Hamburgers

Eastside Road, February 1, 2010—

I ATE FOUR HAMBURGERS last year. There was also the time Lindsey made lasagne using ground beef she'd bought at the store. There may have been one or two other times when ground or minced beef found its way into lunch or dinner, but I doubt it. It's not something we often eat around here, or on the road, either. For one thing, when we do eat meat we usually eat it as a treat, and hamburger seems more like a duty. For another thing, a more significant thing, commercial ground beef always seems a little bit dubious: who really knows what's in it, or where it's been, or how or when it was ground?

But Lindsey bought ground beef the other day to make chile. (The few times I've made chile, I've used chopped beef, which seems to me less risky.) There was a little left unused, so tonight she molded it into ellipsoidal patties, since we had not hamburger but hot dog buns, and broiled them, and we spread chile sauce on them and some chopped raw onions, and they weren't bad. They were a little too lean for my taste; I almost drizzled some olive oil on mine — next time I will, just to see what happens. Green salad afterward.

Nero d'Avola