Flickering Fame

One of the greatest letdowns in my life was turning 18 and admitting to myself I’d never be a child prodigy. It was a great disappointment. At the risk of being immodest, I’m a bit smarter and a bit more talented than your typical bubba, but only a bit. It’s like having a ticket with 9 of the pick-10 lottery numbers.

Within the more recent past, the last five or six years, I realized I’d never be famous, either. My desire for fame, though, was far more circumspect than my childhood dreams of prodigy. I had no desire to see my face splashed across People or to be idolized by adolescents. Rather, I wanted, as I commented to a boss once, to be known as an expert. More specifically, I wanted to be a Steve McConnell or a Grady Booch or even a James Bach. And if these names mean nothing to you, it’s because they’re computer programmers. Big fish in an exclusive and largely unknown pond.

My motives for desiring the notoriety

mentioned above were complicated and, despite my proclivity for self-examination, still partially unknown. On the other hand, my motivation for agreeing to submit to a feature story by the food-editor at the local newspaper next week is purely financial — I hope to get more clients from it.

The reporter asked for several of my favorite summer recipes. My most favorite involve things like tomatoes and peaches and melons that aren’t in season yet. But I figured something grillable would be a good idea so I decided to offer pork burgers and came up with the recipe below. These suckers are seriously good. Juicy, packed with flavor, and easy to make. I also made whole-wheat pepper and garlic buns to go with them (recipe to be posted later).

The bacon and parmesan lurk in the background with the bacon adding both depth and additional juiciness. If you like pork, you’ll love these.

Bacon & Parmesan Pork Burger

1 lb ground pork
3 strips thick-cut bacon
1 oz parmesan cheese — shredded (not grated), about 1/3 c
1/3 c chopped red onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Dice bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Mix all ingredients together (hands work best). Form into 6 patties about 1/2 inch thick and grill over medium heat for 5 minutes per side.

Technorati: Food | recipe | sandwich | burger | pork | pork burger

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