Housewarming ('Descent' Backpost) (Part 3)

Posted on Wed Aug 2nd, 2023 @ 4:15am by Ensign Lynette Bishop 'Highlander' & Captain Elizabeth F. "Liz" Beurling

1,430 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Starship Graveyard
Location: Miyafuji/Bishop quarters
Timeline: After 'Housewarming ('Descent' Backpost) (Part 2)

Previously, on Star Trek: Tokyo

"Next time the brothers have a cookout, I'm inviting you to it..." Liz muttered, walking over to supervise. "It depends on how cheesy and gooey the person wants the burger; I personally prefer only one slice of cheese, but I have put two on when I was the grill girl at our cookouts. And put the cheese on once the burger's close to being done. That way it doesn't fall off and burn onto the pan while being cooked."

"Right, Lynette nodded, "then what's say we do... 4 slices of pepper jack? this recipe's for 4 burgers, so that would be one slice for each."

Yoshika watched on from beside Lynette. "This is very different from the food I'm used to..." she commented. "It doesn't seem very healthy."

And now, the continuation:

"That's because it ain't healthy." Liz remarked bluntly. "Bikers usually live on a diet of red meat. If it's not burgers, it's barbeque ribs, or some other meat product. Not to say I don't eat my greens, though. We could have a nice Caesar salad to go with this if you want some ruffage?"

"Well, I could go half-and-half," Lynette proposed. "Make just two burgers with half the ingredients, and then a salad for Yoshika and myself?"

"I'll still try one," Yoshika protested.

It was decided, then, that Lynette would proceed with the burgers as planned, but still make some Caesar salad as a fallback in case Yoshika didn't like it. This decision therefore necessitated the additional procurement of a large head of romaine lettuce; a cup of shredded Parmesean cheese; a pack of croutons (unfortunately, Lynette did not have the time to be making the croutons herself- that required at least a couple days' planning in advance, and she already had her work cut out for her); 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise; 2 teaspoons of Grey Poupon; 2 large garlic cloves; 1/4 cup of fresh, squeezed lemon juice; a half teaspoon of salt; an equal portion of freshly ground black pepper; and 1 cup of extra light olive oil (she very narrowly ordered extra virgin olive oil from the replicator, before Yoshika quickly pointed out that there was a difference).

"Looks like I have my work cut out for me tonight..." Lynette sighed as she stared at all the ingredients she would need for this meal, which almost took up the entire counter space.

Yoshika smirked a little. This recipe seemed complicated, but she was confident Lynette could pull it off.

Lynette decided to start off with the burgers, as Liz was their guest and she had kept her waiting long enough. The first step in the process was heating the olive oil in a frying pan; once she'd gotten that up to a simmer, she chopped up the onions (no easy task in and of itself, given her eyes were stinging something awful once that was all said and done) and added them to the pan. After a good five or so minutes, the onions were of a nice, golden-y palette, so Lynette turned off the stove and set the onions aside for the time being.

Procuring herself a large mixing bowl, Lynette then proceeded to combine the beef mince with the herbs and the egg, with the onions and some seasoning added in for good measure. using her hands, she proceeded to shape the mixture into 4 patties.

"Hmm... That's weird;" Liz commented. "When I heard the recipe included onions, I figured you'd be sautéing the burgers in them, not adding them into the burgers a la White Castle."

"W-was I supposed to? Lynette stammered nervously. "I'm so sorry, I should've asked-!"

"Don't worry about it, kid." Liz responded. "Just goes to show we have different methods of making burgers."

Yoshika quietly peeked over Lynettes shoulder at what she was doing. She wasn't used to frying things in oil. She found the whole process fascinating. She also seemed a little curious watching Lynette cook with other utensils other than the cooking chopsticks that Yoshika uses.

Next came the process of actually cooking the burger meat, so Lynette proceeded to hook up the griddle and let the patties simmer for about 5 minutes; after which, she flipped them over, added a slice of pepper jack to each of them at Liz's behest, and let them simmer for 5 minutes more. While that was going on, she proceeded to slice the white rolls in half and lightly toasted them in a toaster; she probably should've been a little concerned about the number of countertop devices she was using (certainly didn't want to blow a fuse while they were having guests over), but by some miracle, the process went mercifully uninterrupted. Once the burgers were finally done cooking, she laid each patty with the cheese facing up on the bottom half of the roll, lightly dressed it with some lettuce and tomatoes, and topped it off with

"Dinner is served," she proclaimed, laying the tray of burgers out on the dining room table. "Eat as much or as little as you like, we can always replicate some food storage containers for you to take back to your quarters; Yoshika, the salad will be ready in just a moment."

Liz grabbed one of the burgers and began chowing down. The taste was certainly... Different than the burgers she was used to making. Heck, normally, she didn't bother making the patties and just fried up some pre-shaped ones.

"You know, if you two ever decide to take a trip to Canada, I'll go ahead and show you a proper Canadian cookout." Liz said with food in her mouth. "Though, word of advice, if you do decide to visit, try and plan your visit in the summertime. In the winter, the grill will be under 2 or 3 feet of snow."

Yoshika took one of the burger and held it up as if examining it. She took a little bit into it. The taste was... delicious! She soon began to eat it quicker. "So...Good..." she said through muffled bites.

---

While the two of them were evidently enjoying their burgers (and might not have even needed a side dish), Lynette had still replicated all the ingredients for a Caesar salad, and was hard pressed to have it all go to waste. Well, technically, it wouldn't have, as she could just put the ingredients back in the replicator and it would've recycled them, but it still seemed like such a terrible waste, for all the trouble she'd gone to in order to generate them in the first place. So, she pressed on and began making the salad, starting with the homemade Caesar dressing.

Taking an electric food processor, she started by mixing the mayo, Dijon, garlic cloves, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper into the bowl. After processing the mixture until it was smooth and well-blended, she then proceeded to pour in a cup of olive oil, and processed it again until it was of a thick, creamy texture. Once that was done, she sprinkled in some Parmesan and gave the processor about 5 to 6 more pulses.

With that out of the way, she could finally move on to the salad itself: taking a large mixing bowl, she proceeded to combine the lettuce, Parmesan, croutons, and dressing; she gave the mixture a few light tosses to make sure the lettuce was evenly coated in the dressing, and she was done. It was hardly rocket science, but at the end of the day, a salad was a salad; Lynette didn't have to be a 5-star chef or anything like that, she just wanted to make food that was good.

"And here's the Caesar salad," she announced, moving the bowl over to the table before taking her seat. "Feel free to dig in."

Liz eagerly shoveled some Caesar salad onto her plate. She didn't need to be asked twice to have a salad. As the familiar taste of the Caesar salad met Liz's taste buds, she simply gave Lynette a thumbsup of approval, as she didn't really need to say anything: Caesar salad was one of the easiest dishes to prepare, with very little ways to screw it up.

Yoshika held her hands together. "Itadakimasu," she said before picking up a pair of chopsticks and helping herself.

Posting by

Petty Officer 1st Class Yoshika Miyafuji
Nurse

Captain Elizabeth F. "Liz" Beurling
Marine Vice Commander

Ensign Lynette Bishop
Fighter Pilot

 

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