Monday, September 3, 2012.
Labor Day. Hummus Burger And Fries.
I haven't done a Food Show on Labor Day in years. But this year is different. WWL is going great guns talking about the hurricane and Entergy, so the management said I would be doing my own show today. Fair enough. I had three days off during the storm. And other people were working hard, too. Chef Andrea, for whom Labor Day is the only day of the year when he doesn't open at all, was so happy to have his power back on that he did serve lunch and dinner today.
Yeah, but this was one of those radio programs without nearly enough listeners or callers to kindle ignition. Definitely ninety-nine percent perspiration for me. But at least I have electricity!
When the Marys queried me about eating plans, I suggested we make burgers and fries, just like when we were a house of parents and kids. They loved the idea and went out to get the groceries.
Even though we don't perform this exercise often anymore, our reflexes were still sharp. I rolled out the burgers while MA pulled out her mother's ancient, plastic, Ronco Kitchen Magician. Put a potato on the chute, turn the crank. . . presto! little bistro-style fries. Blanch them in hot water a minute, then fry at 350 degrees. Eat. Too many.
I seared the hamburgers on the griddle after preheating it at the highest setting for fifteen minutes. A couple of minutes on each side, and they're beautifully crunchy on the outside, juicy in the center.
The supermarket was out of hamburger and hot dog buns, so the special trip I made to pick up these items (forgotten on the girls' run) came back with some French pistolettes. Didn't matter: neither of the Marys eat burgers with buns, and I like French bread with burgers.
The next touch was much more non-conformist. Instead of mayo or mustard or my version of Bud's Broiler's Number One sauce, I slathered the cut sides of the pistolettes with the leftover hummus I made a few days ago. While that doesn't sound quite right, I know it's good. Lamb or beef kebabs usually come with a side of hummus in the Middle Eastern places, and from that I learned what a great flavor combination this is.
Spent the remainder of the evening fudging around with the design for the New Orleans Eatbook, my restaurant guide. I've all but decided to put out another edition, for the first time in... could it possibly be twenty-two years? It could, because in the interim I was writing the restaurant sections of the Unofficial Guide to New Orleans, every two years. The last one was about a year after Katrina. Haven't heard from that publisher lately.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
