MY DAUGHTER'S KITCHEN NOTEBOOK

Translucent onions, basil chiffonade, and seared sausage offered unique vocabulary and culinary lessons this week! Learning how to stack and roll basil leaves to chiffonade delighted Hiba Ettaleb, as she had chopped herbs before, but never like this. Dicing onions proved to be challenging for some sensitive eyes, so we shared tips as to how to avoid the tears . . . running water and goggles anyone? As we melded the three components of our recipe together in the stockpot, sausage, sauce, and pasta, Principal Fellow at our school Michael Furman stopped by and joined us.

-Cindy Rappoport, Amy Steinberg

This week the children learned more skills. The mini-lesson on smashing, then peeling garlic led to this remark written by Leilani Flores: "I am so proud because I never knew how to do that trick with the garlic. Now that I know, I can do it again."

This is our goal, that the students share what they have learned and perhaps cook the dish for their family. - Sylvia Wilson,
Ruth Biemer

All the girls were excited to make the pasta and tomato sauce but they were a little unsure of the turkey sausage and whole wheat pasta. With five sausages, they each seared and caramelized one in the fry pan. Using an immersion blender correctly to make the sauce smooth proved to be a bit more challenging. The sauce kept shooting out of the pot. By mealtime, we agreed the hard work was certainly worth it. Angela "loved the turkey sausage and was not expecting it to be so good!"

- Jane Pupis,
Susan Munafo

Kayla Hernandez loved learning how to smash the garlic with the flat end of the knife, which made the skin easy to peel. While they sat down and enjoyed their meal, a few observations were made: Turkey sausage doesn't taste much different from pork sausage. In Italy they call spaghetti sauce "gravy." And they like white pasta better than whole-grain pasta, although there was not one strand of pasta left on their plates and they all wanted seconds!

-Maureen Barrett, Mariann Owens

The students were enthusiastic throughout the preparation. Heaven Coleman told us that she didn't think this day would ever come. The meal was a success. We had nothing leftover. Tamika Gunter thought she would be able to taste the difference of the whole-grain pasta, but she wasn't able to. Javen Beasley enjoyed the turkey sausage. And to our surprise, Christopher Wilkens had cleared his plate and asked for seconds.

-Frank Petrillo,
Beth Stack

This week the kids loved making spaghetti sauce with turkey sausage and LOVED that it was over whole-grain pasta. When cutting the basil, Jaslyn DeLeon said, "This stuff smells like tree sap!" None of the kids had heard of the word "garnish" before - Joan had them finely slice basil leaves to sprinkle on top-they loved the idea of food looking good, and everyone asked for seconds.

- Rebecca H. Bryan, Joan Jablonski

Our experienced onion-chopping machine, Lauren Bolger, expected tears and burning in her eyes, but asked, "What makes onions burn your eyes?" We explained that freshly cut onions contain enzymes that cause your eyes to be sensitive. We never have the time to chill the onions before class, but that would help a little. During the meal, Lauren Bolger bit into something strange in her turkey sausage. She studied it, and asked if it was alive . . . like a bug! "Ewww!"; everyone said collectively. Thankfully, it was just a fennel seed, usually found in sausage to add flavor and help with digestion. Satisfied it wasn't an insect, the meal continued.

-Lisa Krader,
Linda Todorow

The five chefs were studying their cookbooks already deciding on their jobs, from chopping onions to shredding cheese. Carmen Maldonado-Soto said, "I can smell the greatness in the hallway." As we sat down to eat, Mario Cortez-Pacheo said, "What a peaceful meal." Gean Castillo said, "I'm in heaven, but it could use more spice. I like it hot!"

- Lorrie Craley, Christine Drobish