Little gourmets

Ever since I read the book 'Bringing up bebe', I have been in love with the way the French feed their kids at lunchtime. It's not just the 4 course meals of beautifully prepared organic ingredients, but the way in which it is served. Having a school dining area set up as a restaurant with table cloths, pitchers of water and real cutlery sounds so right to me. The French want their kids to enjoy and appreciate the meal, not just allocate a mere 15 minutes to eating or grab a lunch on the hoof. Personally, I believe in this. Karen Le Billon has a blog in which she shares the meals these mini gourmets enjoy. It's inspiring and has inspired me to create the same principles at home for dinner, (occasionally).

So, basically, it begins with a vegetable course, either hot or cold, such as a carrot salad or a soup. This is a sneaky way to get the really good stuff into your kids while they"re actually hungry.

Next comes the main course comprising of a protein with a grain or more vegetables, then a dairy such as cheese with baguette or yogurt, followed by a dessert, usually fruit, sometimes a treat.

So, for one of our 'French' dinners, we had three courses:

Carrot and butternut squash soup

Grilled cod with a white wine shrimp sauce

Sauteed cannellini beans with zucchini, kale and garlic

Roquefort with crackers

Ok, I'm not going to try to trick you by saying my 3 year old ate everything with relish, licking her lips at the pungent Roquefort and asking for second helpings of beans, but it's a start and she absolutely loved the soup, chock full of good orange nutrients.

Recipe : Carrot and squash soup

1 neck piece of a butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks

1 large carrot, scraped and cut into chunks

4 1/2 cups of chicken stock

1 tbsp sour cream

salt and pepper

Place the chicken stock, carrot and squash in a large pan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.

Turn the heat down to simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before pureeing to a smooth consistency.

Reheat the soup very gently and add the sour cream, stirring well to combine. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary, (also adding a little more stock if the soup is too thick) and serve.

Recipe : Grilled cod with white wine shrimp sauce

2 large and 1 small piece of cod

1 tbsp butter

3/4 tbsp all purpose flour

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken or fish stock

1/4 cup whipping cream

4 sprigs fresh dill or parsley, finely chopped

3 large raw prawns or 1/4 cup small cooked shrimp

To make the sauce:

Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat until melted, then add the flour, stirring well. Keep stirring and cook the roux for one minute to reduce the raw flour taste.

Add the white wine gradually and stir to create a smooth sauce. Add the stock and continue stirring to ensure smoothness. Reduce the heat to very low and let the sauce putter away for a few minutes, then add the cream. (If my recipe calculations are correct, you should have a nice smooth sauce, not too thick or thin. However, if they are wildly off, you may have a lumpy mess. Just add more stock or wine and stir away.) By the way, the alcohol content of the wine gets completely cooked off, so no tiddly toddler worries.

Finally, shell your prawns if you need to and add to the sauce. If they are very large, cut up into little pieces first. Warm through if already cooked, or cook gently until pink and cooked through if raw. Add the dill, check seasoning and it's ready. Keep warm while you grill, (broil) the fish until cooked. Pour the sauce over.

Recipe : Cannellini beans with zucchini, kale and garlic.

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tbsp  butter

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 tin cannellini or other beans, drained and well rinsed

1/2 medium zucchini, diced finely

1 bunch kale, leaves removed from stems and finely sliced

salt and pepper

Heat the oil and butter together in a frying pan over medium heat and add the zucchini, kale and garlic. Fry, stirring often until the zucchini has softened and the kale wilted. 

Add the beans and fry gently until the beans are heated through and beginning to colour a little. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

I'm also a big fan of letting Lilac help out with some prep before dinner, maybe washing some veg or setting the table as below....

....she may not do the best job in the world, but she feels proud and more interested in sitting down and enjoying dinner.

Enjoying the soup..

The adults very much enjoyed the cheese course..

You may also like:

The Lunch Dilemma

Red bean samosas

Rockfish with prawn cream sauce