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 ...

panko crumb-hammered fresh pork 'pizza' ......an epic failure, with too much garlic salt for my liking,...having forgotten how 'salty' the Harissa was.....the after-taste still lingers on the middle taste buds of my now-thirsty tongue...abated, somewhat, by a wash-down with grapefruit-infused sparkling water, fortunately.....the tenderizing hammer having just driven the overly-salty blend of flavors into the pig flesh......Now, to make a rather sweet green tomato, mashed avocado & smoked pimento sauce and some spinach pasta, boiled in unsalted water......to modify the chemistry of this concoction,.....

 

l Listening, moments ago, to a PBS program on 'farming animals for human consumption', I'm thinking of returning to a Vegetarian Diet.....but...it's 'Damned if you do...damned if you don't'....because the most desired 'replacement' is Desserts......Perhaps, this is just a rationalization for wanting 'sweets'......taking a Lemon Meringue Pie from the fridge, I was so unnerved by the radio program that I dropped the pie to the floor....but, hungry, since I'd given the neighbor's dog the chicken that I was going to have for dinner...I scooped the mess of a pie onto a plate and am eating that, instead of the butchered 6 week-old chicken that had been caged with thousands of others, given growth hormones to fatten it up...quickly...before being beheaded and slaughtered.........knowing that the gelatin that was utilized in making the lemon curd was probably derived from powdered bovine hooves.......

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...... HOW ABOUT A COLD SOUP....IF THE A/C IS NOT ON THE BLINK... OR...ANOTHER 'COLD' SOUP  WITH CHILLED SWEET PICKLES... A TRIBUTE TO Michael Condry's Mr. Rogers-ish   'MR. PICKLES' ... and....I'm not 'Kidding' !  

ENTRE or DESSERT?  I'd rather have 'cake' than 'cuttlefish'.....  

A 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........

  salted and boiled cassava, chick pea & pasta shells salad, dolmas, turnip & collard greens with viscous prelibato red wine vinegar and crispy-fried polenta with oil-cured tomatoes and coriander paste.......and lots of fresh water, since this meal will stimulate Thirst.......

 

 

SOAKED IN BUTTERMILK OVERNIGHT, IN THE FRIDGE; THEN, ROLLED IN CORN GRITS, DRIED ROSEMARY,  OLD BAY SEASONING,  DRIED WHITE ONIONS, THYME AND GARLIC....AND IRON SKILLET-COOKED IN HOT GRAPE SEED OIL UNTIL 'MEDIUM RARE', UNDER A PAN SCREEN TO PREVENT SPATTERING.......THEN SERVED WITH RIPE TOMATO SLICES ON A WOODEN BOARD......WITH SOME DRIBBLES OF SPICY TOMATO KETCHUP.....

COOKED IN HIGHLY INDONESIAN-FLAVORED STOCK, CRUSHED GARLIC, AGAVE SYRUP, RED PEPPERS, GRATED ONIONS, SMOKED PAPRIKA AND OLD BAY SEASONING......THEN DRIZZLED WITH THICK PRELIBATO BALSAMIC RED WINE VINEGAR.........SERVED WITH FEATHER-LIGHT IRON-PAN BAKED CORN STICKS........A FAVORITE MEAL....SINCE CHILDHOOD.......   ALTHOUGH, IN CHILDHOOD, WE ONLY HAD GROCERY STORE WHITE VINEGAR, ALAS..... .

before adding vegetable stock, tomato paste and whatever comes to mind after a 'taste testing'.....My Conceptual Undertaking was, originally, a Vegan Brunswick Stew.....without pork, beef or chicken....or tofu.....Hmm.....we'll see how this one 'works out'.....    

 

         

 

LAST EVENING, A FRIEND GAVE ME A CLUSTER OF TOMATOES.....ALREADY, TODAY....PUT TO DELICIOUS USAGE!

 

another batch of chocolate/walnut truffles, rolled in Guittard Cocoa, then sprinkled with walnut and almond meal.....seated upon a bed of prune slivers, marinated overnight in orange liquor......served in a ramekin, shallow enough to 'lick clean' ....... oddly, the truffle whetted my appetite for some toasted sesame tuna.....which, when served 'just seared' but still raw, is the 'fish' equivalent of chocolate truffle!