The countdown to Anna B.’s birthday has begun. She’s turning 12 on Tuesday. Per the tradition in our house, she’ll chose the dinner. There are usually her two regulars –Lydia’s chocolate cake and raspberries with powdered sugar–but the rest of the menu varies from year to year. This year’s new entry is a Garbage Burger.

Now for a little history. Last spring, Tim grilled some flank steak. The leftover was stored in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. After sitting there uneaten for maybe five days, I decided it was time to throw it out. Into the garbage it went. The flank steak sat in its plastic bag in the garbage for about 10 to 20 minutes.

Dinner time arrived. Our refrigerator and cupboards were pretty bare–bad timing for a cleaning spree. We scrounged around. Then Tim, the master of the BOBS (Best of a Bad Situation) meal said, “I’ll make burgers,” and fished the flank steak out of the garbage, ground it up, and fried it in a pan. Anna B., unaware of its provenance, proclaimed it the best burger ever. I wouldn’t touch it.

We finally did confess to our mini version of a dumpster dive. Clearly, it didn’t dissuade her. She wants it for her birthday.

Here’s the recipe: Marinate the flank steak in soy sauce, red wine, salt, pepper, garlic, with a dash of Aleppo Pepper for a kick. Grill it to medium rare. Serve it for dinner leaving some for leftovers. Put leftovers in Ziploc baggie and store in refrigerator. Remove three to five days later and toss in the garbage. There’s some debate in our family about length of time for this step. Anna B. suggested 24 hours. I think 30 seconds to one minute is plenty.  Grind up meat with a little mayonnaise for moisture and fry it up in a pan.

Enjoy!