Four great dishes to whip up
This month we are cooking great standby dishes involving pasta and rice. We very much believe that the young cooks in your house should be able to cook each of these staples from scratch and cook them well.
We have used the year 13 class as they are working on unit standards which involve these items so by the time they are finished they will know several tasty dishes that they will be able to adapt as they need to.
There are a huge number of dishes online, so for those people who can cook these foods well, inspiration should be easy to find. Due to the nature of the dishes, the boys were able to sit around the table and share their work with the others in the class; this made a very positive vibe in the classroom as it would in your home.
Rice and pasta dishes are called farinaceous dishes (which means consisting of, or containing, starch). Farinaceous commodities are highly nutritious and provide energy and dietary fibre and they include starchy flours, cereals and pulses.
As all foods can affect us in different ways, it’s important to take into account the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load of a food also. While this is often overlooked, it is just as important as making sure you get enough vitamins, minerals and protein in your diet.
The Glycemic Index (GI) of a food refers to how quickly the food is broken down to glucose and enters the bloodstream, with high being over 75 and low being around 30.
A second piece of information is the Glycemic Load (GL), which refers to how much glucose enters the bloodstream. A GL of 10 is considered low and above 20 is considered high.
For example, watermelon has a GI of 80, which is high, but its Glycemic Load is only 5. So 5g glucose is quickly released into the bloodstream. Pasta has a GI of 46, which is fairly low, but its GL is 22. White rice’s GI is 61 and its GL is 29 so both on the high side. The GI of brown rice is 50 and the GL is 16. Brown rice is a better alternative. Type 2 diabetics and insulin-resistant people should eat very little of any of these products as they cause blood sugars to increase.
From a budget perspective both of these items are fairly cheap and can be used to bulk out a meal with minimal effort. Anyone leaving home for the first time will quickly see the advantage of knowing how to cook these dishes from scratch as they are cost effective compared to buying the pre-made alternatives.
For those of you who own a pasta making machine, you can make your own pasta relatively easily. I have seen machines as low in price as $30 on sale, so if you found yourself a reliable recipe and practised a bit, making and cooking pasta could become a weekend highlight for the family.
Ideally it should be used the same day you make it to maintain its freshness. As it cooks in 3-4 minutes in boiling water, you can keep it in the fridge in a wellsealed container for the next day and then all you would need to do is plunge it into boiling water for 1-2 minutes to ‘‘refresh’’ it. Fresh pasta can be frozen if sealed in plastic to exclude the air and moisture.
Special mention must be paid to Connor Yardley (y13) and Zackery Schwass (y12) who competed in the NSSCC (National Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge) in Auckland last month. They were one of 8 teams to take part in this invite-only competition featuring the winners of the other regions from around New Zealand. The boys put on a great effort and came away with a silver medal from this prestigious event. Connor was awarded a $1000.00 City and Guilds scholarship from City & Guilds to further his culinary training.
Tips for cooking pasta
Always boil in plenty of boiling salted water. Stir pasta back to the boil to keep the pieces separate. Boil dried pasta until al dente (firm to the bite). Boil fresh pasta quickly, remembering that it is already soft and cooks more quickly than dried pasta. Drain well using a colander and be mindful of the hot boiling water. The water used to cook pasta in can be used to thin any sauces that are too thick. If you are making your own pasta, using dried or making your favorite rice dish, get your family involved as the art of cooking is more than putting food in our stomachs. It enriches the soul and creates lasting memories that will be remembered long after the food has been forgotten.