Lamb Hamburg Steak and Baba Ghanoush

Let's eat plenty of meat today. I bought some ground lamb to make hamburg steaks. When making lamb hamburgs, I don't use eggs or breadcrumbs; instead, I add herbs and spices to give it a kebab-like flavor. It looks rugged, almost like a rock. I was lured by the low price into buying something labeled "Chive and Cheese Dip," though it tastes pretty much like mayonnaise, so I added mint leaves and lemon to adjust it and ate it with the hamburg steaks. Surprisingly, my partner gave it a high rating, so all's well that ends well. And for the baba ghanoush, lamb really needs an eggplant side dish. I tried using my cast-iron grill pan, which I haven't quite mastered yet, and it was a huge success. While it can't beat charcoal grilling, it had a slightly smoky aroma, making it much closer to the baba ghanoush from a kebab shop than oven-baked versions.

I don't know what the creator of Hakushon Daimaou was thinking when they made hamburg steak his favorite food, but usually, when people in Japan say "hamburg steak," they mean beef or a beef-pork blend. However, he came out of a magic lamp (*), right? Isn't he Arabian? I found myself thinking about useless things, like how maybe what he really loves is lamb, and this is exactly the kind of hamburg steak he would enjoy.

*It wasn't a lamp! It was a jar.