NOTES ON OUR RECIPES Dear Parents We hope you find the following recipes useful and are happy to help with any questions you may have. Happy cooking! 1) Quantities- the following recipes are designed to feed approximately 80 small children (from babies to preschoolers) Therefore you will need to divide the quantities to fit your own family size. You may want to make larger batches and freeze some dishes. 2) Slow cooking- a worthwhile investment is a slow cooker which can be left on for many hours and tenderises the meat so that it falls apart. This is particularly important for young children who can find it too daunting to chew on hard lumps of meat. 3) Provenance- do try to buy the very best quality meat, vegetables etc. We always use organic and this may seem prohibitively expensive. However, when mixed with the high quality (and relatively inexpensive) protein found in the organic pulses we use - this becomes more affordable. There is a list of our suppliers on the menu we provide. We highly recommend them. 4) Dried Pulses- always follow the packet instructions if you are using dried chickpeas/pulses etc. As uncooked/soaked beans/pulses/chickpeas can be a hazard. We soak our dried pulses overnight before cooking them but you can, for your convenience, buy tinned ready soaked pulses/beans/chickpeas etc. Red split lentil do not need soaking and cook down to thicken sauces/soups etc. The children hardly notice them, they are very convenient and packed with high quality protein. 5) Salt & Sugar- we keep the use of these to an absolute minimum because young children don t need either of these ingredients in any quantity. In order to make our dishes as tasty as possible without the use of these ingredients we use Organic Swiss Vegetable Bouillon cubes (Low salt and Vegan) as well as plentiful mixed herbs, Garlic, onions, Worcester sauce etc. Do remember that adults and older children/teens will probably need salt and pepper to add to these dishes at the table themselves as they may well taste a little bland for more mature tastebuds! 6) Allergens. All recipes have a key to Allergens as follows- List of 14 allergens Please note that lower case code and no underline will be used for allergens which no children are currently recorded as having at Tall Trees GL - Cereals containing gluten, namely: wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats CR - Crustaceans for example prawns, crabs, lobster, crayfish E - Eggs F - Fish P - Peanuts S- Soybeans M- Milk (including lactose) N - Nuts; namely almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia C- Celery (including celeriac) M - Mustard SE- Sesame SD - Sulphur dioxide/sulphites, where added and at a level above 10mg/kg or 10mg/L in the finished product. This can be used as a preservative in dried fruit L - Lupin, which includes lupin seeds and flour and can be found in types of bread, pastries and pasta MO - Molluscs like, mussels, whelks, oysters, snails and squid *MT Meat (although not an allergen, some children do not eat meat)
Dish Name- Fresh organic homemade soup, chunky mulligatawny Feeds approximately 80 young children Brown rice 1kg Essentials Carrots 2kg Riverford Sweet potatoes 800g Riverford Dessert apples 8 Riverford Passata 1 tin Essentials Mango chutney 150g Essentials Cinnamon 2 tbs Essentials Mild curry powder 1 tbs Essentials Caramelise onions, apples and celery with oil Cook rice using 2:1 method Blend veg etc until smooth Add rice and bring back to the boil
Dish Name- Fresh organic homemade soup, Herby leek and potato soup Feeds approximately 80 young children. Potatoes 2kg Riverford Sweet potatoes 1kg Riverford Leeks 1kg Riverford Caramelise onions and celery with oil
Dish Name- Fresh organic homemade soup, Quinoa and Kale Feeds approximately 80 young children Seasonal Vegetables 1kg Essentials Kale 800g Riverford Carrots 500g Riverford Quinoa 500g Essentials Chickpeas (dried) 500g Essentials Passata 1 tin Essentials Caramelise onions, apples and celery with oil Cook quinoa using 2:1 method, bring to boil and simmer until tender Add quinoa and bring back to the boil
Dish Name- Fresh organic homemade soup, minestrone Feeds approximately 80 young children. Wholewheat spaghetti GL 1kg Essentials Seasonal vegetables 1kg Riverford Passata 1 tin Essentials Worcester sauce 2 tbs Essentials Tomato puree 2 tbs Essentials Caramelise onions and celery with oil Simmer cooked vegetables until tender Break the spaghetti into small lengths around 1 inch long and cook for approximately 20 minutes (see cooking instructions) Add Spaghetti and bring back to the boil
Dish Name- Fresh organic homemade soup, carrot and coriander Feeds approximately 80 young children. Carrots 2kg Riverford Sweet potatoes 1kg Riverford Coriander 2 tbs Essentials Caramelise onions and celery with oil
Dish Name- Fresh organic homemade soup, curried lentil, parsnip and apple Feeds approximately 80 young children Lentils L 1kg Essentials Parsnip 1kg Riverford Sweet potatoes 800g Riverford Dessert apples 8 Riverford Mango chutney 150g Essentials Mild curry powder 1 tbs Essentials Caramelise onions, apples and celery with oil Simmer until lentils are cooked Add lentils and bring back to the boil