Our mighty chefs trouped in promptly after school, excited to make today’s meals – cornflake crusted chicken drumsticks with braised greens. Our class missed week 5, as the school closed last week for Election Day. Present today are Migdalia Polanco, Isaac Velez, Sandra Luna, Sophia Contreras-Taveras, and Eli Williams.

After reading over the menu and discussing our steps to prepare the food, everyone jumped to work. Isaac, as always, is anxious to chop the onions, but this week he was asked to chop garlic. He recruited Eli and Migdalia to assist him, while Sandra and Sophia went to work on preparing the greens.

Next came the highlight of the session – smashing the cornflakes! We have some power hitters in this class, so the flakes were in fine crumbs in short order. After preparing the coating mix, everyone was able to grab a drumstick and coat their own. A few chefs were surprised to find blood on the drumsticks, but Miss Chris reminded everyone that our meat originally comes from a living animal.

We gave thanks for the animals that become our food. Because the chicken was partially frozen, we hiked up the oven temperature and really relied on the meat thermometer to check for doneness. The greens were quick to prepare, but somehow, we lost all the garlic! Luckily there was a small stash of garlic powder to add, so the vegetable dish was saved.

This meal was a hit, especially the greens which were “tart, lemony, and bright in flavor”. Our mighty chefs decided that their meal was better than Chick-Fil-A, and our meal included every food group on the “My Plate” chart.