Thursday, October 04, 2007

Thursday Thirteen & a Recipe

Mom's very distracted with Jasmine and all, so I have decided to lighten things up a bit with a post about her silliness. You all know she likes to cook. Mr Karate calls her kitchen "the kitchen of endless possibilities," because she can make practically anything you want with stuff that's already in it. But she says she can't do anything unless these 13 things are in her kitchen.

Thirteen things Mom -must- have in her kitchen

  1. Fresh Lemons
  2. Fresh Garlic
  3. Fresh Parsley
  4. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  5. Balsamic Vinegar
  6. Dijon Mustard
  7. Whole Black Peppercorns
  8. Kosher Salt
  9. Imported Canned Tuna in Olive Oil
  10. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
  11. Capers
  12. Fresh Parmagiano Reggiano Cheese (that's Parmesan)
  13. Eggs
Personally, I think she's crazy, because there is no BEEF on this list, but what can I say? I'm just a cat.

10:24 PM: Mom wanted to post this recipe, which uses 9 of her 13 favorite ingredients.

Tuna, Lemon and Caper Sauce

1 6 oz can tuna (chunk or solid in olive oil), drained

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup fruity olive oil

½ Teaspoon salt (but Mom doesn’t think it needs it)

Freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons capers, drained

¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Freshly grated parmesan cheese


  1. Place tuna in pasta serving bowl and break it into large bite-sized pieces. Add garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and capers and stir gently to combine. Set aside to warm to room temperature.

  2. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain pasta well and immediately add to sauce in bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and toss. Serve at once with Parmesan cheese. Pass the pepper mill. Serves 2

Recommended pasta: 4 - 6 ounces penne rigate, medium shells, rigatoni or linguine

From Joie Warner's No-Cook Pasta Sauces

(Mom says you can add some halved cherry tomatoes, and some olives, and some red pepper flakes. She says you can also add some sun-dried tomato pesto. This is the version she made when she visited the Karate Lady last weekend. She says you could add some canned white beans to any leftovers for a nice pasta salad with beans. Mr Karate makes sure there are never any leftovers.)


11 comments:

LZ said...

That is a great list and it sounds like those are some tasty staples! The LL has been making cooking a priority so she's scouting for tips every where she can find them (wheat free of course).

Kaze

Zippy, Sadie, Speedy and M'Gee said...

Hmmm, we looked all thru da pantry and fridj and we found...lemons, garlic, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, whole black peppercorns, kosher salt, crushed red pepper flakes, parmesan, romano, riccota, marscarpone, eggs and tomatoes. Mom needs to go to the store!

Anonymous said...

That sounds like a good list of stuff to have for beans. The only thing I would be interested would the the tuna, yummmm, tuna!

ASTOR CATS said...

Our mom can only think of one thing she needs for our kitchen - a cook. Yep, she is definitely challenged when it comes to working in the kitchen.

Midnite & Stray Kitty

MeezerMom said...

um, where's the HAM?

Mickey's Musings said...

Mom says anything you make from anything on that list will be great! She saw that nice dinner you made at Roxy's place.

I would like the Imported toona.Sounds fancier than what Mom gets.And hers has water.Yuck!!!

Unknown said...

The tuna is the best even though it is in oil. The Lady likes it like that, but I do not. I bet your momma has some really good recipes! Share, share, share!

michico*Adan*Lego-小芥*阿丹*樂高 said...

I think this is great~!!!!

Milton said...

But if ya gets tuna in oil where is the tuna juice?
Tuna ain't no good unless ya gots juice ta share wif the kitty.
---Beezer

Anonymous said...

Love the list of ingredients in the pantry, but where's the wine???

And I wish I lived next door to you. :) I'd wear out my welcome at mealtime.

The Devil Dog said...

Mom has a neat new name, Karate Lady. Yessirreee I like that much better. Except she's still a pushover.

Roxy