Loosemeat sandwich. This variation calls for mixing ground beef with five tablespoons of sriracha. Then you add one egg, half an onion, three garlic gloves, and an eighth-tablespoon of soy sauce, stirring it all together and cooking it all at once. I served it with corn tortillas instead of hamburger buns, which I can recommend. It is hard to give flavor to ground beef and the sriracha does not change the taste exactly, but it does change the texture.

The recipe comes from The Mad Feast by Matthew Gavin Frank, a lovely book my brother gave me for Christmas. According to Frank, it is the official dish of Iowa. I grew up in Iowa knowing that it was served at Maid-Rite (the loosemeat sandwich, that is, not the modern sriracha version), but I think I’ve only been to the restaurant about once. Except that when I think about it, ground meat is the comfort food to which I return again and again, and it’s still the type of protein I’m most comfortable cooking and experimenting with. How many times have I made Swedish meatballs, or lamb patties with ratatouille, or for a quick meal just tossed some beef together with onions and whatever seasoning I can find?

To continue with the recipe, which the author took from a place called Ross’ restaurant (in Bettendorf, apparently), you’re supposed to top the ground beef mixture with bacon-caramelized onions and a blue cheese sauce made with sour cream, buttermilk, mayonnaise, and sriracha, and then finish the whole thing with tomatoes and a sunny-side-up egg. I didn’t try all that, and it’s probably quite good. But it might be a little too crazy.

(Photo: Iowa, winter 2009.)

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