New Feature - Ask the Kitchen Ninja

As a new feature this week, Wes and I thought that we'd answer some reader comments/questions in a feature that we'd like to call "Ask the Kitchen Ninja". (full apologies to the folks at askaninja.com)

Question 1 comes from Aunt Angela who writes:  " Love this!!! So which Trader Joe's sauce do you like?"

 The Kitchen Ninja responds:


"Hmmm.  I don't know any of them.  Well, I can't really describe it.  I don't really know any of the sauces.  It's the one that's in the pantry."


Parker added (in a whisper):


"It comes from the grocery store."


Hope that helps Aunt Angela!


Question 2 comes from Lisa in Connecticut who writes:  "Love it!  Can't wait to see the cook books and TV shows."  (okay technically not a question, but this is Week 1).

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Hmmm.  I think I would like to have a TV show and cook books because I would be very happy.  My TV show would be about how to cook pasta very good."

So, Food Network talent scouts, if you're reading, Wes is ready to cut a deal!

Our final question of the week comes from Lynn from parts unknown who asks:  "I just read the blog.  They are creating much more than dinner together.  Going by the first three weeks entries, they will be able to publish a cookbook...'52 Ways to Make Pasta'!"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Whoa.  I think that would be really awesome and I think I'll be famous when I make a cookbook. 

I could eat pasta every week because I'm usually hungry."



So that's all for this week.  Keep your reader questions and comments coming.  Post them as comments on this page or on our Facebook page.  Remember, we're here for you...and the pasta.

Week 4 Part Deux - Tacos for Everyone

Wes's second favorite food is tacos (yes he ranks his favorites habitually like a character from a Nick Hornby novel; one night he rattled off his hierarchy of best friends).  So with enough pasta dishes behind us, it was time to move on to tacos.

More specifically, Wes loves what we have always called White-Boy Tacos.  White-Boy Tacos is a term coined by my good friend Brandon's mother.  Abby used to have all the kids over to her house and she would stand and fry tortillas for the tacos for easily an hour.  We would have contests to see who could eat the most tacos in one sitting (our friend Jake still holds the record I believe with 14).  My mom made the same and she used to try to fry the tortillas to order at the table which never worked because she couldn't possibly keep up with my brother Rob and me. 

So what make a taco a White-Boy Taco?  It starts with a corn tortilla fried golden brown in hot oil. In goes ground beef, cheese, tomato, onion, sour cream optionally, and absolutely nothing that in any way resembles something you'd actually see in Mexico.  No spicy, no hot, and definitely no mystery meat.  Hot sauce can be added; our preferred is Duck Sauce (El Pato).

Problem is though, tacos are not exactly kid friendly preparation.  Frying the shells was definitely out.  I struggle with cutting tomatoes on my own.  And Wes and hot onions don't go well (he hides his eyes so they won't burn).  That did leave grating cheese which went okay.

The big "cooking" came at the table in the form of taco assembly.  And Wes definitely excelled in the table prep.  4 tacos later Wes was a happy camper.

I didn't really feel like same-old tacos tonight though.  A few months back I got a new Rick Bayless cookbook and I had been dying to try out some of the recipes.  I'm a huge Rick Bayless fan and since we had a 3rd adult for dinner (a definite rarity) I figured I would bust out tacos two-ways.  So on top of White-Boy style, we made chorizo and potato filling.

First we roasted a poblano pepper on the gas cook top.  First time for me and it was fun burning the living heck out of it.  Then we cooked a couple of peeled and diced red potatoes in the microwave on high for 4 minutes.  Chorizo went into the skillet to cook, then replaced with onion (both Spanish and a red).  Then the poblano and a diced roasted red pepper.  The whole mess went back in for 5 minutes and a crusty chorizo hash came together (it's actually substantially the same as the chicken hash recipe I stole from Truman Capote's book and which will show up in a future week).

This came together with a simple guacamole that Parker and Mom knocked out (2 avocados, juice of a lime, 1 minced garlic clove, pinch of salt, a handful of cilantro and absolutely no sour cream).  For these tacos we actually steamed the corn tortillas for 4 minutes on medium in the microwave wrapped in a damp tea towel and inside an open plastic bag; they came out tasting freshly made.  Just tortilla, hash, and a dollop of guacamole.  The filling was smokey and contrasted perfectly against the cold avocado.  Heaven.

Not to be out done, Parker also requested something different so she got a cheese quesadilla.  Thank goodness that Grammie was still here to help with dishes because I was pooped.  Dinner was a success and everyone laid around completely stuffed after, though Jake's record was definitely safe tonight.

One month down!

Week 4, Part 1 of 2! Wes Goes Solo!

Two dinners this week!  Since I worked from home on Friday, Wes and I decided to cook both Saturday and Sunday.

Mom and I went to Whole Foods to do some shopping as an extravagance.   $200 later we had half a shopping cart of food.  (Have you ever notice that Whole Foods shopping carts are smaller too?  It's like furniture used for staging a model home.  Some how the smaller cart makes you feel less guilty at how much everything costs there.  Evil, evil store but man everything looks soooo good there.)  While wandering the aisles, I tried to come up with something for dinner tonight that Wes could make almost entirely by himself.  In the produce section it hit me: Caprese Salad.

Wes washed all the produce, I sliced the tomatoes, and he did a chiffonade of basil.  Wes salted the tomatoes, drizzled olive oil and the basil.  And then the best part.

Wes got to take balls of fresh mozzarella and smash them.  He really got into it, using a pastry cutter to render the cheese into flat globs.  Then he ripped the cheese into bits and scattered it over the salad.  Pepper was optional at the table out of respect for Mom and Grammie and their pepper allergy.

Next we moved to the main course.  Jacque Pepin's perfect omelete.  Tony Bourdain says that every man should know how to make an omelet, so I figured we should knock that out early in the project.  6 eggs cracked in a bowl (with most of the shell not getting in the bowl) and whipped up with milk and a handful of chives.  I can't do justice to explain the cooking process, so if you're interested here's a link to how I learned.  And yes, I used a fork on a non-stick pan but come on, it's not like you dig in and try to take the coating off.

As another side we sauted some fresh brown button mushrooms in brown butter.  Wes missed this part because he had to go take care a neighbor's dog.  It's okay though because it was as exciting as watching a pan full of mushrooms cook in a quarter stick of butter.  Shake the pan once or twice to turn the mushrooms (but not too much or you don't get that great browning).

We sat down with a nice bottle of wine (at least for me and Mom) and best of all:  Wes loved everything we made!  He gobbled up the salad and the omelet and he went back for seconds and thirds on the mushrooms.  All in all, quite the success.

Tomorrow night:  White-Boy Tacos!

Week 3 - Meatballs for Grammie

As our third week rolled around, Wes was still riding the high from our prior week success. With his grandma in town, he asked if we could make the same meatballs again. He felt the pressure and wanted to go with something that he knew. Plus he wanted to touch more raw meat.

We followed the same exact process, but Wes was more adventurous. He diced most of the vegetables and really got into working the sauté. Plus, I felt more comfortable with him with the knife and actually let him do some of the dice on his own.

Dinner was a success and Grammie was impressed.

Week 2 - Wes Touches Raw Meat!

So as the second week rolled around, I asked Wes what he wanted to make. He said pasta again. Big surprise there.

I explained to him that we needed to branch out a little. I asked him if there was anything he wanted to try. He thought. And he thought. And he thought. Then he smiled a giggled a little and said that he wanted to touch raw meat. As budding-serial-killer visions ran through my head, I decided to make the best of it and asked if he'd want to make meatballs. He agreed and we were off to the grocery store.

My meatballs aren't very traditional. But hey, there's no Italian blood in this house. First carrots and celery were diced and dumped in a pan to sauté. Wes got to dice and to stir in the pan so he was stoked. Next came shallot and once everything was cooked, it went into a big bowl to cool. And we were off to play Xbox while we waited.

Into the bowl of cooled veg went meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal), an egg, parsley, parmesean cheese and bread crumbs. And then we got dirty! Wes got in there like a pro and banged out a dozen meatballs in no time. At first he thought the feel of the meat was weird, but he really got into it. It reminded me of him playing with Play-Doh.

We sauted the meatballs in a heavy pan (I know I should rest them in the fridge but people were starving). Then simmer in the pan with a jar of sauce. No Prago this time but instead my favorite sauce from Trader Joes. Pasta, more Parmesean and some parsley and dinner was served!

How was it? Well even Parker ate some. Mom said it was the best she'd had including from restaurants. Week 2 was definitely a success.

First Try - Practice Week

I asked Wes what he wanted to make for his first Sunday dinner, and after quite a bit of thinking he said "pasta". No surprise since that's one of the only things he actually likes to eat. So week one was spaghetti with meat sauce. Yeah, not really exciting.

Water boiled. Dry pasta got dumped in to the pot. The big challenge for Wes was calculating what time the pasta would be done by reading the box. Woo hoo!

Now the sauce was a little more fun. One pound of ground beef went into a hot pan. Salt, garlic, and dry herbs that sounded Italian all got sprinkled on to the meat. Wes got nuts with it.

Then we dumped a jar of Prego on the meat. Everything went in a big bowl and I found some parsley in a the fridge to throw on top.  Yep, it was that good.

But it tasted good. Food made it to the table. People were fed. No one got burned or bleed. No one got sick. High fives all around.