Teen-agers in the kitchen…doing the cooking, that is - recipes

Sunset, Feb, 1986

Teen-agers in the kitchen . . . doing the cooking, that is

Who's cooking tonight?

In most homes today, the kitchen is shared territory. Many teen-agers are taking on some of the responsibility for turning out dinner--often with a surprising degree of style, flair, and skill.

When asked why they like to cook, a typical answer is "cooking is fun, eating is better.'

What do they like to cook? Their choices are clearly foods they like to eat most: pizza, Mexican foods, lasagna, Oriental noodle soups, and cookies (strongly led by chocolate chip). Here's a sample of the variety of dishes that caught the fancy of students we interviewed in home economics classes and 4-H clubs.

Their recipes are family favorites learned by helping in the kitchen or from magazines, books, or television.

Our first cook, 13-year-old Tanya Henson, got her recipe for ramen from a friend in Japan and finds the salad makes a good quick dinner base for almost anything on hand.

Tanya uses many kinds of leftover meats and raw vegetables in this dish. Her family particularly enjoys this presentation: by carefully slicing the vegetables into strips, she gives the dish a Japanese feeling.

Hiroshi Ramen

Water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salad oil

1 teaspoon Oriental sesame oil (optional)

4 packages (3 oz. each) ramen noodles (omit seasoning packets)

1 small cucumber

6 ounces sliced cooked ham, cut into strips

4 green onions, including tops (ends trimmed), cut in half lengthwise Scrambled eggs (recipe follows)

In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup water, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salad oil, and sesame oil; stir mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

In a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add noodles; cook, uncovered, until tender to bite, stirring several times with a fork to keep noodles separated, about 3 minutes. Drain noodles well, then pour into bowl with soy sauce mixture. Stir noodles, cover, and chill 30 minutes to overnight.

Cut cucumber in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out and discard seeds. Cut cucumber crosswise or lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.

To serve, divide noodles equally among 4 bowls (about 2-cup capacity). Top with equal amounts of cucumber, ham, green onions, and eggs. Serve, or cover and chill up to 4 hours. Makes 4 main-dish servings. --Tanya Henson, Calistoga, Calif.

Scrambled eggs. Beat 4 to 6 large eggs to blend. In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine. Pour in eggs; when they turn opaque on pan bottom, push cooked eggs aside to let uncooked portions flow to bottom. Repeat until eggs are cooked the way you like. Use warm or cool, spooning out portions in small chunks.

With only one more year of high school, Craig Williams is giving some thought to becoming a professional cook. Already he's helped his chef brother cater dinners, some for over a thousand people.

On the home front, Dutch babies are Craig's showpiece. "This is the only way I like eggs, besides hard-cooked,' he confesses. He can actually down an entire pancake on his own. The apples are added to please his mother.

Apple Dutch Baby

1 large apple

4 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 dup milk

1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter or margarine Ground cinnamon Powdered sugar Lemon wedges

Wash and core apple; cut into thin slices.

To make batter, whirl eggs and flour in a blender until smooth. Add milk and whirl to mix batter well.

In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan or 9- by 14-inch oval frying pan with an ovenproof handle, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Remove pan from heat and immediately pour batter into pan.

Scatter apples over batter, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Bake in a 450| oven until Dutch baby is puffed and top is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Serve Dutch baby immediately from the pan, or slide the whole pancake from pan onto a platter; cut into wedges. Top wedges with powdered sugar and add lemon juice to taste. Makes 1 generous, 2 ample, 4 modest servings.--Craig Williams, Redwood City, Calif.

Sopes, a delicious open-face variation of tacos, are the specialty of 17-year-old Julie Huezo. She learned to make them from her mother, and, because she proceeded from memory, we took notes as she worked.

There are lots of make-ahead steps for this recipe; we use canned refried beans to save time.

Mexican Dinner Sopes

3 cups dehydrated masa flour (corn tortilla flour)

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups salad oil Water

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1 1/2 tablespoons dry oregano leaves

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon caynne

1 pound ground beef Salt and pepper

2 cans (16 oz. each) refried beans

3 cups finely shredded green cabbage or iceberg lettuce

Tomato salsa (recipe follows), or 1 1/2 cups canned salsa

2/3 cup crumbled Mexican-style cotija cheese, or shredded parmesan or jack cheese

In a large bowl, combine masa flour, 1/3 cup salad oil, and 1 3/4 cups water. Stir until evenly moistened, adding a little more water if needed to make dough hold together (it should not be crumbly). Divide dough into 15 or 16 equal portions; shape each portion into a ball. To prevent drying, keep dough lightly covered with plastic wrap as you work.