Kid Chef: The Foodie Kids Cookbook: Healthy Recipes and Culinary Skills for the New Cook in the Kitchen Paperback – April 5, 2016 by Melina Hammer (Author), Bryant Terry (Foreword) (Sonoma Press)

This cookbook is designed for kids who have a very "adult" palate who take their culinary skills very seriously. Overall, it just made me feel like an unrefined backwoods hillbilly or something. My kids do not eat the stuff in there. I don't eat the stuff in there. I don't even know what half the ingredients are or where I'd find them. We don't have a "mortar and pestle" in our kitchen.

When I was first flipping through the cookbook, the lesson I saw was "how to make a fried egg". Bingo. That's exactly the cookbook I've been looking for for my teenagers, who are just looking to learn basic food preparation skills for basic foods with basic ingredients. But then I continued on to see recipes such as:
-bacon herb frittata sandwich
-ginger-lemon green juice
-potato-gruyere tart
-gazpacho gulps
-crispy sesame seaweed
-minty lamb burgers
-strawberry-rhubarb mini tarts

When I was a kid I had a kid's cookbook that I absolutely loved. I used that thing to death. I would come home from school, open my kid's cookbook, and whip up a batch of lemon bars or chocolate chip cookies. It was all basic, easy to follow directions that used ingredients we already had in the house. I could make all of it myself without any help from my mother. I was hoping for a cookbook like that for my own kids, but this just isn't the right one for us. We aren't fancy enough people and I don't have the time/money to buy all the special ingredients these recipes call for.

I would not recommend this book for kids. I would recommend it for adults who are not picky eaters and want to learn advanced techniques for making healthy dishes.

I do have to give some credit where it's due though. The photography in this book is gorgeous. The text is easy to read and nicely laid out. Whoever put it together had a nice eye for photography and graphic design. The directions are also thorough. It's almost like a culinary textbook. I am sure if you went through the whole thing start to finish you would come out a better cook. But I'm speaking to adults here. This is advertised as a kid's cookbook and I just can't see it as really being that.

Sample Recipe: Butternut Mac ’n’ Cheese

Prep time: 20 minutes / Cook time: 50 minutes / Serves 4

1. Butter 4 ramekins, and set aside on a baking sheet.

2. Toast the bread. Place the bread onto a toaster oven tray. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter, and drizzle the butter over the bread, stirring the pieces around the tray to coat. Toast the croutons until lightly crispy, about 5 minutes, and set aside.

3. Cook the pasta. Set a large pot filled with water over high heat, and bring to a rolling boil. Add a hefty pinch of salt, then the pasta, and cook until 3 minutes less than the package instructions say, so that the pasta exterior is cooked and the inside is underdone. Transfer the pasta to a colander, and shake it a few times to drain well. Rinse the pasta briefly to stop it from cooking further, and set aside.

4. Steam the squash. Fill a medium saucepan that a steamer basket fits into with about an inch of water. Put a steamer basket in the sauce pan, and steam the squash pieces until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Use tongs to remove the squash from the basket, and set aside.

5. Make the béchamel. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the milk. In the same pot you used for cooking the pasta, over medium heat, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. When the butter foams, add the flour. Whisk the flour into the butter, stirring to fully combine.

6. Continue whisking. Gradually pour in the hot milk. After pouring half in, whisk until the mixture has no lumps, then slowly add the remainder. Whisk constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 10 minutes.

7. Combine the ingredients for baking. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1 cup of Cheddar cheese, and ½ cup of Gruyère.

8. Stir the cooked pasta and steamed squash into the cheesy béchamel sauce. Ladle the mixture into the ramekins. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of Cheddar cheese and ½ cup of Gruyère over the tops, then arrange the toasted croutons on top. Bake until the surfaces are golden, about 25 minutes.

Serve:

Transfer the casseroles to a wire cooling rack, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve the little mac and cheese ramekins warm on large plates.

Tools / Equipment:

Microplane, Box grater, 4 ramekins, Toaster oven, Small saucepan, Large pot, Colander, 2 medium saucepans, Steamer basket, Tongs, Whisk, Baking sheet, Ladle, Wire cooling rack.