With new guidance, restrictions are less and our activities can cautiously move toward a pre-pandemic level. Yay! This means we are able to plan for a few pop-up youth culinary camps this summer at LLCC. I’m super excited because as you know, I enjoy cooking and baking with kids. I’ve written about my own experiences baking with my mother and grandmother as a child and how those memories will stay with me for a lifetime. Many of you with young chefs at home have probably been cooking and baking your hearts out over the past year or so. Well now you can take a break and send your kiddos off to campus to cook and bake with the LLCC College For Kids chefs.
Thank goodness for technology — Zoom, YouTube and TikTok. Without the digital world, we wouldn’t have been able to connect and share our culinary classes with you. We will continue to offer video classes with ingredient kits so young chefs can still bake and cook with us from the comfort of their home and at their own pace. However, there is something wonderful that takes place during in-person learning. Questions can be answered on the spot, the chef can help develop a student’s technique, and comradery happens in the kitchen. The smells, the sizzles, the smiles beaming from the eyes of little chefs so rightfully proud of their creations: seriously, I’m so excited I can’t hardly stand it!
Our online video classes and in-person camps start the last week of June. Check out our website www.llcc.edu/youth-programs for all the information. Until then, here are a few recipes you can make at home with your young chef. Don’t have little ones at home? No problem, these recipes are perfect for those of us who are young at heart. Enjoy!
Morning Glory Muffins
These Morning Glory muffins are full of fruits, veggies and whole grains. If raisins aren't your favorite, substitute an equal amount of the dried fruit of your choice.
Yield: 18 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups grated carrots, (4 medium)
- 1 apple, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts, or pecans
- 2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 18 muffin cups with cooking spray.
Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, apple and raisins. Whisk egg, egg whites, apple butter, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about three-fourths full. Combine walnuts and wheat germ in a small bowl; sprinkle over the muffin tops.
Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool.
Make Ahead Tip
Get a head start on your morning muffins the night before by mixing up the dry and liquid ingredients separately (refrigerate liquids). In the morning, combine the two, scoop and bake.
Grilled Vegetable Wrap with Hummus and Fresh Mozzarella
Yield: 4 wraps
- Red Pepper Hummus (recipe below)
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into ¼” rounds
- 1 zucchini, sliced thin long ways
- 1 yellow squash, sliced thin long ways
- 1 red pepper, sliced into ½” slices
- 1/2 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 large flour or veggie wraps of your choice
- salt and pepper
Prepare a grill to high heat, or use a grill pan on the stove. Toss vegetables with olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill on high heat about 2 minutes per side, until just cooked through and you see good grill marks. Remove from grill/pan and set aside.
Make wraps - spread about 2 tablespoons hummus on each wrap. Evenly distribute mozzarella slices between wraps. Then distribute veggies between wraps. Roll up and serve.
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
- One 14-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 2 cups)
- 2 whole roasted red peppers
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 to 4 tablespoons water or chickpea “juice”
Roast the red peppers over grill until charred. Place in a zip lock bag or in a heat proof bowl and cover. Let stand until cool. Using your hands, wipe off/peel (it comes off easy) the charred skin of the peppers. Rinse to remove any remaining skin. Place in bowl of food processor.
Add the chickpeas, and all the remaining ingredients except the water/”juice” to a food processor or high-powered blender. Pulse until everything is combined and then add juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the hummus is a smooth, thick and spreadable consistency. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Hummus can be made up to three days in advance and stored in a covered container in your fridge or frozen for up to one month.
Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, Baking/Pastry, and Value Added Local Food, and non-credit cooking and food classes through our Community Education Culinary Institute. For more information, visit our website at www.llcc.edu.