Last week, we got the youngest of the younguns into the kitchen. This week, we'll discuss getting your teenager out from in front of the Gamecube and into the cooking process.

A generation or two ago, it was common for teenagers, especially girls, to take an active role in preparing the evening meal. Besides being good, basic culinary training, this ensured that treasured family recipes got passed down properly. The one thing that was often sorely lacking was kitchen time for the male teens in the household.

Boys, if they got any training at all, were taught the barest basics. This was referred to as "bachelor cooking," and it was designed to keep the young men from starving to death before they could be safely married and take their rightful place in suburbia.

The weather change in social attitudes and societal structure that rampaged through American culture in the '70s and '80s laid waste to that school of thought. No longer did young women go off to college to get their "Mrs." degree, and no longer did young men feel compelled to have a mate all picked out before age 23. The trouble was, the parents of this new breed of young adults had not expected the changes, and thus there were gaping holes in the preparation given.

Now, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. Most parents don't spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen, much less the kids. Kitchen time, for the average teen, is limited to the amount of time it takes to slap food into the microwave and retrieve it when the bell dings. Convenience food covers everything from pizza to pierogies, and the three- or four-item homecooked dinner has become something available only at cafeteria-style restaurants.

I'm no Luddite. I'm not trying to suggest that we monkeywrench all our technology and slip back in time a half-century ... well, not every day. Once a week wouldn't be such a bad idea, though.

Here's the proposal: once a week, get the kids in the kitchen to help make a meal. And when I say "make," I don't mean "remove from box, pierce plastic cover to vent," sort of cooking. Has your teen ever snapped a bean? Peeled an onion? Trimmed a steak? Cut up a chicken? I'm willing to bet the answer to at least two of those is no.

I know scheduling is going to be tight, but take a look at everyone's schedules and work out a night when all can be together. If your kids have something scheduled every evening of the week, consider that they might be a little "overplanned." Or, you could even make plans for a weekend evening or brunch. The important thing is that the time is set aside and devoted to cooking and the attendant chatter and togetherness.

One recipe that is tasty and easy to prepare, yet covers several of the basic kitchen skills is Swiss steak. This version cooks in the oven for an hour, which will give you and your rookie cooks plenty of time to fix the side dishes.

Ingredients

1 ½ lb. boneless beef round steak
3 tbsp. flour
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into rings
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 c. tomato sauce (for Texas style, use barbecue sauce)
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
½ tsp. dried thyme leaves
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Cut meat into four serving-size pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then dust well with flour on both sides. Pound with tenderizing hammer on both sides.

In a heavy skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown meat on both sides and transfer to a 2-quart oven-safe casserole.

In the same skillet, combine celery, carrot, onion, tomatoes, tomato or barbecue sauce and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Pour tomato mixture over round steak, making sure to get all the yummy brown bits off the bottom of the skillet.

Bake for 1 hour. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve over rice.

YIELD: 4 servings

You'll notice that "Serve over rice." at the end there. Rice cooking is one of those bits of kitchen voodoo that seems to elude a lot of folks, but it's really not all that hard to do if you stick to the proper procedure.

First, the basics: for what I call "Average American Rice," you'll want a 2-1 ratio of water to long-grain white rice. You'll need a good, heavy 2-quart saucepan (smaller for little batches). You'll also need a timer of some sort. For rice cooking, I prefer my dollar-store "chicken" timer. For some reason, an operation as primitive as cooking rice seems to clash with the use of digital timers. It's the voodoo.

For the above recipe, you'll want four servings of rice. Depending on how big and hungry your diners are, that can vary between a half-cup and a full cup of rice per person. Your yield will be roughly equivalent to the amount of water plus the amount of rice. Thus if you use two cups of water and one cup of rice, you'll end up with roughly three cups of cooked product.

I also add ½ tsp. of kosher salt per cup of water. Adding salt while the rice is cooking will result in a much tastier end product.

In your heavy saucepan, bring the salted water to a full, rolling boil. Dump the rice in all at once, stir it just to loosen the grains (no more than two rounds of the pan), cover the pan and reduce heat to medium-low.

Then LEAVE THE PAN ALONE for 25 minutes. Don't open it. Don't jiggle it. Avoid looking at it, if possible. After 25 minutes, remove the pan from the heat. Keep covered until ready to serve (up to 20 minutes). Fluff with fork before serving.

You will now have fluffy, perfectly cooked white rice. This is a creation that, for one reason or another, has mystified thousands of cooks for years. The procedure is not at all complicated, but it's important that the steps be undertaken faithfully.

VARIATION: One VERY easy way to add flavor in advance is to prepare the rice with something other than straight water, such as beef or chicken stock. If using stock, omit the salt, as it's already in there.

Now, we've got tomatoes and other veggies in the Swiss steak, but something green would truly round out the meal. A dish of sautèed green beans will also give you a chance to instruct your teen cook in the fine art of cleaning fresh green beans.

This recipe will also give you a chance to show your student the easy way to peel garlic: whap the clove with the flat of the knife, then trim off the ends and the peel will practically fall off.

Get the ingredients for this one ready while the steak is cooking, then cook it while the dish is in its 10-minute standing period.

Sautéed Green Beans

1 ½ lb. green beans, cleaned and trimmed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ c. water

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Increase heat to high and add all other ingredients. Cook quickly until tender, stirring constantly.

This recipe works REALLY well in a wok, if you want to add some variety to your cooking containers and get the kids into tossing the beans and really stir-frying them.

So, let's look at what we've learned. Courtesy of the Swiss steak, we've learned about cutting meat, cleaning and chopping vegetables, browning meat and assembling a casserole. We've learned how to cook rice. And, finally, we've learned how to prepare and cook fresh green beans, one of the most nutrient-laden vegetables in the market.

And, best of all, the results are edible! Learning's not so boring when you get to eat the results.

Do you have any "kid cooking" tips or ideas? Got a comment? Question? Recipe to share? Drop me a line anytime!

Cooking With Kids, Part I