I have a little story. Oh don’t look at me like that! You’ll like this story. It has a happy ending. I promise it’s about food too. Okay, I also promise it's brief. Now will you keep reading?

I have this friend (‘cuz this could never happen to me). He was in the middle of preparing a special dish. Let’s say it was Salmon Tartare inspired by his buddy Dash of Stash (who is coincidentally a buddy of mine as well). And for the sake of this story let’s say he’d gotten to a certain place in the preparation of this dish. He came across that moment. You know the moment I am talking about. We have all been there.

He had spent a considerable amount of time, energy, a pretty penny getting to this moment. As he leaned over his concoction of sweet salmon beautiness, the hills and crystal blue sky in view outside his kitchen window (okay, I am editorializing here somewhat). He took in the deeply savory aroma of his creation and he put a spoonful into his mouth. This is the moment of “taste”.

But something was wrong. You could see that by the look on his face. But he is an experienced cook. He knew this was no big deal. So he did not panic. This is why the phrase “season to taste” was invented. It’s that last shining moment when the cook gets to tweak his culinary baby into its peak performance.

He began to reach for the salt, because surely “season to taste” means salt and possibly pepper. Right?

Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat.

That's right Sups! in training.

I know it's going to be a long road. But I have the discipline. I have the ability. I have the perfect motivation! Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat.

"Come on Coach, put me in..."  Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat.

I want to use my teeth, and bite into something that bites back. Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat.

My broken jaw is unwired and it is time to put it through the paces. I want to get back in shape. I want to get off the bench and back in the game.  Bite. Crunch. Chew. Repeat.

It’s Monday. Time for a little more tomato love. Of course I mean TomatoMania.

The tomato plants at my house are really picking up the pace.

Plus I went to the Hollywood Farmers Market yesterday and saw a lot of spectacular specimens. Naturally I even picked up a few.

If you have been following Sup! lately then you may know I broke my jaw and am on a liquid diet. Which has made for a week of interesting soups including: Leek and Potato, Poblano and even a dessert version, Plum Soup with Tarragon and Blackberries.

Today being a Maniac Monday I think it is high time I made another of the TomatoMania contest winning recipes. After all we are smack dab in the heart of tomato season. I have great tomatoes I picked up yesterday and even quite a few home grown tomatoes too.

But with my jaw wired shut there are limitations to what I can eat. Never fear. One of the winning recipes is a perfect choice for the season, for the weather and for my “situation”.

That’s right gazpacho. More precisely Nate and Annie’s (from House of Annie) Lazy Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber and Red Bell Pepper Garnish.

The flavors of Viet Nam speak out loud and strong in this next burger. They were indeed the jumping off point for me in building this Asian influenced burger. You knew I had to do one, right?

After my love affair with the banh mi blossomed in San Francisco recently. I immediately began planning this burger. In fact it is where the whole idea of a week of burgers began. It was an excuse to make this burger. Hey! If Spud can do it with potatoes, then this is not such a far reach for Sup!

I used pork, which was an easy choice for me. I love pig in all forms. I also added several of the classic ingredients you find in banh mi. But that is where the similarities end.

While, I could have placed this burger onto a crunchy baguette, and called it a banh mi pork burger (and I thought about that). I decided to follow another Vietnamese food tradition and wrap this burger in a big lettuce leaf.

I also tucked in a salad-like mix of traditional banh mi toppings like: carrots, daikon, and cilantro. These were simply dressed with limejuice, fish-sauce, and coriander. I also used super hot Thai bird peppers (prik chi fa) instead of jalapeno because I had them handy.

I am home! I am home! I am HOME!

I hope you noticed that Sup has been a little bit AWOL this past week. I was traveling. I wish I could say it was a vacation, but it was really mostly work stuff.

When these plans were made I had great hopes of posting from the road.  But, well… one thing led to another BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. I am great at excuses aren’t I?

In case you didn’t know. I was in San Francisco. I met The Daily Spud there too. Spud is not just a fabulous blogger, but as I can now attest, a fabulous person as well.  We had a great lunch at Zuni Café. I also met all the cool kids at FoodBuzz. Talk about a plum job!

But most importantly, I also finally experienced a proper Vietnamese banh mi (pronounced BUN-mee) sandwich. I bought one for Spud too. Which is sorta funny because we had just had a long lunch but we could not help ourselves from stopping in at Saigon Sandwiches on the way back to our hotels. There’s nothing wrong with 2 lunches is there?