Southern Cooking Tips For Kids

Blending Southern Cooking And Kids In The Kitchen

If huge pots of boiling soup, piles of steaming hot crawfish, big sharp knives, and red hot peppers are enough to scare you from having your kids in the kitchen, you are not alone. It can be dangerous to have kids under your feet while you're hoisting pots and pans and knives around the place.

 However, getting your kids involved with the cooking process is important. It not only helps kids have an appreciation for what they are eating, but it passes down your cooking traditions, too.

Let's take a look at a few safer ways to get your kids in the kitchen so they can start to learn some of your favorite southern recipes.

Cut It Up

This may be the first thing that scares parents off from teaching their kids about cooking. However, there is an age where kids can start to learn knife skills safely. You will need to figure that out as each child has different levels of ability.

Now, keep in mind that sharp knives are safer than dull knives, and the knife should fit the child's hand. A huge knife that you love won't work for a small hand.

Have your child work with smaller fruits and vegetables that cut without a lot of effort and are easy to hold onto. Celery is a good start. Pre-slice items into strips, such as a green bell pepper, before having your child continue dicing.

You may want to invest in some knife gloves for your child. These are specifically made to fit a small hand and will help guard against accidental wounds. For a timid knife handler, these may help build confidence.

Cutting up “The Holy Trinity” is an excellent first learning experience when teaching kids about southern cooking. The ingredients - onion, green pepper, and celery - are easy to handle, especially if you do a bit of prep work before they start dicing.

Mix It Up

Most young children can stir a pot, given that the pot is not too hot (skip the roux) and they have a stool to stand on that is safe and secure. Of course, even a roux, once it has cooled slightly, can be handed off to an older child to add ingredients into.

Young kids will enjoy mixing the ingredients together for other southern classics like cheese straws, for instance. They can use their hands to mix the ingredients into a dough, then have fun pushing that dough into a plastic food bag and out again through a hole to form the strips.

Stirring up a batch of pimento cheese spread is another great idea for kids to enjoy. This is especially fun because they can take the recipe from start to finish, even at a relatively young age. It's just mix and serve, no cooking involved.

You don't have to get out the big, powerful mix-master to make everything in a southern kitchen. Even your little ones' hands and a few spoons will work.

Cool It Down

Big pots and piles of steaming hot food can be an invitation to a disaster in a kitchen with kids. To get your children to help you in the kitchen without risking the heat, think of some of your favorite southern style dishes and how they could be served cold.

Peel and eat crawfish and shrimp is great fun and, luckily, they are both just as good cold as they are hot out of the kettle. Prepare these foods ahead of time and let them cool, then have your kids dig in. This is a good way to teach your kids how to peel shellfish without burning their itty bitty fingers.

You can serve all the great flavors of gumbo, etouffee, or jambalaya in a cold salad. Once the ingredients are cooked, cool them down and mix them with cold prepared rice, pasta, or greens.

And, speaking of greens, a pot of collards, mustard greens, beet greens, or a blend of any of these is actually better served at room temperature. Get the kids involved in washing the greens, tearing them into little pieces, then adding them to the pot. They will be amazed at the amount of greens that go into the pot versus the amount that comes out! This is definitely a fun thing for kids to watch.

There are many southern food classics that can be cooked with the help of kids in the kitchen. You may not want them handling some of the hottest jobs, or some of the most complicated cutting or stirring, but there are definitely recipes that kids can enjoy digging into. Just think of the pride your little ones will have when they announce that they made that delicious chilled shrimp etouffee salad!