For the Young Ones

I have an insane number of nephews and nieces and the majority of them are always on my case about one thing or the other.

I’m talking children between the ages of seven and 12 running around every other weekend with boundless energy.

It’s like they have no ‘off’ switch, until 23h00, and even then it’s a war to switch them off. I love them to bits, don’t get me wrong, but it can be a lot.

Good thing I can dump them with their parents when I’ve had my fill of “uncle, this …” and “uncle, that … ”.

One nephew in particular loves cooking and loves spending time in the kitchen with me and so takes liberties in dictating what the family gets to eat most of the time.

I have to pull it off, though – he doesn’t seem to be too concerned about that.

I love his faith in me and the confidence he has in his job as an assistant – a role he takes very, very seriously.

I think one thing I enjoy and pride myself in is engaging young people in the kitchen at every opportunity I get.

The idea with engaging children at a tender age every time you are in the kitchen, either to cook or clean, is to help them establish the necessary social skills in their own lives.

These skills will come in handy later on, so they don’t have to struggle and rely on takeaways or other people to cook and clean for them.

They need to know it’s something they can do for themselves. Some people grew up in societies and environments that stated that specific tasks were limited to specific gender roles.

However, my mother was not of that type of thinking. Everyone would cook, clean, help with laundry, fix the car, butcher, etc.

Learning the essentials of basic home maintenance at a young age sets one up for success.

Some of us learned how to cook for the home family at tender ages; some more due to circumstances rather than by choice.

Back to my nephew: The other day he took a day off from school because of a bug and I happened to be at their house for the weekend. To him this was a blank cheque ready to be cashed, as he was “vulnerable because of the flu” – his words, not mine.

His uncle is a softie and tends to spoil him a bit. The conversation went to dinner and the menu and appetite that day apparently called for mac and cheese and fried chicken.

I asked why the menu seemed so American in nature, the answer was “TikTok made me crave it”.

I dragged him out of bed and we made it together.

He says it was one of the best days he’s had.

Simple Fried Chicken with Mac and Cheese

Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

250g elbow macaroni (or penne)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tbsp flour

2 cups milk (warm)

2 cups shredded cheddar/mozzarella cheese

½ teaspoon mustard (optional)

Salt & black pepper

Method:

• Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
• In a pot, melt butter, then stir in flour to form a paste.
• Slowly whisk in warm milk, stirring until thickened (about three to four minutes).
• Stir in cheese until smooth.
• Mix in the pasta. Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve.

Bonus tip: Sprinkle extra cheese and breadcrumbs on top, bake at 200°C for 10 minutes for a crusty finish.

Crispy Pan-Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs or drumsticks

1 cup flour

6 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne (optional)

Salt & pepper

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar/lemon juice, let sit 10 mins)

Oil for frying

Method:

• Marinate your chicken in buttermilk (30 minutes minimum, overnight if possible).
• Mix flour with paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
• Dip chicken in seasoned flour (press well so coating sticks).
• Heat oil in a deep pan (about 1.5cm deep) to medium-high.
• Fry chicken until golden brown and crisp, about seven to eight minutes per side (depends on thickness).
• Drain on rack and not paper towels to avoid soggy skin.

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