pollan just discussed how crucial it is to eat “real” foods with Oprah last week.

I realize that it’s not easy to eat completely chemical-free these days. All we can do is keep making small differences in our diet - take baby steps toward a “cleaner” way of eating. Since processed foods are everywhere, we need to take every chance we can to reach for “real” foods - and save the “instant meals” for road trips and weekday evenings when everyone is exhausted.

Preparing a meal from scratch doesn’t take as long as you’d think. A UCLA study found that those making meals from scratch spent almost the same amount of time preparing dinner than those making a meal from partially-prepared, “convenient” foods. While developing recipes for my cookbook, I discovered that making (gourmet) macaroni and cheese from scratch takes roughly the same amount of time as it does to prepare it from a box.

So, next time you’re looking for a snack - instead of pulling out the chips or packaged foods, pull out a bag of popcorn kernels.

JULIE’S HOMEMADE POPCORN
One of my chef friends drizzles truffle oil over popcorn for a decadent snack. You can add all kinds of ingredients and spices: nutritional yeast, parmesan, cinammon sugar, or chili powder. This recipe yields a pretty big batch because I like to eat it the next day or put it in snack bags to take to work.

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I’m into grapeseed lately)
3/4 - 1 cup popcorn kernels (Organic, if possible)
Kosher salt to taste (Kosher or sea salt always trump table salt)

In a Dutch oven (or 8 quart pan), heat oil on medium to high heat. When it starts to shimmer (after a few minutes), add a popcorn kernel. When the oil starts to sizzle around the kernel, add the rest of the kernels. (I use a full cup in a Dutch oven which overflows a little when it’s fully popped.) Cover with tightly fitted lid.

Jiggle the pan just a little bit while the kernels start to heat up (you might need to use hot pads to hold the pan). When they all start to pop at once, jiggle the pan with more force so that the bottom pieces don’t burn. As soon as the popping sound starts to slow down, lower heat, jiggle for another minute or so and pull it off the heat. Salt and enjoy.

For more information on how chemicals in food can affect health, especially with regards to children, check out Robyn O’Brien’s new book, The Unhealthy Truth.

I’ll never forget the first time I made soup by myself - mostly because it turned out terrible. I diced some vegetables, threw them in a pot of water, added a bay leaf and simmered it for less than an hour. It tasted like absolutely nothing.

Fortunately, I’ve learned a few things since then and now it’s one of my favorite topics to teach. Here are a few secrets to making your soups turn out spectacular.

Caramelize your onions. This is one of my favorite tricks. I rarely make a soup without caramelized onions. It’s an easy way to add a rich and natural sweetness to your soups - with just a few cheap, Spanish onions. Caramelize sliced or diced onions by sautéing on low heat for at least 30 minutes - I usually cook them for a solid hour. Use a stainless steel pan rather than a nonstick and stir frequently. Add a little water if it starts to stick.

Make your own stock. Phenomenal stock can turn an ordinary dish into a exceptional meal. And likewise, crappy stock can ruin a perfectly good soup. If you can’t make your own, make sure you buy a quality brand. If I don’t have homemade stock, I use Imagine’s No-Chicken Chicken Broth or check out this article at Serious Eats for other store-bought options.

Use meat drippings, bones, and leftover vegetables. If you’ve browned meat, deglaze the pan by adding a little water and scraping off the drippings for your soups. Use bones and vegetable scraps for added flavor and nutrients.

Cook it the day before you serve it. Add enough liquid to cook it down on low-heat for at least a couple of hours - the flavors will become more concentrated. Store it in the fridge in a sealed container (after it’s cooled down!) for several days. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. Soup also freezes well - store it in dinner size portions for last minute meals.

Remember to salt! When I teach my students how to make soup, I also teach them how to salt properly. I have each of them taste the soup before I salt and then afterward so that they can taste the extraordinary difference. Salt makes all of the flavors “pop.” Use kosher salt or a high-quality sea salt.

Buy an immersion blender. The best invention ever - you can purée soups and sauces right in the pot. They are also great for smoothies.

I posted this recipe on my website awhile ago but wanted to share it again here on my blog. I taught this recipe recently and one of my students moaned as she ate it and said that it “tasted like pie.”

Roasted Garlic Butternut Squash Soup

Roasted garlic is totally underrated - it tastes like “butta” AND it’s good for you. I can’t tolerate heavy cream so I discovered that using whole milk plain yogurt adds just enough dairy fat to take soups to that next luscious level. Another tip: Start by roasting or sautéing your vegetables - it releases all of their succulent juices.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 head of garlic
1 jeweled yam
2 butternut squash (about 4 pounds total)

2 tablespoons butter (or omit and just use olive oil)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1-2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
8 oz. whole milk plain yogurt (omit if you want to make it vegan or pareve)
1 bunch chives, diced

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut ¼ inch off the top of garlic head to expose cloves, loosely wrap in foil, drizzle with olive oil and close up foil. Scrub yam well and pierce with a fork. With a very sharp knife, cut butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place butternut squash, flesh side down, garlic and yam on a lined baking sheet. Roast garlic, yam and squash until very tender, about 1 hour.

While vegetables are roasting, heat butter and oil in a medium or large stockpot. Add onions and caramelize over low heat for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour. If the pan gets dry, add a few drops of water.

When vegetables are done roasting, peel and scoop flesh into stockpot with onions. Add stock, water, spices, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours – the longer it simmers, the better it will taste but you may need to add more water if it gets too thick).

Turn off the heat and add yogurt. Purée using an immersion blender, food processor or blender. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

This dish can be prepared 1-3 days ahead, just cool, cover and refrigerate. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months. To serve, simply reheat.

Serves 8
Active time: 30 minutes Total time: 2 hours (or more)
Recipe by Julie Negrin© 2005

I taught a double yesterday at Bastyr University - I was the substitute teacher for two cooking classes (combined with nutrition lectures).  In the kitchen, some of my students hesitantly approached me to ask basic cooking questions - and I had to assure them that no question was too trivial. As I mentioned in my last post, “Mr. Pollan, People Need Cooking Lessons,”  it’s difficult to learn how to cook from a piece of paper. And it’s even more challenging for a novice cook to be able to tell if a recipe is even worth making.

I’ve noticed that since the explosion of cookbooks and recipes on the internet, that it’s not always easy to find a truly well-tested recipe that turns out right. More accomplished cooks are able to adjust a vague recipe but new cooks just end up thinking they are terrible cooks - which I often hear about in class.

I’m the first to admit that it isn’t easy to write a recipe. I often end up editing the same recipe every time I teach it over the span of several years. I’m a pretty detailed oriented person but I still find it challenging to write a recipe that is clear, detailed, and gives enough information to follow it with confidence but not too much information that it feels overwhelming.

The good news it that I have collected a few tips on how to quickly review a recipe to see if it’s worth making. These days, nobody has the time or money to prepare a dish that doesn’t turn out well. I’m probably missing a few things here (inevitable) and will up editing this list several times…but here it goes:

1) Determine the source. There are some authors who always write solid recipes - the kind of recipes that you can cook for a dinner party even if you’ve never made it before (although this is not recommend for brand new cooks). I made a list that I rely on for guaranteed winners - please note that there are many, many other accomplished cookbook authors that could also be listed but I can’t fit everyone! (see list below)

2) Review the ingredients list and instructions. Are the ingredients in the order that they are mentioned in the instructions? Is there enough information so that you won’t be confused at the store (”4 - 6 oz salmon fillets, skin on” versus “4 salmon fillets”) or when you are preparing the dish (”3 medium yellow onions, diced into 1/4-inch squares” versus “3 onions, diced”) - a well-written recipe that has been tested several times will give you very specific information.

3) Details mean someone took the time to really test it. Does the author give you a preparation time and serving size? Does the time suggested look appropriate to the length of instructions? If the suggested prep time looks too short for the recipe length, I’m immediately skeptical about the entire dish. I’m also wary of recipes that don’t mention salt (preferably kosher or sea salt) or a salt alternative like soy sauce or miso. Salt is an important ingredient for almost every dish - even baked goods - and makes all of the flavors “pop.” (I also like seeing “freshly ground pepper” - I can’t live without it.)

4) Does the author give some background information or ideas on how to alter it? Extra information means that the author has made it several times and knows the dish well enough to offer you substitutions or alternate ways of preparing it.

5) You should be able to visualize it. Does the author recommend which kind of pan to use? The amount of heat? A detailed explanation on when to move to the next step? Ideally, you should be able to read the recipe and be able to visualize each step and the equipment you’ll need - even if you aren’t an experienced cook.

6) And finally, does it make your mouth water? Or do you look at the combination of ingredients and feel doubtful? I’ve heard many stories from students who said they thought a recipe looked “kinda weird” but made it anyway - and ended up being disappointed. Trust your instincts - they are your best asset in the kitchen besides your taste buds and sense of smell.

Check out the previous blog post down below for an example of a well-written recipe. It’s from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown.

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My list of sure-fired cookbook authors (please note that there are many, many others that could easily belong on this list - I’m just offering you a few):

Martha Stewart, Mark Bittman, Julie Child, Mollie Katzen, Deborah Madison,  Alice Waters,  Tom Colicchio (I love his older Think Like a Chef cookbook), Ina Garten (again, love her older stuff), anything published by Cooks Illustrated, of course - and also, the magazine, Eating Well.  Two chefs I’ve had the pleasure of working with also write fantastic recipes and I love their cookbooks, Myra Kornfeld and Peter Berley. I also love collecting cookbooks from other countries when I travel…but that’s a whole other blog post….

I love buying cookbooks. I’m thinking about buying the Kindle but even if I do, I will still always buy cookbooks. There are some incredibly well-written cookbooks that have been published in recent years but I tend to prefer the old school stuff.  I’ve found that the older cookbooks (prior to 1995 or so when cooking became a TV star) are often sure bets. For example, the recipe below is from Deborah Madison’s Greens cookbook which was first published in 1987 (she is well-known for her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone which was one of my first cookbooks).

I’m constantly asked by students for recipes on how to cook greens and I came across Madison’s book in my collection the other night so I thought I’d pull a recipe from there since there are so many wonderful greens available this month.

I haven’t made this recipe before but I trust Ms. Madison - and my instincts - that this will be a delicious addition to your summer recipe repertoire. Please note how detailed her instructions are - she tells you everything you need to know including how to garnish it! If she were one of my students and this is what she submitted for my “Recipe Writing Assignment,” she would lose only one point for omitting the preparation time - otherwise, this recipe is a great example of a well-written recipe. Enjoy!

Romaine and Summer Vegetable Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

1 head romaine lettuce or several heads red and green garden romaines
1 small red onion, quartered thinly sliced
2 small yellow pattypan squash or zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
16 yellow pear or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red pepper or a mixture of different colored peppers (long, slender Gypsy peppers are ideal), thinly sliced into rounds or strips
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (optional)
4 large red radishes, thinly sliced
1 cup jicama, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large avocado, peeled and sliced
2 lemon cucumbers, sliced into wedges
Lime Vinaigrette (see below)
1/2 cup dry jack cheese, grated
1 to 2 tablespoons chives, sliced into small rounds for garnish
Long sprigs of cilantro, for garnish

Remove the large outer leaves of the romaine, and cut the crisp heart leaves into pieces about 1-inch square. Wash and dry them, wrap them lightly in a kitchen towel, and put them in the refrigerator until needed. Cover the onion slices with cold water and refrigerate [julie note: this is a technique to mellow out the taste of raw onions].

Bring a quart of water to a boil and add a teaspoon of salt. Add the squash, boil 30 seconds, and then remove it to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Set it aside on a kitchen towel to drain.

Cut and prepare all of the vegetables. If lemon cucumbers aren’t available, use another kind of cucumber and slice it into rounds.

Prepare the vinaigrette.

Just before serving, drain the onion slices and add them to the rest of the vegetables. Pour most of the vinaigrette onto the vegetables and gently mix it in with your hands [julie note: I prefer tongs!]. Dress the lettuce with the remaining vinaigrette. Lay the lettuce around the sides of the bowl and set the vegetables in the middle. Grate the cheese over the top, garnish with the chives and the cilantro, and serve.

Lime Vinaigrette

Grated peel [zest] and juice of two limes
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 clove, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the lime peel and juice, vinegar, and herbs and seasonings in a bowl, and then whisk in the olive oil. Taste, and adjust for salt and tartness.

Serves 4-6
Recipe from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown (Broadway Books, 1987)

NOTE: If you are wondering if you can call a recipe your own, you must make 3 significant changes to it - when in doubt, please always credit the original author by stating “Adapted from Deborah Madison’s cookbook…” and if you are simply reprinting someone else’s recipe, always give credit!