I saw that murderhobo glimmer in his eyes, so best I could do was to get him in an amiable mood with a crispy pork belly sandwich. And as I thought, mustard with a bit of syrup and raw onion goes really well with the whole thing.

That’s not how the song goes, is it? Doesn’t matter, can’t go wrong with tacos.

Well, I haven’t cooked pho in quite while, and that alone is pretty great. But I noticed how the short ribs I used for the soup get really nice and tender, so I pivoted to getting some more and braising them in soy sauce with some ginger, onion and star anise. Add to that the fact that I managed to get a hold of some proper corn tortillas, and you end up with some really nice short rib tacos with spicy cole slaw. Forgot the cilantro, dang.

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.