The Family Meal: Meal 1 - Caesar Salad, Cheeseburger & Potato Chips, Santiago Cake

This menu is about as easy as it gets. It's practically already made. You just eat it. I never thought that a cookbook by Chef Adria would have a recipe like buy-a-hamburger-patty-and-cook-it, but sure enough, it does. And you know what? Sometimes we need that. Sometimes we need a quick, hearty, comforting, easy dinner. Because life is already hard enough. Especially when that life involves never having enough time to vacuum and grocery shopping 10 minutes before the store closes. Oh, and being complete devastated when you miss your morning train by 20 seconds. I needed a darn hamburger for dinner.

I decided not to make Chef Adria's hamburger patty recipe since I don't really have random slices of white bread laying around the house. Instead I got some cowboy burger patties, which I am led to believe have bacon, parsley, and Andouille seasoning in them. The romaine lettuce came out of the co-op crate, and pretty much everything else came from Central Market.

This is the first time I've used anchovies. Yes, those disgusting little fishes that you grow up hearing that people put on their pizzas. Their pizzas! Blech. I'd heard that you can't really taste them once they're whipped into the dressing, so I went ahead and trusted the all-knowing Chef Adria. So good. Creamy, rich, salty, and perfect for a bowl of fresh lettuce. And it's so easy, it's almost embarrassing. Not sure why I would need to buy a bottle ever again.

These hamburgers are addictive. Bacon? Parsley? I prefer to think they have crack in them, because they're amazing. I even got out my super special Zojirushi indoor grill so I could make some sear marks. Hey, it's January. Even in Texas, this isn't grill outside weather. With a nice sesame seed bun, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and onion, this is as good as it gets. Oh, and those chips in the picture? Orgasmic. They come from Target, oddly enough, and they are honey barbecue rib potato chips. And they taste like barbecue ribs. Not just barbecue. The ribs, too.

So, almond cake. This wasn't very interesting, even though I added the optional port. It's just...chewy almond cake. With powdered sugar. I'm starting to wonder if Spaniards know what dessert is. If the chocolate mousse in meal 30 and the almond soup in meal 23 aren't mind-blowing, I think I'll have my answer.