What's Cooking in Pei's Kitchen

In the interest of recovering some of my drastic website audience losses, I will make an effort to describe some of the things I've been cooking lately. Note: there's nothing terribly exciting, so it's going to be more like a few ideas for quick and easy home cooked meals.

Basil Burgers
-1 onion, chopped
-1 pound ground beef
-handful basil leaves, chopped
-salt
-pepper
-vermouth (would have used Worchestershire, but ran out and needed some moisture in the burgers)

I mixed all this together and kept it covered in the fridge. When I wanted a burger, I made a patty, cooked it on my cast iron skillet, and ate it with a slice of cheese, a handful of greens, and some ketchup and mustard. All sandwiched in an English muffin, for lack of hamburger buns. Cheap, tasty, and the basil and vermouth make it kind of special without too much effort.

Chilled Asparagus Soup
-1 bunch asparagus, tough ends removed and cut into 1/2 inch sections
-1 onion, diced
-1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
-salt
-pepper
Sautee onions until soft, then add asparagus. Sautee everything until just cooked through, about five minutes. Feel free to cover the pot a little and steam the asparagus if you're lazy. The resulting soup won't be as refined, but it'll still be good. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, then simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes or until asparagus is soft all the way through but not yet mushy. Cool a little, then puree in blender in batches. Make sure you blend until very smoooth. Chill and serve. If you're craving something richer, stir in some heavy cream or creme fraiche and/or a tablespoon of butter while the soup's warm. This soup is, of course, great hot as well, but in this weather who wants piping hot soup? I, for one, am looking forward to all kinds of chilled soups in the coming months. And green goddess salad dressing!

Applemint Cocktail
Inspired by the Apple Bomb at Rye Bar in San Francisco, I mixed the following and served over ice:
-three muddled mint leaves
-one shot calvados (applejack brandy would also work)
-two shots good applejuice (please, not Treetop. Use Odwalla or Naked if you can't get fresh)
-topped off with ginger ale

Pan-Fried Catfish with Guacamole
Self-explanatory, but oh so good! Salt and pepper one filet, sear over medium high heat until golden on each side (about five minutes on the first side, less on the second; look for a good half inch of the edges to have turned white and the edges to turn up and be crisp before you try to flip the fish). Guacamole is:
-two ripe avocadoes
-half a yellow onion, diced. The onion must be fresh or it will taste bitter
-one jalepeno, finely chopped
-one tomato, seeded and diced
-one handful cilantro leaves, chopped coarsley
-juice of a quarter lime, or half a lime if it's a bit dry
-half a cucumber, peeled, seeded, pureed, and drained. I know it sounds weird, but it really lightens the texture of guacamole. It's sort of like adding a lot of tomatillos to make salsa verde instead of guacamole. In fact, now that that occured to me, I might use tomatillo in the future.
-salt

Haagen-Daaz Ice Cream
I know, I've been too lazy to make my own. But the warm weather does have me contemplating espresso granita, lemon sorbet, lemonade, berry sorbets, and other chilly delights.