10 ounces chopped frozen mango

2 cups milk

2 tbs. fresh basil (roughly chopped)

1. Add simple syrup, mango, milk and basil to a blender.
2. Puree until thoroughly combined.
3. Serve cold.

1 tomato

½ yellow onion

2 – 3 tbs. bread crumbs

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tbs. dried parsley

1 tbs. fresh basil (rough chopped)

1 tbs. vegetable oil

1. Heat oil to medium high in a large frying pan with oven-proof handle.
2. Preheat broiler.
3. Combine all ingredients except fresh basil in a large bowl.
4. Press into pan and cook for about 4 – 5 minutes.
5. Broil for no more than 5 minutes or so, until golden brown.
6. Sprinkle with fresh basil before slicing and serving.

5 ½ ounces (approx.) soft goat cheese (cut into ¼ inch cubes)

1. Prepare brownie mix according to the instructions your brownie package.
2. Fold in goat cheese.
3. Bake according to the instructions on your brownie package.

1 lb. ground beef

4 – 6 large bread rolls

6 slices pineapple (cut into ¼ inch pieces)

1 – 2 jalapenos (chopped fine)

4 ounces cream cheese (cubed)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. soy sauce

½ – ¾ cup bread crumbs

2 tbs. olive oil

1. Preheat broiler and toast rolls.
2. Set aside.
3. Season beef with soy sauce, spices, salt and black pepper.
4. Fold in jalapeno, cream cheese, pineapple and bread crumbs.
5. Preheat oil in a large heavy frying pan over medium high to high heat.
6. Form into patties about 3 – 4 inches in diameter, imprint your thumb in the center of each patty.
7. Put patties into hot oil.
8. Do not crowd the pan.
9. Cook for about 3 – 4 minutes per side.

Zucchini Tomato Relish

1 large or 2 small zucchini (sliced very thin into half-moons)

4 shallots

½ cup crushed tomatoes

2 tsp. granulated sugar

2 tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add zucchini and cook until softened.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, shallots, and sugar and cook down until thickened, about 10 – 15 minutes.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.

Poached Eggs

4 – 6 eggs

3 tbs. distilled white vinegar

large pot of water (2/3 full)

large bowl of water and ice cubes.

1. Bring pot of water and vinegar to a boil.
2. Knock back heat to medium high.
3. Add eggs no more than 2 at a time to the pot.
4. Cook for 2 -3 minutes.
5. Place in bowl of water and ice cubes to shock, stop the cooking process.
6. Can be reheated in a hot water bath for about 1 – 2 minutes when ready to serve.

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsalted butter (cold and cubed)

¼ cup granulated sugar

3 tbs. sour cream or yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla

20 – 24 flat-bottomed tear-shaped chocolates

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease, cooking spray or line 2 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
3. Combine flour, butter and sugar using fingers or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add sour cream or yogurt and vanilla.
5. Using a spoon or an electric mixer at low speed, beat until a soft dough forms.
6. Shape pieces of dough into golf-ball sized balls.
7. Press balls into the muffin tins, making a small, shallow well, like a thumbprint into the center of each.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes until light golden brown.
9. Let cool on a baking rack for 1 minute before pressing each chocolate into each cookie ball.
10. Cool completely in muffin tin before removing and storing.

1 cup rice

1 cup frozen green peas

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ tsp. black pepper

2 tbs. olive oil

1 tbs. unsalted butter

1. Bring water and salt to boil.
2. Add rice, cover and reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Cook for about 12 – 15 minutes until water is absorbed.
4. Remove from heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

5 lbs. pork spare ribs

2 stalks celery (roughly chopped)

2 carrots (roughly chopped)

1 onion (roughly chopped)

4 – 6 cups water

1/3 cup salt

2/3 cup sugar

1. Boil the water salt and sugar in a large pot.
2. When this mixture has cooled for about 10 minutes, add the celery, carrots and onion.
3. Allow to cool completely before pouring over the ribs.
4. Brine the ribs at least overnight in the refrigerator. Can be done about 3 days ahead.
5. Drain meat from the brine before broiling.

Sauce

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbs. soy sauce

¼ cup canned crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup water

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbs. dried parsley

1 tbs. minced garlic

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. achiote powder

1 tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix all the ingredients together over low heat in a small to medium saucepan.
3. Allow to cool completely before pouring over the meat in a large baking dish.
4. Broil covered with foil for at least 30 minutes.
5. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Moms, then, can have no neat categories for what constitutes breakfast, lunch or dinner foods. And, this for me begs the question: why do we have these categories in general? These categories are somewhat culturally determined, like for example, fried eggs are found on various Vietnamese rice, meat and vegetables dishes served on dinner menus. In certain parts of China rice is primarily what’s eaten for breakfast and in Nigeria, corn-based porridge is enjoyed by some for their morning meal. In Trinidad, lunch is the largest meal of the day, much like what those in the U.S. would have at dinnertime.

I am fascinated by social constructions about what should be eaten when. Especially, when those choices stop people from choosing to eat what they want to, when they want to eat it. It’s an infringement on individual freedom to be told that you can’t have roast chicken at breakfast or an omelet for dinner. I would think that in the land of the free and the home of the brave, people would cringe at the thought of having their independence curtailed in any way. But, I have never heard anyone complain that she couldn’t buy her favorite Thai dish at breakfast from a restaurant. What I hear more, when I share with someone that I had my leftover Indian food for breakfast is,

“Yuck! How could you eat that for breakfast?”

That’s why this week I wanted to play with mealtime expectations by serving burgers for breakfast, the more traditional breakfast choice, hash browns and even a dessert. I enjoyed the meal alone before church and had more than enough for my beau and his friend who was joining him that morning. His friend was at first a bit put off by the fact that there were burgers for breakfast but when he ate them, he sang another tune. The burgers were soft, creamy, sweet and a little spicy with the pineapple, cheese and chopped jalapenos that were mixed into the ground meat. The zucchini tomato relish with the poached egg meant that there were no condiments needed in addition for the burger. The tomato and onion hash browns were the perfect accompaniment, a bit tart and tangy, the chopped, fresh tomatoes and fried onions, complementing each other and bringing out the best in the burgers. Having brownies for breakfast may seem wrong to some but adding goat cheese to them makes it more breakfast friendly to even the most discriminating, I think. Plus, washing it down with a mango herb smoothie is not only good for you but combining an herb with fruit in a blended breakfast drink, was to me a nod to taking something traditionally used with lunch and dinner, basil and putting it into a more typical breakfast ingredient – mango.

Maybe one day, we can recreate mealtime identity and change food culture with brunchinner foods that can be served at anytime of the day, without criticism for being the wrong food at the wrong time. The following menu, then, would be a step in that direction, towards self-determination and food freedom for all.

MENU

Tropical Burgers with Poached Eggs and Tomato Zucchini Relish

Tomato Onion Hash Browns

Mango Basil Smoothies

Goat Cheese Brownies

This week, my colleague in my department, had her second to last week at the agency. Her mother and best friend live in Florida and she wants them to be near by as she and her husband grow their family, having babies. So, our department had to figure out how to say farewell to her. My company often does a good job of this – having what a friend and former colleague less than affectionately calls, a “cake wake.” The culture of the organization is to celebrate a person’s moving on with a cake and an invitation to a company party to share the cake and memories about the soon-to-be gone employee. I’m not exactly certain of all the reasons why my buddy calls it a “cake wake.” If I remember correctly, I think her dislike had something to do with her feeling that the celebration was disingenuous, that sometimes an employee was leaving under a cloud of negativity so that having a celebration of this person’s tenure with the company seemed wrong to her. Even if that’s true, heck, I think the idea of formally saying goodbye, with a celebration, is as Martha Stewart might say, “a good thing.”

We didn’t have cake when my colleague left, she too, like our ex-colleague not liking the company’s tradition. But, we did have a send off for her in fact we hosted two! One was a company-wide get-together at a restaurant in Jamaica Plain, Bella Luna (I highly recommend this joint – they have this amazing peppery cocktail on their menu, Some Like it Hot and in their private party area there’s a wall-mounted extra-large version of the Connect Four board game that provided hours of fun) the other was a more intimate gathering at our boss’s home for the department plus a few others, which I catered and our boss hosted.

We had pork ribs (one of my colleague’s favorites) on the barbecue with hamburgers and store-bought sides and chips. I later paired up the leftover ribs for dinner for me and my daughter with a lightly flavored, filling easy peasie J peas and rice side dish, followed by one of my daughter’s favorite desserts: a crisp, shortbread cookie with a creamy chocolate center. As I prepared and cooked for this party, and even when I appropriated the leftovers, I reflected on what it means to say goodbye, and how much more we should memorialize such occasions with festivity, because part of human identity involves change, moving on and times of loss. For all of us, learning to do this well, better, makes us healthier as a people and improved individuals.

MENU

Broiled Pork Ribs with Sweet and Tangy Sauce

Green Peas and Rice

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup dried roses

1 lime (juice from it and cut in half)

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vodka

1 drop red food coloring

1. Bring water, sugar, salt, roses and lime (juice and halves) to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium.
3. Whisk in milk.
4. Remove from heat and add vodka and food coloring.
5. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
6. Allow to come to room temperature.
7. Place in refrigerator overnight or for at least two hours to ripen.
8. Whisk before pouring into ice cream maker, following directions for sherbet.
9. Can also be made as popsicles or ice cubes if you don’t have an ice cream maker.[1]