Usborne First Cookbook - Review

I’ve now tested out 4 recipes from The Usborne First Cookbook: Cheese Souffle, Baked Egg Tomato Cups, Tasty Rice and Welsh Rarebit. Overall I had a good experience with the cookbook – everything turned out pretty well. I didn’t try out any of the dessert recipes (of which there are quite a few) but I think I still got a pretty good feel for the book.
This cookbook is aimed at kids old enough to use knives and heat. One of the things I really like is even though it’s aimed at kids, these are real recipes. There is nothing condescending or cutesy about them. These are recipes that anyone could be proud to make at any point in their lives.
They’re recipes inside are chosen more for their appeal to kids than their health benefits, but getting kids excited about cooking is definitely a start in the right direction regardless.
The recipes each have drawings that illustrate different steps. The drawings include tiny chefs that may be off putting to older chefs but otherwise do a good job of guiding you through the recipe.
I found the recipes to be pretty straight forward and easy to follow. My one complaint in this regard was with the cheese soufflé recipe when you make the white sauce it is a component of another recipe which could lead to potential problems. I don’t like it when cookbooks aimed at grown-ups do this so I was surprised to see it in a kids cookbook.
Bottom Line? I think it’s worth picking up for 8-12 year old to help them get interested in cooking and develop some cooking skills. This cookbook will teach them recipes that they could use for years, but do expect to be on hand to supervise your novice chef.

Welsh Rarebit (Usbourne First Cookbook)

Welsh rarebit, is a dish made with a savoury sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients and served hot over toast. It’s also the last recipe that I’ll be testing for my review of The Usborne First Cookbook. (Overall review to come). This is another one that I figured Gordie would love, it combines two of his favorite things eggs and tomatoes, how could we go wrong?

I also tried Baked Egg Tomato Cups, Cheese Soufflé  and Tasty Rice make sure it check them out too.

Welsh Rarebit Recipe
3/4 cup grated cheese (I’d use a an sharp cheddar next time)
1 tsp mustard
1 egg, beaten
3 or 4 drop Worcestershire sauce
salt and black pepper
4 slices of bread
2 tomatoes sliced

Direction
1. Stir the cheese, mustard, egg, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper together in a bowl.
2. Put the slices of bread in the broiler (the toaster oven was great for this). Toast on on side.
3. Remove the toast from the broiler and spread the cheese mixture over the untoasted side of the bread. Lay a couple of slices of tomatoes on top depending on the size of tomato.
4. Put the toast back in the broiler until the cheese is bubbling and light brown.

So, Did They Eat It?
Gordie liked this, but not as much as I had expected. I made it for lunch so only the two of us were there to try it but that was probably for the best. At first I thought it was a little bit bland (it kind of is) but I kept going back for more! It was actually pretty yummy. I tried out two kids of bread a sourdough-like kind and a regular whole wheat. The Whole wheat actually turned out a lot better. I think the softer crust helped a lot. I’m not sure I’d bother making it again, but it would be a great recipe for young chefs. There is a lot they could do independently.

Per Welsh Rarebit: Calories – 183, Carbs – 17g, Fat – 9g, Protein 10, Fibre – 3.

Tasty Rice (Osbourne First Cookbook)

My husband suggested making “Tasty Rice” for my third recipe from The Usborne First Cookbook because “Rice can be so plain”. 
If you missed first recipe I tried -  Baked Egg Tomato Cups or the second Cheese Soufflé  make sure it check them out.

Tasty Rice Recipe
4 tomatoes
1 cup mushrooms
2 onions
1 red pepper
6 slices bacon
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 cup peas
2 Tbsp tomato puree
8 oz freshly cooked rice (I used day old brown basmati rice)

Directions
1. Chop the tomatoes (the original recipe said to peel them but I didn’t find it necessary), mushrooms, onions, peppers and bacon.
2. Heat the oil, onion and bacon in a large saucepan over a low heat. (If I was doing it again I would use bacon I cooked separately so it’s crispier). When the onions are soft, add the rest of the vegetables and the tomato puree. Cook with the lid on for 20 minutes stirring often.
3. Mix the rice into the vegetable mixture over a medium heat until hot.

So, Did They Eat It?
This turned out really well. I served it as a side while my husband’s family was over for dinner. Everyone thought it was really good. The bacon was cooked when it was finished but I prefer crispier bacon and don’t feel the need for the bacon fat so I would definitely cook them separately next time. This is one I’ll be adding to my recipe index.

Per 1/8 Rice mixture: Calories – 146, Carbs – 18g, Fat – 6g, Protein 4g, Fibre – 2g.

Cheese Soufflé Recipe (Usborne First Cookbook)

For some reason that I do not really understand I decided to try making a cheese soufflé for my second recipe from The Usborne First Cookbook. I’m not sure what possessed me to try something that ambitious. Gordie and I were both not feeling well and loud noises make Gordie cry so I beat the egg whiles by hand instead of using a mixer. I do not recommend this. Especially not using a fork. At least use a whisk. In the end though, it actually turned out pretty well.

If you missed first recipe I tried - Baked Egg Tomato Cups make sure it check it out.

Cheese Soufflé Recipe

3 large eggs (room temperature not cold)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup grated cheese
a pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Put your oven rack into the middle of the oven and preheat to 375F.
2. Grease a 1 quart round ovenproof dish.
3. Separate the egg whites into one bowl and the yolks into a different medium bowl. Beat the yolks.
4. Make a white sauce: melt the butter into a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour a bit at a time. Cook for a minute and then stir in the milk a little at a time. Turn up the heat and stir constantly. When the mixture boils turn the heat down and continue to stir until thick and creamy.
5. Add the cheese, nutmeg, egg yolks and a pinch of salt and pepper to the white sauce.
6. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks when you lift the beater. (or whisk. But use a beater, really your arms will thank you)
7. Use a metal spoon to stir in a spoonful of the white sauce and then fold in the rest slowly and gently.
8. Pour the mixture into your greased baking dish and put it in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. It should be golden brown and puffy when it is ready. Don't peek!

Serve immediately as it starts to sink as soon as you take it out of the oven. I used a 1.5 quart dish so the presentation wasn’t quite as nice as it could have been.

So, Did They Eat It?

This was actually pretty good. The nutmeg added a really nice tone. Gordie and my SN brother loved it. My husband didn’t get any because we ate it all before he got home.

Per 1/4 Soufflé: Calories – 262, Carbs – 12g, Fat – 19g, Protein 15, Fibre – 0.

Baked Egg Tomato Cups Recipe (Usborne First Cookbook)

 

Gordie got The Usborne First Cookbook this year for Christmas so I thought I’d test out a few recipes. The first such recipe is “Baked Tomatoes”. It looked fairly simple and I was pretty sure that it would be a hit for Gordie since he loves tomatoes and begs me every day to “cook eggs”. I made them for breakfast on a Monday morning and served them with toast.

Baked Tomatoes Recipe

4 Large tomatoes (the biggest you can find)
salt and pepper
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease a shallow baking dish.
3. Slice off the top of each tomato and put the tops aside. Scoop out the insides with a spoon. Seriously, use a spoon, don't try to use a knife like I did.
4. Put the eggs into the baking dish. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Crack an egg into each tomato and then sprinkle the eggs with salt, pepper and parsley.
5. Put the tops back on the tomatoes and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the yolks are set. I found my yolks weren't even close to set after 10 minutes and in the end I might have over cooked them a little. I recommend poking one of the yolks to test. It can be hard to eyeball because of the extra moisture from the tomato.

So, Did They Eat It?

Predictably Gordie enjoyed it, but he did find it necessary to eat the tomatoes and the eggs separately. My husband who is not the biggest fan of tomatoes thought it managed to make two bland foods better, but suggested maybe cooking it with some lemon pepper next time to perk it up. My SN brother seemed to like them but he didn’t eat a ton. I thought they were good, but they seemed to be begging for some bacon.

Per Tomato Cup: Calories – 103, Carbs – 8g, Fat – 5g, Protein 8, Fibre – 0.