A number of years ago I lived in western Massachusetts. One Sat- urday night I craved home-cooked roast chicken. However, I had a problem: my usual butcher shop was closed and the nearby organic co-operative charged too much money for their birds. I went to the nearest supermarket and picked out a likely bird, reasonably priced from a major label, and brought it home. I roasted it. It looked great. After one bite I called out to my roommate, “It’s all yours!” She came over, also hungry and generally fond of my chicken. She took one bite, made a face and said, “It’s okay. I’m good.” We both agreed to put it in the trash and otherwise never talk about it again. Even the cats didn’t bother it. Meat is a prime source of protein and nutrition in the US. It could be deep-fried chicken in crispy bread- ing, a burger with ketchup and pickles, my Grade A Prime ribeye steak with sauteed mushrooms in a sherry reduction, or your morn- ing bacon, all smoky and crispy and worthy of your greetings and saliva- tions. Many people simply go to their local mega-mart to buy meat and wonder why the restaurant always makes it better. If you want to dine in, and do it well, it pays to know a bit about where to buy it, how to store it, and how to cook with it. The classic burger, a recipe You can cook this burger in ten minutes, including prepping the bun. Yes, you do need the salt and pepper. You will need a medium frying pan and a spatula, as well as the fol- lowing ingredients: 1 lb. 85% lean ground beef 1 Tbsp canola oil small pinch of Kosher salt and a grind or two of black pepper to taste Why 85% lean beef ? It’s the best lean to fat ratio for burgers. Turn the burner to be- tween medium and me- dium high. Separate the beef into three burgers, each no more than half an inch thick, pref- erably thinner. Put the oil in the pan and give it a minute to heat up. Place the burgers in the frying pan. Cook for two minutes, putting on the salt and pepper during this time, then flip and cook for another 1.5-2 minutes. Remove from the pan and let them sit undisturbed for about 1-2 minutes (this is called ‘resting’). Don’t wash your pan yet! If you don’t use the frying pan to grill the bun after you cook the burgers then try frying some fries or tater tots in the leftover fat. McDonald’s French fries used to be cooked in beef fat for its distinctive flavor. I like my burgers on a toasted ses- ame seed roll with ketchup, maple horseradish mustard, bread and butter pickles, caramelized onions and sauteed tomatoes vinaigrette; but I also like a simple burger with ketchup, no bun. Sometimes I put on sliced mushrooms deglazed with red wine when I want to get expan- sive. You might want melted ched- dar or swiss cheese – or why not both? Or maybe you’d like a couple of slices of bacon? People have as many ways of fix- ing up their hamburgers as they have reasons for staying up too late, so feel free to go wild. You can thank me later.