Cooking Caravan

BRINGS EASY COOKING TO YOUR KITCHEN

As a traveling company, Cooking Caravan takes pride in turning any space into a kitchen. The challenge with turning any space into a kitchen and using a child as a sous chef in a pop-up 40-Minute Chef Battle program is that techniques have to be fast, easy and safely executed, all while yielding a delicious product. Recently, one of those makeshift kitchens was a gymnasium at an elementary school in New Washington, Ohio. When the Buckeye Central School District asked Cooking Caravan to perform Chef Battles for their entire elementary student body, they were tasked with feeding every child. Their solution: the quick pickle. Quick pickling is as easy as combining spices and vinegars with fresh produce in a glass jar. Using the recipe below, Cooking Caravan sent quick pickling kits to every classroom and encouraged the children to make alterations to the recipe in order to create their own spin.

With health on everyone’s mind after holiday feasting and freshly grown, local produce at a minimum with winter in full swing, this recipe is simple, healthy, yummy and is a great way to introduce children to preserving foods.

QUICK PICKLES

Here’s What You Need:

2 cups white or blended vinegar

1 cup water

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp dried dill

1 bay leaf

2 cups or

1 lb. washed fresh produce, such as cucumbers, peppers, carrots, and radishes

1 sprig rosemary

1 sterilized glass quart jar with lid

1 child-safe knife

Here’s What You Do:

Combine vinegar, water, herbs and spices in the glass jar. Slice the produce and place in the jar. Put the lid on the mason jar and let that stuff sit!

Here’s How Kids Can Help:

With some adult supervision, kids can participate in every part of this recipe from the measuring in step one to the slicing in step two. If your child is slicing the veggies, Cooking Caravan recommends using veggies such as cucumbers and/or bell peppers which are easier to cut. *Consume quick pickles within three hours of preparing at room temperature or refrigerate immediately and keep for up to two weeks.

ABOUT COOKING CARAVAN’S MISSION TO EAT, EDUCATE AND ENTERTAIN:

Cooking Caravan are a group of chefs, artists, actors and musicians devoted to enriching health and feeding artistic hunger. Their hands-on cooking classes, programs and workshops are age-focused and follow educational standards. They take a performance based approach to their programming, turning events and classes into experiences through the use of musical and theatrical demonstrations.

The Cooking Caravan provides nutrition, literacy, and music programs to children and families around Ohio. Additional information is available at www.wearethecaravan.com.

Cooking Caravan offers youth and adult classes at the Westerville Community Center. See pages 40 and 42 for current class offerings.

HOW TO STERILIZE A MASON JAR

According to the National Center for Home Preservation, the safest way to sterilize a mason jar is to put them right side up in a large pot or on a rack in a boiling-water canner. Fill the pot or canner and jars with hot (not boiling) water to one inch above the tops of the jars. Boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the jars with rubber tongs or jar lifters. Let the jars cool to the touch before filling.