Not a red-letter day on the cooking front here today. I don't mind gloppy, ugly somethings as long they taste good, but tonight's tuna casserole just wasn't the thing. The cat was happy because he got the juice from the tuna, so if you ask him, tonight's dinner was a hit.

I am blessed to be married to a man of few words who eats whatever is put in front of him. He is the opposite of my dad, who yelled and cussed a lot. He ate what my mom served for dinner, but that was because she already knew what he would eat. He refused to eat store-bought bread, so she baked 30 loaves at a time and froze them. In the summer when it was too hot to bake during the day, she made bread at night, setting the timer to wake her up for the next step.

When she was dying of cancer considerable thought and energy went into figuring out how my dad was going to survive on his own, having to eat store bread. Turned out he did fine for many years to come: he ate a fried hamburger and a baked potato every night, All-Bran for breakfast, and an apple for lunch. No bread.

Here is a recipe from Pierre Franey writing for the New York Times. It's a simple recipe that takes longer to read than it takes to make the dish.

Bitoks a la Russe (Hamburgers with sour cream)

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons Cognac
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon butter

Shape the meat into four compact patties, but don't knead it. Simply divide it into 4 portions and shape it, pressing between the hands. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter, and when hot, add the meat. Cook about 3 minutes to a side or longer if you want your meat well-done. Remove the patties to a warm plate and pour the fat from the skillet. To the skillet, add 1 teaspoon butter and saute the shallot briefly. Stir in the Cognac and cook briefly. Stir in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper. Heat thoroughly. Strain through a fine sieve into a saucepan. Reheat and swirl in the last tablespoon butter. Serve with the bitoks.

If you don't have Cognac, I think you could use some sherry. (but not cooking sherry)