Cooking And Eating....“Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es”

  On National Hamburger Day......I watched a cooking competition, in which the 'Guy Fieri Congestive Heart Failure Challenge' was to make the tastiest 'burger'.......[health considerations were, obviously, not a consideration.......] The 'winning' recipe: to 1lb of ground baby lamb, a lb. of ground baby veal and a lb. of pork sausage......add 2 whole eggs, a cup of crushed/fried bacon, a cup of avocado and a cup of mayonnaise.....shape some patties.....then dip the patties in beaten egg yolk and roll them in fried panko crumbs.....pan cook these in some more bacon grease, then cover them with thick slabs of cheese, melted over the burgers under a broiler......and finally, sandwich these between bun halves that have been grilled in butter, then toasted........lick the grease that runs down your arms, while holding this mass of dead animal flesh and molten, churned utter excretion.....best served over a cotton towel, with a liter of Coke.........to shorten ...

[1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed 3/4 cup bulgur wheat 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1 large onion, chopped 2/3 cup apple cider (non-alcoholic) 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats 1 red bell pepper, finely diced 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves] served with a spicy red curry sauce. I rolled out some refrigerated Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough triangles, placed the leftover celebration roast and veggies on the triangles, rolled them him and baked them to a golden brown and served these with cilantro and parsley chimichurri made with hot red chilis........or a  spicy red curry sauce...

Syrian Karoun/Ackawi Cheese with Terreno tomato and chopped basil/cilantro & ground dehydrated orange peppers.....a 'switch-up' from Mozzarella and Uglis.....a matter of tastes/need for variety= (in the fortunate kitchen) innovation and change......and a diversification from habitual chow......

very, very late supper....in bed.....@ 4 am........and, to think...'growing up'.....dining was part of 'clockwork'....b'fast @ 7, lunch @11:30-1, dinner @ 7-8.......and 'supper' at midnight......Lunch was once the 'big meal'......and Supper was a bowl of cereal with fruit......to supplement the 'then' lighter dinners.......Now, the only 'regular' feature of my eating habits is a cup of java, soon after awakening.......No 'dinner at 8' generally leads to awakening from slumber, a bit ravenous, and devouring some of the many 'leftovers' in the fridge........

curried chicken with dates, walnuts, crushed garlic, lemon zest, raisins and fig chutney, rolled in Pita bread....brushed with walnut oil, and grilled... then topped with sliced, vine-ripened Costoluto Fiorentino tomatoes and chopped marjoram.....washed down with pomegranate juice.......

cooking some Yucca with garlic, peppers and prunes......to be served with spicy black beans, boiled in the broth from the pot that the cassava was boiled in ......and some sticky short-grain rice..... 

broccoli and carrot slaw with walnuts, dried cranberries, white raisins, ginger and Prelibato white balsamic vinegar....around a center of mixed wild rices .....topped with garam masala and spicy, curried chicken tenderloins loaded with herbes de Provence and a mix of ground white grits and corn starch, rolled pickled beet slices, marinated in tangerine and lime juices, cinnamon and cloves.....move over, Iron Chef....I'm coming for you !

well...so much for a day of grains and dried fruit......how about some beef strips, marinated in my special 'sauce', 'breaded' with French herbs & yellow corn meal, then cooked in truffle oil with thinly sliced truffles, and served with a spicy cabbage and carrot slaw....... ["SPECIAL SAUCE" = Worcestershire sauce, chervil, chopped garlic, red wine, coarse-ground peppercorns, smoked paprika, sea salt and pumice-ground dried red peppers..... hammered into the cow flesh...]