A kinda sorta Valentine's day post

Hello loyal Cast Iron Therapy followers, hope that your plans for Valentine's day are going well if you have them, and if you don't... well I'm right there with you! To heck with "Single people be bummed out day," I dub this Monday, "Single people go eat well, perhaps with friends, while at home to spite the service industry day." Perhaps that's a bit of a mouthful. Insert obvious joke here.

I haven't whipped up anything special just yet but here are a few notions from the past that come to mind. I've one selection that may do better for the romantic night in, and two more less romantically inclined who crave immediate unhealthy satisfaction.

First for the lovers, an oven baked fish, accompanied by roasted broccoli and orange rice - a pretty good combination. You have your protein, veg and starch, in a nice light ensemble of flavor.There is some wild salmon, but perhaps a more sustainable option would be fitting as well, not only as a good thing to do for our fisheries but to be a better symbol for your relationship.

And if you don't care for fish, well too bad, that's all I got for you lovers. You have significant others so cry to them about it. Now for the rest of us!

The Juicy Lucy is for many the best form of cheeseburger there is, and I for one would be hard pressed to argue with them. A hand formed patty filled with American cheese for that wonderful melty quality that can only be achieved by a processed cheese food. Sure, I love a high quality "not American" cheese as much as anyone else, but I will stand firm along with many in my conviction that American cheese is the way to go for an ideal hamburger. I stand with good company, as esteemed chef and owner of wd~50 Wylie Dufresne, in My Last Supper declares exactly the same thing. Granted he would prepare it a bit differently. 


I went into this dish with just a general idea, when I really should have looked up a recipe. I did form two patties and stuff it with a few good hunks of government issue American cheese (one of the better "brands" in my honest reckoning). And I think it turned out damn well for a first try, as you can see from how meltingly gooey it looks. And I'm not sure why the picture is angled that way either.

And finally no derisive Valentine's day post is complete without phallic imagery, so here is the Mexican hot dog, a hot dog wrapped in bacon and grilled (or fried) until the bacon adheres to the encased meat. They're also known as Sonoran-style hot dog. I was a bit too engrossed in putting these on a bun and eating it to take more pictures of them actually on the bun with all the fixings. 

I'm not really too sure what else to say about these things, other than the fact that they seem to be a pure distillation of everything savory I loved in my childhood. Bacon, hot dogs. Throw it on a bun with your favorite toppings, maybe some extra peppers and queso to contrast with the smoky saltiness of the meats and you've got yourself one delicious six to twelve inches of heaven. Anyway, this is a plate that hearkens back to simpler times when your biggest concern was when Transformers was on next.

And hey, I was single when I was 6 years old too! Have a great one foodies.