Cooking with Kids: The Egg and I

by Ruth Storkel

Speaking with Sara Creamer a short time ago, I learned that one of the things she taught in her children’s cooking classes was the most basic food there is: THE EGG. She gave special attention to teaching her older students to fry eggs, and make omelets and frittatas.

“EGG”

Uovo (Italian)
Tamago (Japanese)
Ei (Dutch)
Ja Je (Bosnian)
Kananmuna (Finnish)
Veza (Albanian)
Huevo (Spanish)
Oeuf (French)
Ei (German)
Auyo (Greek)

No matter how you say it, eggs are something we eat very often, and it’s good for children to learn to cook eggs…whether they be scrambled, fried, boiled, or poached. Your child can actually make his own breakfast: cook the egg, make some toast, pour the juice, and Voila! You have a healthy breakfast in short order.

Whatever type of egg you want to teach your child to cook, there are a few things you need to do before you begin:

1. Get the cooking pan, utensils, pot holders, etc. ready. Assemble the ingredients for your cooking project.
2. Have your child wash their hands and put on an apron.
3. Have a recipe printed out and available to follow.
4. Talk to your child about safety issues, the stove burners, etc.

Then begin! The 3 easiest types of eggs are listed below. These are perfect for beginners.

Hard-cooked Eggs

1. Carefully place eggs in warm water in saucepan, covering them.
2. Heat until water boils.
3. Remove from heat, cover, leave in pan 15-18 minutes.
4. Remove eggs from pan, and place in cold water. After 5 min. crack eggs open to serve and eat.

Fried Eggs

1. Using a non-stick skillet, heat butter or olive oil at moderate temperature.
2. After pan is hot, crack the egg into the skillet.
3. Reducing heat to low, cook egg 3-4 minutes, then turn it over. Cook until the yolk is at the preferred hardness.
4. Carefully lift out of the skillet with a spatula, sprinkle with salt and  pepper, if desired, and serve it on a plate.

Scrambled Eggs

1.  Using a non-stick pan, spread around butter or olive oil.
2. Break into bowl: 2 eggs, 2 TBSP. milk, 1/8 tsp. salt.
3. Beat well with a fork.
4. Pour eggs into a greased skillet.
5. Cook slowly over low heat, stirring gently, turning eggs as they thicken. When cooked through, remove from pan and serve.

After your young cook becomes proficient at cooking these basic types of eggs, they can enjoy learning to make omelets and frittatas, which are more complicated, requiring more skill, but very delicious! Have an egg-citing time in the kitchen!