Gluttony on the 4th of July

My blog (and I) got a one-liner in LA Weekly's article about Writing Pad which I cater for. I guess this means I better update my blog!

I did cook over the 4th of July weekend although I don't have the photos to prove it... Suzanne Goin's Pork Burgers to be exact. And when I say pork, I mean pork. Diced bacon and mexican chorizo mixed with ground pork. The chorizo gives a kick of spice and deep flavor to the mixture while the bits of bacon run through the patty waiting for heat to hit and melt into blissful pork fat in the patty. Heavenly, I tell ya.

It's important to avoid overmixing the meat mixture or else the patty will come out tough. Toughness=very very bad, whether in burgers, meatloaf, or anything. So I usually do the minimum mixing possible, except this time my minimal methods could have used an extra toss or two. A few delicious bits of the burger fell through the grill. Read delicious as the charred grilled bits on the edge where the crunch of the thinner edge will make harmony with the juicy interior. I think a few teardrops from my face also fell through the grill.

I also made Rob's Famous Coleslaw from the same Sunday Suppers at Lucques menu with the pork burgers. Being optimistic about people's usual bbq appetite I chose the biggest red cabbage at the market bin. There is more than 1/2 of the batch still left in Boy's fridge. Poor Boy. He is doomed to eat this as he knows I hate waste. I did provide some useful recipes though - how about grilled shrimp po'boy topped with the delicious cole slaw?

For dessert I made Rebecca Charles' Blackberry Nectarine Crisp posted by The Wednesday Chef. Well I didn't make this exact recipe because I lost the printed recipe. So I had to wing it. I forgot a lot of stuff, including proportions of dry ingredients and butter for the crisp part and cinnamon. I was frigteningly off now that I check the recipe. But it was delicious layered with Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream in between spoonfuls of the fruity rustic dessert according to my tasters.

It was hot and humid this 4th but I was full of delicious food and beer and in good company - exactly what a summer weekend should be.