The first thing that came to mind with pirates theme was treasure and gold. One of my suppliers sell fantastic little gold boxes that would make a perfect treasure chest and gold foil to wrap their treasure in. I settled on the simple truffle recipe I’ve used in many classes as it’d work with the limited facilities in the classroom.  

The workshop took on a multi sensory approach. What could they smell, hear, feel when making the truffles? It also worked on fine motor skills and sharing. The children thoroughly enjoyed making the truffles especially getting their hands in the cocoa and icing sugar! Thank you to the school for inviting me to take part in their fantastic pirate week.

If you know a school or organisation who would like to do a similar workshop get in touch – Julie@appleandthyme.com

I use the Cookery Club to not only teach children cookery skills but to introduce them to food they may not have tried before. Back in the summer I was invited to an event in London hosted by Total Greek Yogurt and Nick Coffer (My Daddy Cooks) that looked at great lunchbox recipes. Unfortunately due to other commitments I was unable to make it, but they kindly sent me I Love My Lunchbox RECIPES that were used on the day.

One particular recipe, Feta, Bacon & Greek Yoghurt Filo Triangles, stood out as with a bit of a tweak would be perfect for a cookery club.

Feta & Spinach Filo Triangles
Makes 12 triangles 

50 g spinach, chopped

200 g feta cheese

1/2 tsp dried mint

100 g greek yoghurt

1 egg

generous pinch of black pepper

olive oil

1 pack (6 sheets) of filo pastry (I like to use Jus-Rol Filo as the shapes are the perfect size to cut into squares)

1) Preheat oven to 200°c/400°f/Gas Mark 6

2) In a bowl mix together all the ingredients (apart from the filo & oil) until well combined.

3) Lay out the filo in front of you and cut in half so you have 12 filo squares.

4) Brush one half of a filo square with olive oil then fold in half so you have a double layered filo oblong.

5) Put 1 tbsp of the feta mixture in bottom left hand corner of the filo strip then. Take the bottom right hand corner and fold over the filling to make a triangle.

6) Continue to fold the pastry over itself until you are left with a sealed triangular parcel.

7) Place on a lined baking tray, brush triangles with oil then bake for 12-15 until golden.

A few years ago while invigilating a KS2 Science SATS paper you should have seen the smile that appeared on my face when I spotted the question all about baking cakes and the scientific processes that happen. After the test several pupils approached me saying they knew the answer to this question because of what we had made in Cookery Club.

There are obvious benefits of children learning how to cook like fine motor skills, introduction of new foods and how to have a healthy balanced diet but learning how to cook can also impact on other things. Yesterday whilst speaking to a teacher in a school where I run a cookery club they mentioned how they have noticed that the children who attend cookery club have a higher than average writing score than children who don’t attend. Of course there is many factors that can influence this but it does make me wonder that for a lot of children the kinesthetic side of learning really does help you learn and retain information.

While waiting for our food to cook in Cookery Club we look at recipe writing, recipe planning and introduce terms they may not come across in daily classroom life. This term the focus is on the maths side of cooking. How to cost recipes, how to understand scales and how cooking is essentially science and maths hidden in amongst a flurry of icing sugar and flour. We are going to see if this push on maths this term also sees the maths scores of these children rise.

I’ve found cookery a great way to engage learners who may struggle to access the curriculum through the traditional route.

Lentil ragu has been a staple in this household for a few years. Not only is it great for using up left over vegetables, it uses storecupboard ingredients, it’s cheap and goes with so many other foods. There is a basic formula to this recipe, but it can be easily tweaked. Sometimes I add bacon, sometimes not. Sometimes I use beef stock, sometimes it’ll be vegetable stock. It all really depends on what is available in the house.

I use lentils a great deal in food. They are a fantastic way to bulk meals out cheaply. Don’t tell carnivore husband, but I have been known to use lentils to bulk out meat dishes like bolognaise. I use a combination of both green and red lentils in this recipe mostly for texture. The red ones break down during the cooking process while the green ones have more of a bite. They green ones also have a slightly different taste, almost nuttier. When it comes to the green lentils there is Lentille Vert (also called Puy lentils) which are more expensive or green lentils. In this recipe normal green lentils are perfect.

This recipe can also be transformed into other dishes. With a sprikle of chilli powder, cumin and pinch of cinnamon along with a tin of kidney beans you have a lentil chilli. It also goes well with not only pasta but rice and couscous. The dish freezes well and the flavour improves the day after making it.

Lentil Ragu
Serves 4-6

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

150 g red lentils

150 g green lentils

125 ml red wine (if not using replace with stock)

1 tbsp tomato purée

250 ml beef or vegetable stock

2 x tins chopped tomatoes

splash of Worcestershire sauce

handful of other sliced vegetables e.g. carrots, mushrooms, pepper

1 TBSP mixed herbs

salt & pepper (to taste)

1) In a deep saucepan fry off the onion in a small amount of olive oil until onions have softened.

2) Add the garlic fry for a minute on a medium heat then stir in the lentils.

3) Pour in the wine and boil for a few minutes until liquid has reduced by half.

4) Add the remaining ingredients then simmer for 45-60 minutes.

Starting on Sunday 22nd January is Farmhouse Breakfast Week. It is about the importance of breakfast and their website gives some great ideas for breakfast. To help celebrate Farmhouse Breakfast Week, for the next fortnight in Cookery Club we are making Apple & Date Oaty Bites based on this recipe for Oaty Apple & Orange Squares.

The dried fruit in them could easily be swapped for different dried fruit. I’ve altered the sugar in the recipe slightly to compensate for the fact that unsweetened apple sauce is impossible to find here. Usually I’m all for using basic/value products in baking as more often than not the quality is no different to the normal brand, however in this case don’t use value apple sauce as the apple content is significantly lower and the sugar content higher than usual brands.

Apple & Date Oaty Bites
Makes 12 

75g butter, softened

50g Demerara sugar

60g apple sauce

100g oats

40g dates, chopped

1) Cream together the butter and sugar.

2) Stir in the apple sauce, oats and dates.

3) Place dessertspoonl mounds of the mixture on to a lined baking tray then flatten with the back of the spoon until around 1.5cm thick.

4) Bake at 180°c for 15-20 min until oaty bites are golden. Allow to cool and harden on tray before eating.

As part of my business I can take recipes and adapt them to fit a topic or make them more suitable for the client’s needs. In this case these rolls are linking with a school’s Space topic, The mixed herbs in the dough represent the rocks in Saturn’s rings and the cottage cheese the ice. It’s for Primary aged children to make and we have 1.5 hours to make, bake and clean up. In this short time frame it’s very difficult to make proper bread so these are a great compromise. The original recipe for these rolls uses a food processor, not ideal with a class of children with minimum kitchen facilities, so by using value/basics cottage cheese that is usually less chunky than more expensive brands you eliminate the use of a blender.

The cottage cheese gives the bread a lovely fluffy texture. Something you wouldn’t expect with bread made with no yeast. If you are using a thick, chunky cottage cheese I recommend you put it in a blender to make it smoother. Low fat cottage cheese also works well.

Do you have a recipe you would love to see adapted?

Saturn (tomato & basil) Rolls
Based on Tomato Pesto Rolls in What Shall We Cook Today?
Makes 6 small rolls 

250 g self raising flour

1/4 tsp salt

125 g cottage cheese (if your cottage cheese is very chunky put in a blender for a few seconds)

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1/2 egg

60 ml milk

3 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

6 basil leaves

olive oil

1) Pre heat oven to 190°c. Cover baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment or fine sprinkling of flour.

2) Put the flour, cottage cheese, salt, mixed herbs, egg and milk in a bowl and mix until you have a soft dough. If the dough is a bit dry add a splash more of milk.

3) Turn out on to a floured worktop and knead twice so it looks smoother.

4) Divide the dough into 6 pieces, roll into a ball and place on baking tray.

5) Make a deep hole in each roll. Push a basil leaf and tomato half into the hole.

6) Drizzle with olive oil then bake for 15-20 until rolls are risen and golden.

A Leicestershire Primary school decided to do something a bit different this year to celebrate the end of term. Rather than the parents providing party food the pupils would be involved in preparing their own festive feast. Not only would it be a great opportunity for them to work in teams and with children they don’t usually engage with but also practice fine motor skills (e.g. spreading, cutting, pressing) and learn about catering. We also involved food safety, maths and science. During the morning the three groups made:

• snowmen cakes – simple fairy cakes decorated with glace icing, marshmallow for the head, strawberry lace for scarf and black glace icing dotted on with cocktail sticks for the eyes and mouth
• vegetable pots – tomatoes cut into quarters and cucumber cut into festive shapes using small biscuit cutters.
• festive sandwiches – made with both brown and white bread and either ham or cheese filling. The children then used Christmas biscuit cutters to cut the sandwiches into various shapes.

For a few of the pupils it was the first time trying some of the foods we used. Because they had been involved in making the food they took proud ownership and were more likely to try unfamiliar foods.

It’s fair to say everyone seemed to enjoy the day and the children ate their creations in the afternoon in between various party games during their class parties. A big thanks to the staff and parent helpers who made the workshop so successful.

I provided everything from the food to the equipment and aprons. Do you know a school that would like to do a similar workshop? If so email me at julie@appleandthyme.com

A very merry Christmas to everyone who has supported Apple & Thyme during 2011. Here’s to a fabulous food filled 2012.

These truffles are based on a rum truffle recipe I used to make as a child. It’s such a simple recipe and can be adapted in many different ways to incorporate different themes. Different flavourings can be used. If find rum flavouring works better than real rum in these truffles and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Valencian Orange Extract is particularly great (thanks to Holly from Great British Bake Off for recommending this to me.)

From an educational point a view this is a fabulous recipe to teach ratios. It’s essentially 1 part cocoa powder:2 parts icing sugar :4 parts cake crumbs and as it makes 12 truffles when using 100g cake there are many factors relating to the number 12. When making these with children I use petit four cases, partially because it makes them look nice but also stops the truffles rolling around the table. Again to bring in a bit of maths I get the children to set out the cases in an array before we begin.

Christmas Pudding Truffles
Makes 12

100g cake crumbs (more or less any sponge cake works, even stale cake)

50g icing sugar

25g cocoa powder

1 tsp flavouring (I like rum flavouring or orange extract)

1 tbsp milk

3 tsp icing sugar mixed with 1 tsp to make glace icing

holly made from small amount of coloured fondant. You could also use glacé cherries and angelica.

1) Mix together the cake crumbs, icing sugar and cocoa powder.

2) Add the flavouring and milk. Mix until the ingredients are well combined and stick together.

3) Using your hands mush together the mixure until it is almost evenly coloured. Wash your hands. The next step is easier with clean hands.

4) Pinch off a small sprout sized piece of truffle mixture. Roll into a ball and set to one side.

5) Drizzle a small amount of the glace icing on to the top of the pudding, then decorate with the fondant holly. Chill for an hour to allow to set.

For the last two weekends I’ve had a stall at Betty’s Farm Shop, near Willington. On Saturday, as a way of showing how you can use Betty’s eggs in festive cooking I made Welsh Cakes with a  festive twist. For those who don’t know what a Welsh Cake is, it is like a scone but richer due to the eggs and cooked on a griddle rather than in the oven. They are particularly good warm with a bit of butter.

They went down so well here is the recipe. Usually they are made with white sugar but these are made with soft dark sugar. This helps give the darker colour and subtle molasses taste that is so common in Christmas baking.  If required the dough can be refrigerated for up to 12 hours before cooking.

If you are around Willington this Saturday pop in to say hello and get to taste these festive Welsh Cakes.

Christmas Welsh Cakes
Makes 15

225g self-raising flour

110g butter

75g soft brown sugar

75g dried mixed fruit and flaked almonds

1 tsp mixed spice

1 egg

1) Rub together the butter and flour.

2) Mix in the sugar, spice, fruit and nuts.

3) Stir in the egg until the ingredients are well combined and form a dough. If needed add a splash of milk.

4) On a floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 5mm thick.

5) Cut out 5cm rounds (or other shapes).

6) Heat frying pan on a low medium heat. No oil is required. Cook for 2-3 min each side until cake is cooked.