tomorrow: the experiment

I can't see a way around this: a cook normally ought to taste whatever he's making before he serves it to anyone. As a policy, I normally don't serve anything to others that I'm not willing to eat myself. A man has to have standards.

So tomorrow, I'm going to make a batch of keto buns—both burger buns and dog buns—slap some meat into them, and try them out. Costco was selling some white English cheddar, so I had to grab a block of that to use for the burgers. Tomorrow's experiment will take me over the Newcastle Diet's caloric limit, but as I said, I can't see a way around the problem of testing out the buns. If the buns turn out to be shit, then I won't be using them on July 9. If they turn out to be a success, though, I'll make another batch so there's enough bread for the luncheon.

I need to whip up a keto barbecue sauce as well; regular BBQ sauce is loaded with sugar. Most mustards are OK on keto; they're generally not sugary. Ketchup, like BBQ sauce, is problematic, so in a lot of the keto videos I've watched, I see people using sugar-free ketchups. I might make a keto ketchup, too, and use that to create something like a Shack Sauce (which is simply a variant of a Mississippi Comeback Sauce).

This morning, before the walk, I went back to the B&C Market and bought some little tins that I'll be using to make the hot-dog buns, which I plan to do in a top-split style, like with lobster rolls. I'll be bringing standard hot-dog trimmings on Friday, but I'm hoping the troops will make chili dogs. To that end, I'll be making something close to a Coney Island-style, bean-free hot-dog chili; I've watched a few videos on how to make it, and it doesn't seem hard. That reminds me: I need to visit the SSG Food Mart and buy either some tomato paste or some passata (tomato purée). So—plenty to do.

Stay tuned. There will be photos.