I was invited to watch a cookery demonstration at the Miele showroom in London by the lovely TV chef, Silvana Franco . Silvana was using the steam oven and prepared a number of dishes that were suitable for children (and weaning babies). The beauty of the steam oven is that more of the food’s nutrients are retained during cooking. In addition to this – and rather surprisingly – is the fact that there seems to be no transference of tastes in the foods cooked together in the steamer. This means that you can cook your main meal and dessert at the same time, thus reducing time spent in the kitchen; something that is always a winner for me! One of the dishes that Silvana prepared was vanilla poached pears; a dish that is incredibly easy to prepare and delicious served warm or chilled. Below, I have included a recipe. Vanilla poached pears Ingredients (serves 4 young children): 2 ripe pears, cored and cut into quarters or smaller pieces 5 tablespoons of pressed apple juice Half a vanilla ...

I was invited to watch a cookery demonstration at the Miele showroom in London by the lovely TV chef Silvana Franco . Silvana was using the steam oven and prepared a number of dishes that were suitable for children (and weaning babies). The beauty of the steam oven is that you keep much more of the nutrients in the food. The other thing that surprised me was that there seems to be no transference of tastes in the foods cooked together in the steamer, so you can cook your main meal and dessert at the same time, cutting down on time spent in the kitchen. Always a winner for me! Here is a recipe for butternut risotto. Steamed risotto is so simple to make. Simply put all the ingredients together, cover and then steam. Remember that children under the age of 5 need more fat in their diets than adults, so don't worry about using butter and cheese. The guide below is for cooking in a steam oven, but you can adjust the timing for a regular oven. Butternut risotto recipe (Serves 4 young c...