This past Christmas, I received the best gift I have ever received from my son. A Gordon Ramsay cookbook, “Quick and Delicious”. Mind you I enjoy cooking immensely however, I can honestly say I was never a fan of Mr Ramsay until this past December. Now I look forward to spending every Sunday with him. You see, the cookbook is more than a gift, it is a 24 year achievement. What makes it so special is that my son Logan bought it specifically so I can teach him how to cook. Why is this so different from any other child learning to cook? Well, Logan has Aspergers (a high functioning form of Autism) and mild cerebral palsy from a birth trauma that required cranial surgery at 2 months of age. It was a terrifying time, and doctors told us to be prepared that he may never walk or talk. Well fast forward 24 years later and he’s living on his own for the first time and asking me to teach him how to cook! I FRIGGIN LOVE GORDON RAMSAY!!!!! As Logan just moved out on his own, he still requires my guidance so I’ve been teaching him how to grocery shop from the menus and choosing easier dishes to start with.
There are many things that people take for granted. While Logan is quite capable of doing a lot of things he still struggles with simple things such as spreading butter on bread. He’s 24 now, and although he still tears the bread, he’s still trying! The first recipe he wanted to try was the quesadillas. One lesson I’m trying to teach him is how to stretch out the leftovers and also how to freeze so he can enjoy at a later date so he made the entire recipe and froze half.
After shopping for the groceries that he needed, it was time to put his knife skills to the test. After a quick refresher course, Logan was able to find a comfortable grip and away he went! To make things go easier and to ensure that we had everything we needed, everything was pre-measured and put in small bowls. Beans were drained, onions were chopped and spices were gathered.
What amazed me the most is how attentive Logan was to all of the ingredients and how patient he was. Patience has never been one of his strong suits but yet he asked questions and read the directions word for word. And of course, Logan used his best Gordon Ramsey accent the entire time, never breaking character once. Onions and garlic sweat in olive oil, ground beef crumbled, and the master chef at the helm of the spatula.
Once the beef was cooked through and drained, the spices, tomato sauce and beans were added and mixed in. The recipe called for chopped tomatoes but Logan doesn’t like the texture so we used tomato sauce instead. Next time I’m going to recommend he use tomato paste instead of sauce to make it a bit thicker.
To make quesadillas, I use my panini press so we preheated it. No need to add oil as the flour tortillas will crisp up. Little bit of cheese (make sure not to go to the edges) some of the beef mixture, then place another tortilla on the top and lower the lid of the press. I like to turn the quesadilla half way through as the grill marks crisp up the tortillas a bit.
Chef Logan proudly displays his Quesadillas! Stay tuned in the following weeks as we explore more recipes, life lessons and Logan demonstrates some of his mad skills. Thank you Mr. Ramsay!
