Helping Nat Learn How To Cook
A couple of weeks ago, one of the neighborhood kids asked me if I could mentor him with his high school senior project. Nat wanted to learn how to cook so he is setting his goal to cook 14 different meals representing different cuisines and ingredients each night. Some of them are my recipes and some he found on the Internet.
Now Nat is not really a kid at 17 but then to me anyone under 25 is still a kid so I don’t mind putting this in the Kids Can Cook category.
I’ll be updating Nat’s progress here and on my Facebook page if you are interested in how it’s going.
Here’s a list of what he is planning to cook.
| Chicken Dish | Chicken Maxengo Recipe |
| Beef Dish | Short Ribs with an Asian Touch, potatoes and salad |
| Fish Dish | Red Snapper, Veracruz Style, Salad |
| Vegetarian dish | Heart of Palm with Risotto |
| Italian Dish | Summer Fresh Pasta with Tomatoes and Prosciutto with Red Snapper and Shrimp(Grill) |
| Mexican Dish | Chicken with Rice (Arroz Con Pollo) |
| Oriental Dish | Chicken Lo-Mein |
| Indian Dish | Keema (Indian Spiced Ground Veal and Beef with Peas) |
| Frence Dish | Normandy Pork with apples shallots and cider |
| American Comfort | Burgers, pulled pork, and Fries, BBQ night |
| WeekNight Special | Meatloaf Nicois Recipe |
| Seafood and Pasta | Cilantro Shrimp Recipe |
| Tropical Flavors | Garlic Lime Grilled Chicken With Mango Salsa |
| The Ultimate Challenge | Beef Wellington–Gordon Ramsey |
Nat came over to talk about his menu and pick my brain for a few cooking tips. I think I overwhelmed with a little too much information cause he left with that glazed look in his eyes. We’ve been trading emails and yesterday he came back for another round of questions and answers and again left with that same look as the first time and a puck of Demi Glace Gold for making a wild mushroom sauce for one of his dishes.
Just can’t help myself when I start talking food. No wonder he left dazed, I tried to give him 20 years of cooking experience in an hour. He did say he has been using The Reluctant Gourmet website to find out more about the cooking techniques needed for his recipes.
Here are some photos from his first couple of nights of cooking and I’ll post more next week.
