FEBRUARY 26TH, 2010
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For twelve weeks from January into April, Growing Chefs is pairing its classic curriculum of cooking and horticulture with The Garden School, in Jackson Heights, Queens. This past week, we prepared two of our favorite wintertime recipes–kale chips and stained-glass potato chips. Kale chips are a perfect after-school snack: not only is kale farm-market-friendly as a seasonal food, it’s also easy for kids to tear and prepare the leaves into chip-sized pieces. We mixed our own dressing of apple cider vinegar and a light dusting of salt, popped them onto a cookie tray at 375*F, and twelve minutes later, we noshed while the second recipe went into the oven. Borrowed from a Martha Stewart recipe prepared with cookie dough and candy, stained glass potato chips are easy to make and a beautiful alternative to frying. We prepped thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes on a baking sheet, lay a leaf of parsley on top, and sandwiched another thin slice of potato over it. After lightly buttering both sides, the chips were ready to bake!
As the second part of our day, we planted our first round of seeds. Earlier in the afternoon, Ms. Paula James had taken us on a walk-through of the available garden space: a gorgeous, south-facing, well-drained gravel-filled lot about 30 x 25 feet. The images of a future garden abounded! It was with that enthusiasm that we returned to the classroom to show our students how to plant Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomatoes, and some Black Russian tomato seeds, as well.
