Week 5 Redux - The Sloppiest Joes Ever

With Wes's teeth now firmly back to 6 year-old normal (meaning a big gap in the front) it was time to return to our normal schedule.  That meant that our delayed attempt at homemade Sloppy Joes was back on!

First we started with a quick and simple cole slaw.  Pre-shredded cabbage went in a big mixing bowl with a couple of large spoonfuls of mayo.  A shot of apple cider vinegar, milk, and a squeeze of lemon juice went on top.  Add a dash of salt and a teaspoon of sugar and we were set.  Wes mixed everything up with a big spoon and after 3 big "tastes" he declared success. 

I, of course had to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this one and added a palm-full of fennel seeds.  Sounded like a good idea at the time but big mistake.  The fennel seed was too strong (I might try ground fennel another time).  I spent the rest of our prep time trying to pick them out the seeds one at a time...

On to the Joes.  We started with one yellow onion, one red pepper and a couple stalks of celery or as Wes now knows it by: the Holy Trinity (I only feel slightly guilty that he knows three diced veggies together as a the Holy Trinity but doesn't know what the actual Holy Trinity is; that's another post some day...)  On the exciting side, Wes is getting much better with his knife skills.  He broke down the celery almost by himself and he's really starting to get how to curl his fingers under on his off-hand to avoid cutting his finger tips off.

While Wes sauted all the veg I prepped the sauce; it's funny that six weeks in I'm already comfortable with him at the stove without having to hover.  The sauce was straight forward.  One can of tomato sauce, half a bottle of ketchup-style chili sauce, worcestershire sauce (hilarious watching Wes try to pronounce from the bottle!), a little djoin mustard, a little apple cider vinegar, and a splash of water to thin it out.

After Wes browned the ground beef for about five minutes, we added the sauce over the top.  The sauce simmered for about 20 minutes or so until the whole mess was fit to be spooned on to the buns.  Wes toasted the buns in our toaster oven and set the table while we were waiting.

The Sloppy Joes were a big hit!  A little tangy, a little sweet, and a little salty all at once.  The fresh vegetables had a much better consistency than what you normally get out of the can.

We added pickle chips and crinkle cut potato chips to round out the meal.

And after, we ended the meal with chocolate ice cream and brownie sundaes!  Two happy kiddos and a belated successful dinner (excluding my fennel nightmare at least!)

Next week, my cheater fish tacos!

Celebrating our 500th vistor!

Woohoo.  We've crossed the 500 visitor mark.  Thanks to everyone who has read the site and even more thanks to those that have re-posted the link.  Remember to add comments or vote on any of the posts.  Thanks!

Kitchen Ninja Q&A Time!

Welcome to my new favorite time of the week.  It's time to "Ask a Kitchen Ninja in Training"!  Without further ado, let's get to it.

Reader Auntie Quincey asks:

"I heard that mac and cheese is on the eventual menu so that question was answered... I want to know about the culinary skills. Wes, what's your favorite part about cooking? I know you can't do EVERYTHING just yet (working with big knives, cooking with oil, etc.) but what are you looking forward to the most?"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Hmmm."  Long pause for effect.  "Hmmm.  I do not have a favorite.  I like to do everything.  My favorite thing so far is using the knife to cut celery."

 The Kitchen Ninja's favorite blade is a 4" Mac paring knife.  It's light-weight but has a good size handle and a rounded tip.

Reader benjamom writes:

"You could do "diners, drive-ins and dives" but with kids?"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"Yeah!  I would love to have a show like that but with kids.  I would, um, let's see, I would eat Mexican food and pasta.  Uh, I would eat Sloppy Joes.  I want to move on to the next question."

Alrightly then.


 

Next question comes from reader Dan who writes:

"I wanna know, when is the flambè episode gonna air? Also, please do a recipe from Sandra Lee's cookbook as a way to show Wes what NOT to do! =-)"

The Kitchen Ninja responds:

"I don't even know what that means.  I don't know what anything from the sentence means."  After Kitchen Mom helps explain flambe, the Kitchen Ninja adds "I don't want to do fire.  It looks dangerous.  Actually yes I do want to do it.  No wait, I really don't want to do it.  I think I want to go to bed."


Okay buddy, but hold on for one last question.



Reader Grammie asks:


"Way to go, Wes!!! You guys are rockin'.....and this is so much fun for us to read! I love the Ninja character your daddy made! I am definitely going to buy a shirt and a cup so I can think of you every day while having my cup of tea....:)"

Okay not technically a question but a great plug for our on-line shop! http://www.cafepress.com/CookingwithWes


Okay, that's all for this week and the Kitchen Ninja is off to bed.  Tune in Sunday when we take another swing at Sloppy Joes.

Week 5 - DNP: Coach's Decision

  

So bad news.  Wes took a tumble going up the stairs.  His previously loose tooth is now dangling and he cut his gums up pretty good.  He's off to the dentist first thing tomorrow morning (and quite excited about not having to go to school!  He's hoping the dentist says to stay home for a week; more likely he'll be back for lunch.)  He's been a good sport, but no chance that spicy Sloppy Joes were going to work this week.

We punted and fell back to comfort food.  Wes got his normal penne pasta with butter and cheese.  He was quite pleased.

He did get some cooking in for mom and me though!

Check back next week when we should be back as good as new!

What's on the menu?

Coming soon...Sloppy Joes!

Chef Wes has decided that this week's Sunday supper will be home-made Sloppy Joes (none of that canned stuff for us).  And I thought we'd do a simple cole slaw to go with it.

If you have any tips, tricks or recipes for our Sloppy Joes and Cole Slaw, post them below.

Tune in tomorrow to see how it goes!

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!