Breakfast Sandwich - Burrito-style

"Why don't you make Heuvos Fagiole and I'll take the morning off?" suggests Raul.

"No problem," says Drew. "I'll make it spicier this time. I don't really feel like pasta but maybe I'll get corn chips and put them on a bed of them. Or torilla chips."

"We don't have processed chips in the house," notes Raul.

"Have you ever had chili in a corn chip bag?" asks Drew while Raul heads to the kitchen. "I had it several times at that Cowgirl restaurant in New York. It was delicious but probably not at all good for you or practical. I could go and get tortillas and . . ." Meanwhile Raul is working the mini-food processor.  He blends up some of the fagolie sauce to create a paste and then fries it into refried beans Portuguese-style. Three eggs are beaten together with parsley and green onions and then fried into a verdant thin omelette. An avocado is whirred into a paste. The three elements are spread onto a pita and rolled up tight into tasty burritos. "Maybe tortillas would be too crunchy," muses Drew.

"Breakfast is served," says Raul.

Breakfast Sandwich

The early morning, pre-coffee even, is taken up with rescuing an errant chickadee chick that flew in through the open balcony door and wound up trapped behind the shelving unit filled with glassware and kitchen appliances. The bird is finally, after unloading and moving the shelving unit, wrapped loosely in a towel and released on the balcony where it happily flies away with no harm done except to R&D's nerves.

Breakfast has to be simple and fast. Raul fries two eggs over easy, toasts hamburger buns with melted cheese, and then layers on slices of capocollo. Drew gets a squirt of wasabi mustard and another of ketchup but Raul prefers his flavours pure, especially in the morning and after trauma.

The dog, whose job it is to keep the balcony clear of vermin such as pigeons and squirrels but has napped through home invasions by both of the aforementioned, sleeps through the bird incident but is up and begging the instant breakfast is plated. Plans to bbq chicken breasts are put on hold for the immediate future.

Breakfast Sandwich with Basil

Turns out that picking basil in the morning is better. On Google's advice, Raul is up at the crack of dawn and snips off three large succulent green leaves. He slices the leaves into strips and the fragrance fills the kitchen from the first incision. He stirs the basil into chopped tomatoes with black pepper.

Bagels are toasted and layered with bacon, avocado slices, mozzarella cheese and the tomato/basil mixture. "The basil is much tastier," raves Raul. "Worth getting up early to slave in the garden. Funny that three leaves have more flavour than the entire pesto last night."

"Now we know," agrees Drew, who is just happy to have breakfast all ready to go first thing in the morning.

"Tomato and basil always work together," says Raul happily. "And when you add bacon . . ."

Breakfast Sandwich

Drew departs for the weekend to visit his mother for Father's Day while Raul putters around the apartment waiting to receive accolades for his ace job of parenting. The banter and cooking extravaganza is put on hold until Monday morning when, sleepy but content after the emotionally satisfying celebrations, breakfast rolls around.

Raul has been up a good part of the night reading the vintage copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, that Drew's mom has given them from her vast collection. "It's funny, you can almost hear her voice as you read," says Raul. "I have to dig out that enamelled frying pan so I can cook without affecting the colours of the food. Very important for the photographs."

"And I had no idea that I was supposed to wait until the butter started to foam before browning meat or cooking eggs," muses Drew. "That's when it apparently reaches its maximum heat. Julia does love her butter but then so do I."

"And she says to use lardon [pork belly] instead of bacon. If you want your dish to taste of bacon, use bacon. If you want it to be accented by pork, use lardon." The very idea of pork belly takes Raul back to his childhood in the Azores where the entire pig was used - the memories are bittersweet befitting post-Father's Day. "You use pork belly for the fat, from the days when you cooked everything in lard. Fat tastes good and some foods really benefit from it. But this whole pork belly craze is actually decades old. Julia was ahead of her time again." Raul has just bought bacon on sale at Food Basics, "It's a little bit fatty but you get what you pay for," but an expedition to T&T for pork belly is looming. "What do you feel like for breakfast?"

"I'm not awake enough to be hungry. A bagel with avocado?"

"We're out of avocado but I can put together a heart attack on a plate."

"Sounds delicious. And I can't wait until we have one with a la lardon."

Raul substitutes sauteed mushrooms for avocado, bacon for lardon, and rye bread for the bagels that have gone stale. The flavour is robust enough, yet subtle enough, to make Julia proud.

Couscous with BBQ'ed Chicken

An early breakfast to prep for a busy day is a mini-cheese omelette, prosciutto and avocado on a bagel - Raul's gussied-up gourmet variation on Park Snack's notorious Bundalicious Bundle of Joy breakfast sandwich or, his own invention and Justin's favourite, Heart Attack on a Plate. Full stomachs naturally lead to a discussion of dinner. "What do you feel like eating before rehearsal?" queries Raul. "You'll need your energy to rock. And you'll need a full stomach to keep up with Patricia. There may very well be shots."

"She did get a fresh bottle of Red Stag," agrees Drew. There is salmon in the freezer, it would be great bbqed."

"No fish on the bbq," interjects Raul. "We don't have a hose so I'd never be able to get it completely cleaned. It will smell."

"Then we could have burgers. Very summery."

"We just had burgers and I'm not totally happy with those ones we bought."

"We can disguise them with multiple toppings."

"Your topping combinations are the best but I was thinking chicken."

"I like chicken. Especially bbq'ed."

"With pasta or rice?"

"Rice sounds delicious."

"I'll make couscous then."

Raul makes the dressing first. In a mason jar he mixes a squirt of chili sauce, a bit of green Thai curry, a tablespoon of honey, two tablespoons of olive oil, juice of a lemon and a quarter cup of orange juice, and then shakes vigorously. He adds a cup of couscous to a cup of boiling water, slaps on a lid and turns the burner off. When the water is absorbed, it is ready. In a large salad bowl he mixes chopped celery, onion, olives, mango and red pepper, and the half can of garbanzo beans left from yesterday's salad. The couscous is fluffed with a fork and added to the vegetables and legumes. He stirs, adds the dressing, stirs again and lets it sit so the medley of flavours can blend. Just before serving he mixes in a handful of chopped basil, mint, chives, coriander and parsley from the balcony garden.

Because the couscous is so packed with taste, the chicken breast is simply sprinkled with salt and pepper before going on the grill.

While Raul is plating, the dog vomits; not out of criticism of the kitchen aromas, but out of excitement and for having basked in the sun amongst the herbs until he was overheated. Drew quickly removes the minute offending puddle but the damage is done.

"I think the couscous tastes of summer," says Raul. "It would be a light vegetarian meal all on its own."

"It would," agrees Drew as he digs in, even the olives he was skeptical about have blended in deliciously. "I think I'm going to add some cashews."

"I meant to do that," laments Raul. "It was the sick dog that threw me off."

"He's not sick, he's just a dog," shrugs Drew. "They puke. Look he's already begging for bits of chicken. It's a miraculous recovery."