Delicious & Dragons

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.

The thought whether I could emulsify brown butter into melty cheese was just an off the cuff idea, but my inner food tinkerer decided to try it out anyway. And, oh wow, this might be the most interesting melty cheese I’ve ever had. A combination of sharp cheddar, parmesan for the extra umami kick and a milder Bergbaron, with some Greek yogurt as liquid base and aforementioned brown butter, it made for some incredible cheese slices. Can’t wait to put in on a burger.

When you want to make a cheeseburger but aren’t happy with the stuff you can buy, you procure some sodium citrate and make your own melty slices where you combine whichever cheeses you like. These ones were a mix of cheddar and Bergbaron, and almost too melty. Use less liquid next time around. Hmm, I wonder if I could smuggle brown butter into the emulsion…

Made from roast chicken stock that I got from leftover chicken bits, a tare with soy sauce, ginger, onion, bonito flakes and sesame oil, served with spinach and a slightly screwed up egg. I’m not going down the ramen rabbit hole just yet, but taking a peek isn’t too bad.

When butchering a whole chicken you obviously end up with a whole bunch of bigger parts, but don’t let the small bits go to waste. Chopped up and turned into meatballs and there you go, end up with something tasty without being wasteful.

Making another batch of brown butter pecan chocolate chip cookies. Why is this the last one you ask? Because out of 6, I already ate one, and the other 4 are currently taking a roughly 300km trip in a parcel for the sheer sake of finding out how well you can deliver cookies through the mail. A little trick for baking those? Store them in the freezer and pop them directly into the oven, so they stay nice and thick and you get a great contrast of crunchy crust and chewy interior.

Sandwiches kind of fascinate me. Seemingly pedestrian food, far cry from fancy 3 star plating, but a properly good sandwich is just the same a play of attention every step of the way and careful balance of ingredients. Well, a BLT captures exactly that balance, but if I had to throw anything in the mix, a nice fried egg with a runny yolk isn’t really a bad way to go.

So, it’s officially lunar new year, and not only that, but it’s the year of the dragon. I mean, looking at the name of the blog that deserves at least some sort of post. Only that I didn’t have anything too exciting to offer on the culinary front today. This will have to suffice.