ThinkProof Cooking^TM
Pasta Merano: Meal Guide

A. Menu

Type	Informal Meal
Food	French Toast with Taramasalata Pasta with Ham and Tomato Sauce Milkshakes
Booze	Anything but, frankly, you need to cut down and demonstrate greater maturity and self-control in your relationship to alcohol
Serves	Four diners; Eating at 7.00pm
Sources	"The Childrens' Step-by-Step Cookbook", Angela Wilkes, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1994
Note	You need a food processor/blender for this meal; can't do effective milkshakes without it

B. Ingredients Checklist

Stuff to have or buy:

*Ingredient*	*Already have*	*To buy*
Bananas (four)
Celery (one stick)
Carrot (medium; one)
Onion (medium; one)
Garlic (one clove)
Basil (fresh; three leaves [or 1tsp of dried])
Milk (ordinary; 570ml/1pt [semi-skimmed or skimmed is too watery])
Butter (30g/1oz)
Natural yoghurt (115g/4oz/4 tablespoons)
Ham (smoked & sliced; 115g/4oz)
Taramasalata (175g/6oz)
Olive oil (45ml/3 tablespoons [ordinary vegetable oil will do])
Bread (medium-sliced; four slices)
Chopped tomatoes (tinned; 600g/21oz)
Tomato puree (150g/5oz/4 tablespoons)
Pasta (little shells/ears [malloreddus, orrechhiette, lamborghini, small conchiglie]; 400g/14oz)
Honey (60ml/4 tablespoons)
Eggs (medium; two)
Ice-cream (vanilla; 120ml/8 tablespoons)
Pepper in grinder
Ice cubes (eight)

C. Pre-Preparation

None

D. Preparation

When?: Timeline minus c.1 hour (e.g. c.5pm)

How long?: Preparation takes about 15 minutes

Food Preparation

None

Timeline Preparation

Ö
	1	Get cooking implements ready:	Chopping board, knife and food grater; Large saucepan for pasta; Another large saucepan for pasta sauce plus stirrer; Glass bowl to hold chopped vegetables plus stirrer; Largish glass bowl for French toast mixture; Frying pan and two spatulas; Colander to drain pasta; Garlic press; Scissors
	2	Get serving implements ready:	Large serving plate for toast with small bowl placed on centre for taramasalata; Large serving bowl and spoon for pasta
	3	Get eating implements ready:	Small plates for French toast; Large plates for pasta course; Large glasses and straws for milkshakes; Cutlery
	4	Make sure ingredients are all to hand:	Celery; Carrot; Onion; Garlic; Oil; Chopped tomatoes; Tomato puree; Basil; Ham; Taramasalata; Eggs; Butter; Bread; Pasta; Bananas; Milk, Ice-cream; Honey; Yoghurt; Ice cubes; Pepper grinder
	5	Get changed for dinner	It's milkshakes for goodness' sake; stop being so self-important

E. Timeline Cooking^TM

Ö	*Abs*	*Rel*	*Your*
	6.00	0		Cut the top and tail from a stick of celery and a medium-sized carrot; Scrub both under running water
	6.03	+3		Peel a medium-sized onion
	6.04	+4		Grate the celery, carrot and onion finely OR Use the grating mechanism in the food processor
	6.12	+12		Peel and crush a garlic clove
	6.13	+13		Mix the four chopped/crushed vegetables together in a glass bowl
	6.15	+15		Pour 30ml (2 tablespoons) of olive oil into a large saucepan over a medium heat
	6.17	+17		Stir in the finely-chopped vegetables; Stir occasionally
	6.18	+18		Thoroughly wash the food processor unless you want onion-flavoured milkshakes
	6.22	+22		Into the saucepan, add 600g (21oz) of chopped tinned tomatoes, 150g (5oz/4 tablespoons) of tomato puree, and 150ml (¼pt) of fresh water
	6.24	+24		Stir the saucy mixture
	6.26	+26		Wash and chop three fresh basil leaves [or get 1 teaspoon of dried basil]; Add to the sauce and stir
	6.28	+28		Add a grind of pepper into the sauce
	6.30	+30		Turn down heat under sauce until it is just simmering
	6.33	+33		Put on 3 pints (1½l) fresh water to boil in a second saucepan
	6.39	+39		Spoon the taramasalata into a small bowl placed in the centre of a large serving plate
	6.41	+41		Crack two eggs into a glass bowl
	6.41	+41		Add a grind of pepper into the eggs
	6.42	+42		Beat eggs with a fork around until frothy
	6.43	+43		Place 30g (1oz) of butter and 15ml (1 tablespoon) of olive oil into a frying pan over a medium heat
	6.45	+45		Take a slice of bread and dip both sides into the egg mix to evenly coat
	6.46	+46		Fry the bread on each side until golden brown
	6.49	+49		Cut the cooked slice twice diagonally to produce four French toast triangles
	6.50	+50		Add 400g (14oz) of pasta to the boiling water
	6.51	+51		Repeat the process of dipping, cooking and slicing for a second slice of toast
	6.54	+54		Stir the pasta once to prevent sticking
	6.55	+55		Repeat the process of dipping, cooking and slicing for the third and fourth slices of toast
	7.00	+60		Serve the toast and taramasalata dip
	7.06	+66		Cut the 115g (4oz) sliced, smoked ham into small pieces
	7.08	+68		Pour pasta into a colander and let drain
	7.09	+69		Pour half the drained pasta into a large serving bowl
	7.10	+70		Pour all the pasta sauce into the serving bowl; Add the remaining pasta; Stir and serve; Sprinkle pieces of ham onto each serving and mix in
				When ready for dessert, make the milkshakes; A typical food processor/blender will handle two milkshakes at a time, as follows:
				Into the bowl/jug of a processor/blender place the following: two roughly-chopped bananas; 570 ml (1pt) milk; 60ml/four tablespoons of vanilla ice-cream; 30ml/two tablespoons of honey; 60g (2oz)/two tablespoons of natural yoghurt; four ice cubes
				Process the mixture together for around one minute; Pour into two tall glasses and serve with straws
				Repeat the process for the other two milkshakes

F. Post-Serving Notes

The Meal

As indicated by the source, this is a fairly straightforward meal for children to make or be helped to make. Milkshakes for pudding is a bit strange, but seemed to work. Initially, tried adding the ham to the sauce at +34 minutes, but it came out rather tough so changed to sprinkling on at the end.

Variations

· "Urrggh, I hate banana". Alternatives per two milkshakes instead of two bananas are: 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract; or 175g (6oz) of raspberries; or 175g (6oz) of strawberries; or 90g (3oz) of chocolate biscuits (e.g. Oreos or bourbons).