Indeed, a touch of Dijon goes nicely with the sandwich. I still need to dial in the final broil to get the crispy crackling without burning it.

Told you I was in a pork phase. So, over the past years, after a number of explosive mishaps and subsequent oven cleanings under cursed breath, I learnt a trick how you get the skin to bubble up and get crispy without running the danger of steam induced detonations. First you roast the pork belly low and slow (and I mean slow), then you prick the skin all over so fat and liquid can escape, then you let the skin side dry in the fridge for a day or so, and then all you need is a final blast of broiler heat to get meltingly tender pork belly with a crispy skin, no mess. Touch of crème fraîche at the bottom, cole slaw with jalapeno hot sauce on top. Hm, now that I think about it a hint of mustard would probably be great as well.

In two variations, I guess I’m entering a pork phase. The first version isn’t too surprising with cole slaw and fries, the second feels a bit sacrilegious for using gnocchi. But hey, it’s potato dumplings and those clearly go well with the rest. So come at me, Italians.

Very improvised, but a dish with lot of contrasts. On the one hand you have the fried pork strips and noodles that give it some crunch and crisp, on the other hand you have slow roasted broccoli with a sweet and sour soy glaze that provides tender and saucy texture and depth, and then the szechuan pepper that gives it some spicy floral notes for an interesting twist. If only all improv came out this good.

A what now? Well, the market was out of regular brioche buns and I had some leftover spinach curry, so I decided to try something different. After all, chili cheeseburgers exist, so it’s not like people haven’t thought about topping a burger with thick, stewy sauces. The result? Good, not revolutionary. It’s not like the flavor combination unlocks some incredible new dimension of burgers. But maybe it’s just because I haven’t tweaked the elements just right, who knows.

No idea what the Italian name for that would be, but rumors say Italian cuisine is built on a lot of mythmaking and supposed traditions that aren’t all that old actually, so I’ll just go ahead and enjoy this, regardless of categorization. Red bell peppers, broiled until black, peeled and chopped up, made into a sauce with onions and a hint of bacon, generously spiced with chili and topped with some peynir and parmesan.

I was gifted some mushrooms, so what better to do with it than affront some Italians and give Spaghetti Carbonara a bit of a twist? Hint, it works. It’s chanterelles in a creamy savory sauce after all.

No matter the circumstance, all the previous posts, buns I’ve toasted, onions I’ve diced, patties I have smashed into roaring hot cast iron until the vaporized beef fat clings to your clothes like avant-garde grill perfume, they have prepared me for this to build another iteration of a classic cheeseburger and serve it to whoever would walk through the door. Show up expectedly, get a burger. Show up unexpectedly, get a burger. Nothing shall stop me.

Bottom to top: Butter toasted bun, thousand island dressing with mustard, lettuce, beef patty, homemade melty cheese made from Gouda, Emmentaler, Cheddar and Parmesan with extra brown butter, caramelized onions, butter toasted bun

Science says it, eat cheese, live longer (no seriously: https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/cheese-happy-aging/). While I’m happy to generally oblige, I don’t know what got into me to try for a cheese soufflé on a weekday. I guess it’s because I had a leftover egg white. Was it doable? Kinda. Did it deflate? A little. Was it good? Oh yes. It is a surprisingly light, kinda custardy interior and this nicely browned crust, both intensely cheesy. Health benefits unlocked.

3 burgers with melty brown butter cheese. Can’t complain.