have your cake

Sometimes you find a great recipe you can’t wait to try. And sometimes (often times) it doesn’t work out as expected.

My garbage disposal gets a lot of action. Those glossy promises and good intentions don’t always pan out. And when they don’t it’s down the drain!

I was reading Cook’s Illustrated Summer Entertaining. Their freshly cut fish burgers caught my eye. I especially appreciate how the writer explained the pitfalls of the finned burger and strategies to steer clear of them.

I wondered exactly how the diced fresh salmon was going to stick together once on the grill but I dutifully followed the recipe. Everything was ready for my four-hour chilled salmon burgers.

When I went to flip them with my oiled spatula they crumbled like a house of cards. Meticulously I turned each morsel that hadn’t fallen through the grate. It wasn’t pretty but seemed somewhat salvageable. I put on the buns.

Returning to the kitchen for a clean plate Jeopardy was on. Now that I’m on the estrogen patch I get very excited when I get an answer right. Each short-term memory retrieval is a monumental achievement. Soon I found myself shouting my answers to Alex Trebek. Just as they were going to announce the daily double I remembered the buns.

They were a sad sight but might survive triage. The salmon looked more like a grilled tartar than its original intent. I took the buns into the kitchen and cut away the overly crisp areas. The result was actually exceptional. A crisp Kaiser boat with a soft hull. The perfect container for my grilled salmon cubes. It wasn’t pretty or as expected but it actually tasted great.

Served up with a quick slaw and caprese salad with avocado.

Knowing that this evening’s meal might be precarious I hedged my bets and picked up a big slice of DiSalvo’s Deli chocolate cake. A finish like that can make anyone forget what might have gone wrong.