(Heather and Liz-with-an-S. Photo Socotra.)

Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : And you know what they call a… a… a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
Jules <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn’t know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : Then what do they call it?
Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : They call it a Royale with cheese.
Jules <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : Well, a Big Mac’s a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac.
Jules <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000237/?ref_=tt_trv_qu> : I dunno, I didn’t go into Burger King.

– Pulp Fiction, a film by Quentin Tarantino

So, we may get smacked with another Polar Vortex or something. I managed to forget about it yesterday- a day so glorious that even the drive back into the capital from Culpeper could not spoil it.

Neither could ConeGate (why is a traffic jam bigger news than the use of the IRS to punish political opponents?) or the failure of the young folks to sign up to give money to the Feds for something they don’t want or think they need.

I don’t know about you, but when I was 24 I would have taken umbrage at someone stealing my beer money, but I guess we will see how it goes.

I confess I am uneasy about the possibility that the failure of healthy people to buy insurance they don’t want will result in a demand to throw people like me- or other government employees- into the health exchanges. I can remain philosophical until then, right? Why am I not freaking about the fact that some assholes just stole 70 million credit card numbers, including mine? I wonder what they have?

(Tinkerbelle was at her best.)

Anyway, what is a simple citizen to do? I went to Willow to celebrate being back in the belly of the beast, and was rewarded with an outstanding turn-out. It was Chanteuse Mary’s birthday and Old Jim had his distemper shot- or Camus the dog did, it was not clear which. Brenna was on the civilian side of the bar, and Liz-with-an-S was back for a guest appearance, looking quite the professional with excellent prospects of burrowing into the Government as a paying gig. Tinkerbelle had an unusual Monday shift, and life was generally good.

We stayed a little longer than usual in a display of New Year’s exuberance that things would get better in 2014, and you can never tell.

I turned my attention to the daily mail, not the one in the UK, but the myriad of issues and pleadings in the electronic queue.

There were the usual issues, beaten to death, but one came from my vacation pal Marlow, who is in Paree, and which could use a new nickname. He apparently was in my favorite Arrondissement, the 10th. He wrote:

“Vic,
We just ate two if these mini- burgers each along with BA glass of wine and sides of salad and fries. They were exquisite.

http://www.aucomptoirdebrice.com/au-menu-du-comptoir/le-burger-du-comptoir/

A bientot!- Marlow”

I went to the link and got lost in the magic of Paris. I could feel the unease about the Great Issues of the Day melting away like Tracey O’Grady’s duck confite in a hot skillet. Chef Brice Morvent is a smart nutrition kind of chef, and I was captivated by the way he posted his recipe for the sliders. Apparently he was literally born in the kitchen, the passion for his art being conveyed to him by his father, who forced a love of the profession in him.

(Brice, in the PR photo from Counter Brice, his fresh food restaurant).

Brice was featured in the television cooking competition “TOP CHEF”, and he did well enough to strike out on his own and realize his dream with the opening of “Counter Brice.” In November 2011, he won the “price of food encouragement” awarded by the Mayor of Paris. In 2012, he started a campaign to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables by becoming sponsor of the “Week Fresh Attitude”, organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Affairs and of the land.

I love the French, you know? Anyway, he is very much in the tradition of the localvores down in Culpeper, and here is the way he does a fresh slider.

Brice vous explique la marche à suivre pour réaliser un hamburger entièrement « fait maison ».

Temps de préparation : 1 h
Ingrédients : Pour 6 personnes
Pour la pâte :
250 g de farine
20 cl de lait tiède
30 g de levure
50 g de beurre pommade
5 g de sel
5 g de sucre
Pour la garniture :
Moutarde aux condiments
cornichon
ciboulette
persil
salade
oignon
oeuf
Comté
boeuf
Huile de colza
Ustensiles :
Batteur
Recette :
Verser la farine dans un batteur
Ajouter un jaune d’œuf
Diluer la levure dans le lait tiède
Ajouter le mélange dans le batteur, puis le sel et le sucre
Ajouter le beurre pommade
Une fois la pâte bien pétrie, faire six boules égales que l’on aplatit
Les badigeonner d’un mélange jaune d’œuf et lait
Ajouter du sésame
Laisser pousser la pâte pendant une heure en la couvrant avec un linge propre
Faire chauffer de l’huile de colza, ajouter les oignons émincés à feu doux
Pour la sauce, mettre dans un saladier un jaune d’œuf, une cuillère à soupe de moutarde, les cornichons hachés, la ciboulette et le persil
Monter la sauce avec un peu d’huile de colza pour lier les ingrédients
Mélanger avec la salade émincée
Au bout d’une heure, enfourner les pains à 180° pendant dix minutes
Cuire le steak haché
Ajouter une tranche de fromage dessus
Couper le pain en deux
Garnir avec la sauce sur un pain
Ajouter du ketchup sur l’autre et les oignons confits
Dresser

Vive la France!

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303