French cooking made for the petits

Hey, moms and dads, what's on the weekend eats agenda for your young ones? If U.N.-worthy negotiations and plain pasta with butter are in store, you could change the paradigm, starting with Kids Cook French (Les Enfants Cuisinent à la Francaise).

The slim collection of 30 recipes is the new, first solo cookbook from Claudine Pepin. The very girl we watched grow up on her famous father's cooking shows is now 49, an accomplished wine educator, a chef's wife, and the mother of an 11-year-old daughter.

The dishes represent the kind of simple, wholesome food she thinks children and grown-ups will enjoy together; the focus is not so much on expecting kids to turn out boeuf bourguignon on their own. Each page of text is mirrored in French on a facing page. That idea was the publisher's (and the start of a series of international culinary books for Quarry), but it took several tries before the author found a translator who daughter and father both say provided the words of a native Frenchman.

One can see Jacques Pepin's influence between the covers, most charmingly in many of the book's illustrations. Yet Claudine's view of the ways children should interact with food is more liberal than the one under which she was raised, and she makes her case in Kids Cook French in an understated, positive way.

I spoke with Pepin by phone from her home in Rhode Island recently. Edited excerpts follow.

Question. Was there stuff you wouldn't eat when you were young?

Answer. Oatmeal. Couldn't stand it; now, I like it. My mother's line was, "If you don't eat it, I'll put it on your head."

Q. Did she ever make good on that threat?

A. I did! Or so I'm told: When I was still in a high chair - at 11/2 or 2 - I put oatmeal on my head.

Q. Sum up the difference between your experience at the table and your daughter's.

A. I grew up eating head cheese and tripe. I tell her that she doesn't have to. We have talked at length, in general, about raising kids and how you feed them. You don't applaud a kid because he ate a Brussels sprout. The rule in our house is, the veg on your plate is a must, the meat is a "some," and the rest is negotiable. The clean-plate club is not for us.

Q. Your dad disagrees?

A. Yes. To him, the idea of wasting anything is bad. I'd rather have Shorey leaving two bites of food. It drives him crazy. When he grew up, there was little food. You ate out of respect. I get that. I guarantee it was a whole lot less than what you are served these days.

Q. Describe a typical weeknight meal for your family.

A. At night, my husband is at work 90 percent of the time, so Shorey and I eat together. I'll cook, she sets the table and clears the dishes. We eat a fair amount of fish. We'll have a protein and one or two vegetables and something else, like macaroni and cheese.

Q. Not from a box!

A. Yes, I have Annie's mac and cheese in a box. We have it every three or four months. Kids like it. Heck, I like it.

Q. What is your daughter's palate like?

A. Shorey eats just about anything. That said, she doesn't like sweet potatoes. And asparagus makes her shudder - yet I've seen her eat it when we're out somewhere and it's put on her plate. That has to do with respect, for the food and for those who made it. What Shorey has learned to do is season food. She's getting very good at it.

Q. That's unusual, and a really good thing.

A. She knows the way kosher salt feels in her hand, and that means she can take the appropriate amount and sprinkle it in. If I have lamb or fish out that has to be seasoned, it's practice for her. She likes to go through the spice cabinet and smell . . . and she has made her own signature spice blend, to use on meat that we're going to grill. I think it has a little too much cumin in it, but that's just me.

Q. What's your advice for developing a child's palate?

A. You say, "Two nights a week, we sit together as a family." Take one or two new things and incorporate them into what you're eating, but don't make a huge deal of it. It's just what you're having. Help the child create a list, and then ask him to choose a food from that list. And take them out to real restaurants; have them choose from the real menu - not a kids' menu. I have found that it's a good idea for a child to order two first courses, so it's not so much food. . . . You haven't asked me what I like best about Kids Cook French.

Q. What is it?

A. It's something I realized after it was published. My book will always be next to my father's on the shelf at the Library of Congress.

Makes 4 servings

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3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (each about 7 ounces), cut into 1 to 11/2 inch cubes

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons Wondra flour (or other instant flour, or you can substitute all-purpose flour)

21/2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 lemon, quartered

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1. Cut the chicken into cubes and then pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. (I cut into long strips and then into cubes. Be sure to pat the chicken dry with paper towels before you applying the salt and pepper and flour. It will saute much better.)

2. Place the seasoned chicken on a tray or large plate lined with 2 tablespoons of Wondra flour and then sprinkle the remaining flour on top and shake the tray to get the sides of the chicken.

3. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the chicken cubes, and cook in one layer, turning occasionally, for about 31/2 minutes.

4. Combine the garlic, parsley and butter in a small bowl to make a persillade. Add the persillade to the skillet with the cooked chicken and sauté for 1 minute longer, shaking the pan occasionally to coat the chicken.

5. Divide among 4 plates and serve within 20 minutes.

Note: Wondra is a "cooked" flour, it is very fine, so it doesn't get gummy when used to saute. If you can't find Wondra or another instant flour, you can substitute all-purpose flour. But just make sure to coat the chicken lightly.

Per Serving: 396 calories; 44 grams protein; 5 grams carbohydrates; no sugar; 21 grams fat; 136 milligrams cholesterol; 433 milligrams sodium; no dietary fiber.EndText

2 to 3 servings

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2 or 3 large eggs

12 ounces prewashed spinach (do not use baby spinach)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons flour

11/4 cups regular or low-fat milk

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or more as needed

1/8-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish

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1. Place the eggs (1 per serving) in a small saucepan and cover them with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn off the heat, cover the saucepan and let it sit for 15 to 17 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, stem the spinach. Position an oven rack 4 to 6 inches from the broiling element; preheat the broiler.

3. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Whisk in the flour; cook for about 2 minutes, then gradually add the milk, whisking constantly, to form a slightly thickened bechamel sauce. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg, stirring to incorporate.

4. Add the spinach to the pot; cover and cook undisturbed for 1 to 2 minutes, then stir to coat the leaves. Once the spinach has wilted a bit, uncover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring a few times and reducing the heat as needed, until the sauce becomes thick enough to hold its shape on a plate. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed. Turn off the heat.

5. Drain and peel the eggs; cut them lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange them in 1 medium-size gratin dish or 2 or 3 individual gratin dishes. Spread the spinach-bechamel mixture evenly over the eggs, making sure they are completely covered, then sprinkle lightly with the cheese.

6. Transfer to the broiler; cook just long enough to brown the surface in spots. Watch closely, as this can take only a minute or so. Serve hot. 1/21/37/81/8

Note: Serve with crusty bread for scooping.

Per serving (based on 3): 250 calories, 14 grams protein, 15 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams sugar, 15 grams fat, 215 milligrams cholesterol, 400 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber.EndText