Brussels and Bacon Stir Fry and Curried Sweet Potatoes

Until tonight, I didn't realize what a cooking rut I've been in. I used to make up weird shit for dinner all the time, but as of late my inspiration has been waning.   Last week, I pulled off a version of Eat.Live.Run's Brussels Sprouts; this took less than 10 minutes, and I actually prefer their texture when cut into a kind of chiffonade.    How had I never thought to slice up brussels sprouts?  Shahab, whose childhood was robbed of a proper vegetal nemesis, didn't try them until he was like 25, and now brussels are his favorite vegetable.  But who has time to roast brussels sprouts for an hour after getting home? Because of the commitment necessary to make them edible, we don't eat them very often.  Enter this meal: a kind of douchey, but delicious, fusion version of sprouts and finally feel like I am out of my culinary rut.   

While Eat.Live.Run countered the bitterness of them with the sweetness of brown sugar and caramelized pecans, the three baked sweet potatoes in the fridge somehow inspired me to try a Southeast Asian version using turkey bacon and light coconut milk to add faux richness to the conspicuously healthy sprouts.  Overlooked as an Asian ingredient, sweet potatoes seem to be invented to be eaten with things like coconut, ginger, and curry rather than brown sugar and marshmallows.  So I decided to take a Thanksgiving staple and turn it Asian.  The caramelized bacon, garlic and sprouts set off the super luscious and rich potatoes, and the sesame adds a nice nutty flavor.  In all, it took less than a half hour, and that's partly because peeling baked sweet potatoes is tedious and sloppy.  I didn't actually measure the spices, but I estimated in the recipe below.    

Ignore the onion, and pretend like you see sesame and curry

Ingredients:

Brussels-Bacon Stir Fry

15-20 Brussels

3-4 cloves of garlic

6-8 slices of turkey bacon (we keep a pork free house)

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame seeds                                                                                                                

Coconut Curry Mashed Sweet Potatoes   

3 sweet potatoes
3/4 cup light coconut milk

2 tsp curry powder 

1 tsp salt  
                                                                                 

If you are starting from raw sweet potatoes, you should start by boiling or baking them.  Since Shahab baked up a ton of potatoes on Sunday, I got to skip this step.  

While the bacon is going, Slice the brussels into very thin slices, being careful not to go too close to the base, as it gets more bitter.  Don't worry if it stays in circles; as it sautes, it will break up.  Then, mince the garlic and set aside in a bowl. 

Now that I see the picture, maybe real bacon is better. 

Take the bacon off the heat, and when cool enough, slice up and put in the bowl with the sprouts.

Put the cooked sweet potato in a medium pot with the 3/4 cup coconut milk, curry powder and salt.  Heat and mash and you know. 

As the sweet potato heats, dump the garlic, then the sprouts and the bacon to the same saute pan in which you cooked the bacon.  Add smoked paprika and sesame seeds.  Saute for 5 minutes or so, then add as much soy sauce as you like, and saute for another 2-4 minutes, or until it is bright and tender.  

                 Top with another sprinkle of sesame seeds and sriracha.  This made 3 or 4 servings for us. 

Weekend Brunching: Pop-up Brunch at KTCHN 105

There was a time when catching up with friends meant long drawn out dinners over many many bottles of wine, or hanging purses on tiny hooks below the bar and mingling and reminiscing till the wee hours of the morning. It was a time when weeknight fun and early mornings were of no consequence to us, and bed times and hem lines were blurred along with our visions. The greasy diner breakfasts, which were eventually consumed after these nights, more out of necessity than any epicurean delights. Now, I am in no way saying our carefree days are over, I'm still in my 20's for god-sake, what I am alluding to is the fact that nights like this are becoming fewer and far between. I am also not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, for as I mourn the loss of my early 20's rablerousing, I find myself comfortably nestled in my new station in life as a late (well later) 20's weekend brunch-er.

This past weekend, after having gone far too long without a good catchup gab session, my dear friend Molly and I decided to meet for brunch. I did a quick yelp search for restaurants downtown and was intrigued by the reviews for a brunch spot I had never heard of. KTCHN 105. The concept of a roaming pop up brunch sounded intriguing but the photos of previous brunch fare really sealed the deal for me. Waffle BLT with pears? Yes. Yes please. After finding out that their pop-up loft location was up and running every weekend in November I promptly made a reservation.

After hugs and greetings early (ish) Saturday morning we sat down to eat. The space, located in a loft apartment near the produce section of Downtown LA, is cute and homey. My eyes were immediately drawn to a Bloody Mary bar with jars or fresh celery, pickles, olives and peppers. I of course couldn't resist the appeal and ordered their house Bloody Mary (they also serve a Bloody Maria made with, you guessed it, tequila) Molly ordered a Mimosa made with fresh OJ. Menus were opened. The rotating menu meant none of the dishes I had read about on the yelps were available, but you know what? It all ended up just fine.

Ok foodies, here is where this story gets interesting.

The drinks came, and I don't want to oversell or simplify this but, hot damn! It was a good Bloody Mary. Not just a good BM (hehe) but It was without a doubt the best Bloody Mary I've ever had. Simple, spicy, refreshing and strong. I was warned to NOT bite into the habanero pepper that was rustically speared and placed inside my drink, which I obliged. I quickly noticed however, that not only was the pepper a lovely accoutrement, sandwiched between two pimientos, it also was functional in that it helped me gage the spice level and let me pull out when the heat got too intense (please feel free to expound your own sexual innuendos here).

Ok Ok FOOD. Molly dear ordered the egg sandwich, 2 eggs, baguette, potatoes. Pretty straight forward, but sounded great. After some indecisiveness I ordered, or rather was persuaded by the delightful waitress to order the beat hash. Along with our mains, we ordered the fruit trio as an appetizer.

As we were eagerly chatting and catching up, the fruit plate was dropped in front of us and looked absolutely beautiful. This is the point in the story in which I must apologies, as I haven't really given into the whole taking pictures of your food at restaurants craze, but since I am part of a food blog, I should maybe think about getting over myself and changing my ways. That being said, imagination will be key for this bit; the fruit trio consisted of minted melons atop a creamy yogurt sauce, homemade granola in a creamy sweet coconut milk, and sweet grits with berry fruit preserves. All of it was amazing and the flavors all very layered and delicious. We both agreed the highlight of the plate were the amazing sweet grits that almost tasted like a rice or tapioca pudding.

After more chatting and communing, brunch arrived. Again, apologies for the lack of pictures, but please take my word for it, the plates were dressed beautifully. Mine, a huge mound of roasted beets, crispy homestyle potatoes, soft scrambled eggs with goat cheese, horseradish creme and wilted dressed spinach. A lovely brioche roll with homemade lemon clotted cream and preserves accompanied. Molly's, looked equally delicious, two beautifully baked eggs on a crispy bread with a beautiful mound of those perfectly done and seasoned potatoes.

As we dug in the chatter stopped momentarily to let the flavor wash over us. Delicious. Transcendent, even. All the components of my dish worked together and built off each other. A party in my mouth, if you will. It was evident that a lot of thought and many steps and labor were involved in constructing each of our dishes and the results were much appreciated by both myself and my fellow bruncher. As the drinks were finished off and the bill (given to us with two fresh cookies) handled, I couldn't help but feel completely fulfilled by my morning, it was truly, lovely. As I got in my car refreshed and nourished by both my meal and my interaction with my friend, I thought to myself, 'If this is growing up, I think I like it.'

KTCHN 105 will be serving brunch through November 27th at;

1250 Long Beach Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90021

Also please check out the website as they also do cocktail and cooking classes.

*Picture taken off of Yelp.

Autumn Walnut Apple Pie

This healthy variation of an apple pie puts the fruit front and center and the ginger adds so much flavor that you won't even care that there is a granny shower cap where your lattice top should be.

Heres what you need:

3 Apples- (I used Pippin since they came in my CSA) Slice them thin so they get coated and cook well

Ginger- just a pinch

Cinnamon- about 1 tsp

Nutmeg- 2 pinches ;)

Whole Wheat Flour- 1 TBSP

BrownSugar- To your liking... I added about 1.5 TBSP but more or less according to your sweet tooth and the apples used.

Walnuts- 1/3 cup chopped

Pie Crust- If you're savvy make it from scratch. I got this pre-made and rolled crust from Whole foods... it came with two so stay tuned for pie experiment #2.

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees!!!!

Once you're all chopped and measured, mix all ingredients minus the crust of course and coat the apples thoroughly. Lay pie crust into round baking pan and leave edges hanging over. Arrange apples in as fancy of a spiral and you can concoct. My patience and hunger failed me on this step. sprinkle the heavenly remaining mixture of sugar, spice and everything walnut atop your delicate lil design and fold over edges. Get creative or go for the shower cap as I have done. Pop that little gem in the furnace (bottom rack) for 30-35 min until apples are tender and crust is golden.

Let cool...If you can and nosh away! After all... It's only 180 Cals per slice (roughly 1/8th of the pie)

Credit: Self Magazine November 2011 "Best of the Worst"

Eggplant Rollatini

Eggplant rollatini is damn good, and this recipe (I haven't really had any others) is actually pretty good for you. It has a lot of steps, and takes a little over an hour but it's awesome when you want a light dinner thats actually allows you feel like you're eating a bunch of cheese... something I. am. about.

There are a lot of different components, please see picture on the left, that you have to get together to well... put it all together. But I think it's pretty worth it. The recipe is adapted, very slightly, from the WW website, mostly I use olive oil instead of cooking spray... cause it just tastes soooo much better.

Eggplant Rollatini, adapted ever so slightly from this:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/prt/recipe.aspx?Type=1&RecipeID=115741

a little bit of olive oil
2 medium raw eggplant, tops and bottoms removed, sliced lengthwise into 1/4" thick slices
2 Garlic cloves sliced thinly (or more)
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh basil torn

1/4 cup(s) minced onion

1 small zucchini, diced

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/2 cup part skim ricotta

2 tbsp fresh basil chopped

about 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

1 large egg

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray

Lay eggplant in a single layer on prepared baking sheet and lightly coat tops with cooking spray. Bake, flipping once, until golden brown, about 10 minutes per side. Remove from oven and set aside.


To make sauce, place oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sliced garlic; sauté until it begins to brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes; stir to combine and reduce heat to low. Add torn basil, stir to combine and  simmer for 10 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and set aside.

To make filling, coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and zucchini; sauté until onion starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in chopped garlic and cook 1 minute more; spoon onion mixture into a small bowl to cool. In another small bowl, combine ricotta, chopped basil, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan; stir to combine. Add cooled onion mixture; stir to combine. Add egg, salt and pepper; stir to combine.

To make rollatini, reduce oven to 400ºF. Spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce in bottom of an 8- X 8-inch glass or nonstick metal baking dish and swirl to coat bottom with sauce. On a clean cutting board, place 1 slice of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of filling at the narrow end of eggplant and roll up; place in prepared baking dish, seam side-down. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices; arrange in a single layer in dish. Spoon remaining 1/2 cup of sauce and rest of Parmesan over eggplant. Bake until sauce bubbles, about 10 to 15 minutes. Yields about 2 pieces of rollatini per serving.

I had much smaller eggplant, which is why there are waayyy more rollatini's than there should be, but meh, it still tastes the same. 

Carbs and Tomatoes

Carbs and tomatoes are two of my favorite things, meaning a plate of well cooked pasta and simple tomato sauce in this case. 101 cookbooks "5 minute tomato sauce" is something I make fairly often, it really only takes a few minutes and is so delicious. I've really only tried it on pasta but if you're a fan of lemony sauce it could be used for pizza, lasagna, chicken, etc. The red pepper flakes can be a bit much depending on where they are from, and how spicy they are / how spicy you like your sauce. And the recipe specifies san marzano tomatoes (don't they all) which are very tasty, but if you have a can of say hunts tomatoes, they will do the trick too. (although the san marzanos are on sale at Gelsons this week, fyi)

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/five-minute-tomato-sauce-recipe.html

Recipe from 101 cookbooks

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
zest of one lemon

Combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, sea salt, and garlic in a cold saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat, saute just 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant - you don't want the garlic to brown. Stir in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer, this takes just a couple minutes. Remove from heat and carefully take a taste (you don't want to burn your tongue)...If the sauce needs more salt add it now. Stir in the lemon zest reserving a bit to sprinkle on top of your pasta.

Makes about a quart of tomato sauce.

Soup is Good Food

Potato Leek Soup

I. Love. Soup. I'm not sure if this is a weird thing. I grew up with a lot of soup, my parents are all about it, if you go out to a meal with them they almost always order the soup. It's no secret, Flahertys are all about soup. (at least my little branch of them)

 

I actually had no idea that the saying "soup is

good food" had been put in my head by the

campbells soup people from an early age. Growing up my sister and I had these bowls that we would always eat soup from that said "at the bottom of the bowl, soup is good food" and that soup was mostly campbells if my dad made it, home-made if my mom did. Home made soup is awesome, but campbells is not bad either, if you've lived with me you know that I will never hesitate to just have a can (most likely tomato) of soup for dinner, annnnddd I totally just spent at least 1/2 an hour looking for that bowl online,and totally found it on ebay. Yeeeaaaa!

Annnyyywaaayyyss, potato leek soup is healthy and tasty and this is a soup Max and I make pretty often. It's great for a chilly night, but also makes really good leftovers. It's a recipe modified from an old weight watchers cookbook, and is great even if it does look a little bit like baby food. 

Potato Leek Soup

4 Large Leeks, white and green parts only, cleaned and chopped

4 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used russets this time, it was still good, but the yukon golds definitely add more richness so I would recommend those)

1 large onion, chopped

5 cups (at least) veggie or chicken broth

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

olive oil or butter

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat about a TBSP of olive oil or butter (or both) in a large pot, add onions and leeks and red pepper, if using. Saute until leeks look a little wilted and onions are a bit translucent (about 7-8 minutes). 

Add the potatoes and saute for a few minutes, add garlic and cook til fragrant.

Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are tender, 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

Your goal now is to puree the mixture, do that with your favorite puree tool, whether it be an immersion blender, food processor or regular blender.I normally put it back in a the soup pot and check for seasonings or add extra broth if it ends up too thick.

Serve with some sort of crispy onions on top (like Ina's fried shallots) and bread or a big salad. Noms

Garlic Bacon Broccoli

The title of the post is just about all you need to know about this dish. It's basically some fried brocolli, with garlic and bacon as the main additional flavors.

But with such a simple dish, the key elements are in the particulars of the preparation. And the most important thing for preparing delicious fresh vegetables in a stir fry type situation is to not overcook them. I've heard tales of woe about childhoods spent trying to choke down some mushy, bland, blanched or steamed broccoli. So sad.

This dish converted my husband - who was one of those tragically subjected to disgustingly prepared vegetables in childhood and thus led to believe they are not good - to accepting that a dish like this (read: one made from mostly a head of broccoli) can be an entire meal or main course. We had ours with some couscous from a box. Way easy. Also, vegetables cook very fast making this a good meal to end a busy day.

I did some detailed documentation of the process, because I like when food blogs just show you with pictures. I'm not good at following written recipes.

The main dry/cold ingredients you need, aside from a head of broccoli, are:

• vegetable oil (or whatever lesser-flavored oil you prefer)
•  sesame oil
• red chili flakes
• some bacon, we had 4 slices from the neighborhood charcuterie, a thing we actually have now that we live in San Francisco

 Have your prep cook chop that brocolli and garlic.

Meanwhile, start cooking the bacon and if you feel so inclined, make this couscous from the box. It's just a matter of boiling water.

Around this same time, as the bacon is heating up, put 1 part vegetable oil and 2 parts sesame oil  in a pan and heat on highest possible heat.

Only when the oil is very, very hot, do you add the broccoli. It should make a loud sound and oil should pop when the broccoli hits it.

Toss the broccoli in the oil to coat, and add some cracked black pepper and salt to taste.

If you happen to notice, like I did, that your broccoli has dried out a little bit in the fridge over the last few days since you bought it, splash some water into the pan. It should be so little water that it all boils away completely. Toss the broccoli in the water and you'll get some minor steaming action.

Once it has turned bright green, don't stir for a minute, and you will get a nice browned edge on the broccolis.

Once it seems juuuuust about done, add your chopped garlic.

Also add a pinch of crushed red pepper.

Continue to cook for about 1 minute, until garlic becomes fragrant. In the meantime, your prep cook should have placed your cooked bacon on a paper towel to cool, and then chopped/torn it up into bits. The last step is to toss the bacon bits into the broccoli and serve!

Simple and delicious, folks.

Market Watch: Fresh & Easy (Apothic Red for all)

For whatever reason, I've never really been a fan of the- as my friend Tristan calls it-"Fresh N' Sleazy", but I happened to pop in on my way home from work yesterday, and found some pleasant surprises.

First and foremost; APOTHIC RED IS ON SALE FOR $7.99! GO NOW. STOCK UP!*

For those of you who haven't had this particular wine before, this is a great time to try it out, super drinkable and richer than you would expect to find in a "cheaper" table wine. I particularly like the dark chocolate and cherry notes.

Back to the sleazy, I also noticed they sold a wide variety or British faves, like the aforementioned Digestives (which I think are more of a Franco/Italian thing, but whateves) as well as Crunchie Bars which I know are a personal fave of Mr. Hartwell-fellow contributor, and current man friend of yours truly.

So, yes, go buy cookies and wine and crunchie bars. You and your waistline can thank me later.

Also having a photo sesh with wine bottles is harder than it looks (see above).

xo

a

*this was found at the Eagle Rock location, but I believe it is a nationwide sale.

You can always retake a class but you can never relive a party.

I was looking for a good party quotes from some kind of Neo or Rihanna song, but then I saw that and it really spoke to me.

If you have ever been anywhere near me before a party I am helping to prepare or host, you know I take it seriously. Party proofing, cleaning, making a menu – college gave me a lot of party throwing practice, and I like to have fun with it. And by fun, I turn all spazzy and anal. So Saturday, Shahab and I are hosting a housewarming party, and I am making a menu inspired by ‘Back to School’ (NU just started Tuesday). It’s kind of a theme that can easily become just things you enjoyed as a child, but that’s ok. I’m mostly trying to keep things autumnal, whimsical, and childlike. I like some kind of theme not only to give me focus as to what to prepare, but also because it’s a nice conversation starter when it gets really quiet. There will also be a good amount of foreign attendees, so it will be fun to hear what they think of as ‘Back to School’. Speaking of guests, I’m expecting 25 or 30 people, so everything has to be fairly simple, but it also can’t be too cheesy, or too fussy. I’ve been brainstorming for about a week now, and I thought I’d post my ideas so you can give me suggestions and feedback. What is a blog without dialog, anyways?

Dwinks:

This is where I get lazy. Typically, I like to make one giant pot of something that seems impressive, one smaller cocktail, and then let everyone bring wine and beer. I think that is a lot neater than a smorgasbord of mixers. Here is what I am thinking for this Saturday:

1) Buck Hunter:

I have adapted this from a drink at the greatest bar in the US, The Passenger, using proportions from a similar drink found online. This is obviously the hardest part to make seem like back to school like, so I was shooting for more autumnal and familiar:

- 1 L rye whiskey

- 2 L apple cider

-1 L ginger beer

- 200 ml lemon (this is where I’m not sure. Maybe a bit more)

- Angostura Bitters

Don’t hate on the metric system. Most alcohol bottles are in ml, so there. This seems like a nice fall mix between a high ball, spiced cider, and a whiskey sour. We went apple picking last weekend, so I could put some apple slices in the pot, or just some apples so people can get drunk and bob for apples in booze. That sounds like a bad idea.

2) Stolovaya White Russians

So I believe my local market sells absurdly cheap little cartons of milk, so I am thinking of just having a station with a bucket of milk cartons on ice, a bottle of vodka, and a bottle of Kahlua, and letting them make cafeteria-style White Russians (see it’s clever because Stolovaya is a cafeteria in Russian). Of course, you’d have to take a drink of milk first, but that’s ok.

3) Apple Jello Jigglers

Ok, so maybe not THAT lazy. Thinking back to being a tiny, Bill Crosby and flashes of jiggle shot through my brain, and I knew I had to make Jello Jigglers. I stumbled across the most amazing blog, and am envisioning something like this. The thing is, they don’t have their recipe there. Then, of course, Saveur saves the day with Apple Pie Jelly Shots, which I think I will modify by using whiskey instead of the Tuaca liqueur, and using food coloring for the red color.

Foods:

1) Brown butter sea salt rice krispie treats, c/o Kate

2) Homemade pizza rolls, c/o Kate (she needs to post about that one)

3) Crustless Banana and Nutella Sammys

4) Apples, celery and super unhealthy peanut butter dip, to which I think I will add some chopped, rum soaked dried cherries:

5) Goldfish crackers and grapes

6) Dino shaped chicken nuggets, if I can find them (the best) with sriracha ketchup

7) Mac n Cheese bites

8) I feel we could use one more thing. Ideas welcome.

So unlike most of my parties, I think the food will be relatively simple, but the booze will be more difficult, mostly because the jello apples seem really complicated. I’m actually pretty excited about this theme, and even more excited about my Anthro apple shirt I get to wear with a pair of huge bell bottoms and cranberry loafer platforms. I think all food pairings should come with outfit pairings.

Banoffee Pie

Soooooo.. Banoffee Pie. Have you heard of it? Until last week I definitely hadn't, or thought that I hadn't but actually have since it's what Keira Knightly brings that guy that loves her, but she didn't marry in Love Actually, still no? 

Check iittttttttt

Alright, lets get to the Banoffee. Holy crap is this good. Also the first pie I've made that comes in perfect slice form instead of everything just sort of crumbling, and has a nice layered look to it. Also I mean, cookie, toffee, banana and whipped cream seriously belong together. I was trying to think of another fruit that might go well here and I really couldn't. Other fruits would be good but none as good as the banana.

I used a recipe from Saveur and didn't modify the filling at all, but used a different crust. Although I'm sure the digestive biscuits would be tasty as well. The crust I used is from an article on the Gourmet app about Momofuku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi's "Crack Pie".. which itself sounds ha-mazzziiinngggg, and might show up on here given the pie crust made a double batch. The crust is called the "Oat Cookie Crust" and tastes like an oatmeal cookie, but a little less sweet and a little more salty than what you would imagine, which worked great with the pie giving it that lovely salty-sweet action. 

Oat Cookie:

(makes about 1 quarter sheet pan, and enough for 2 pie crusts)

1 stick of butter (8 TBSP) room temp

1/3 cup light brown sugar (I used dark brown sugs)

3 TBSP granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat the oven 350

1. Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream together on medium high for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. On low speed add the egg yolk, increase the speed to medium high and beat for 1-2 minutes, until sugar has dissolved and the mixture is a pale white.

2. On low speed, add flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix for about a minute, until everything comes together and you don't see any more dry ingredients. The dough is a sort of fatty-fluffy mixture compared to your normal cookie dough. 

3. The recipe says to Pam a cookie sheet then put parchment over it here... I just used the parchment paper. I didn't see the reasoning in greasing a cookie sheet then putting parchment over it, and it came out just fine, but maybe there is something I don't know here. So yea, do whatever you want so the cookie doesn't stick to the cookie sheet. 

4. Plop the cookie dough onto the pan and spread it out with a spatula (I used my hands) so that it's 1/4 inch thick, the dough won't cover the whole pan, that's OK.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until it resembles a giant oatmeal cookie- caramelized on top and puffed slightly but set firmly.

To Make the cookie a pie crust: 

1 Oat Cookie

1 TBSP packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 TBSP melted butter (+1 1/2 TBSP as needed)

1. Put the Oat cookie, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse it on and off until the cookie is broken down and sort of looks like wet sand. You could also do this with your hands if you don't have a food processor.

2. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl and add the 4 TBSP of melted butter and knead it until it's moist enough to form a ball, this is where that extra tablespoon and a half of butter might come in, add it if the mixture isn't moist enough. 

Here is where I veer off of the crack pie path and merge into the Banoffee, I just sort of picked up after the crust part of the saveur recipe. Here is what I did:

Put the crust mixture in a pie tin (or 2) and spread it out with your hands until the crust is evenly distributed along the bottom and sides. Refrigerate for about an hour.

Banoffee time!

For the filling:
  1 stick of unsalted butter
  1/2 cup (4 oz) packed dark brown sugar
  1 14-oz. can condensed milk, such as Carnation brand
 

 4 bananas
  1 pint heavy cream
  Grated chocolate

1. Make the toffee: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and melt over low heat. Add the condensed milk and bring the mixture to a boil for a few minutes, stirring continuously. The toffee should darken slightly. Pour the filling into the crust. Cool and chill again for at least one hour until the caramel is firm.

2. To serve, remove the tart from the pan and carefully transfer to a serving plate. Slice the bananas and place them in a single layer on top of the caramel. Whip the cream and spoon it over the toffee and bananas, sealing the filling in. Sprinkle the top of the pie with grated chocolate. 

my bitchin waffle maker, and a puzzle.

This post is more or less a vehicle for me to brag unabashedly about my awesome retro waffle maker, found at the Goodwill on Sunset and Hollywood.

See it? Do you see how awesome it is? Yeah.

So, I made some waffles this morning using a Bob's Red Mill high fiber mix, which is great, but the recipe itself is pretty self explanatory and thus, not worth posting on this posh food blog we have going here. The waffle I am posting about today is a recipe I found in Food and Wine that I made for a chicken and waffle dinner party I had some months back. (The waffles were c/o me. The chicken, c/o the Colonel).

My contribution to this recipe is the plum compote that I made this morning to accompany the breakfast waffles, super simple and delicious.

Yeasty Waffles
1 3/4 cups whole milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more melted butter for the waffle iron
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (from 2 envelopes)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
Syrup, fresh fruit and softened butter, for

serving

Fresh Plum Compote

1 pad butter
2/3 fresh plums
Handful dried cranberries

1 teaspoon cinnamon

shot of brandy

1 tablespoon lime juice

a squeeze of agave

(Saute until desired level of mushiness is reached.)

In a large bowl, combine the milk, 1/2 cup melted butter, flour, yeast, eggs, agave and salt and whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until the batter is very puffy, about 2 hours at room temperature (or refrigerate overnight).

Preheat the oven to 250°. Preheat a waffle iron and brush it with melted butter. Gently stir the batter to deflate it. For each batch, fill the waffle iron about two-thirds full (the batter will spread and rise); brush the waffle iron with melted butter as needed.

Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Transfer the waffles immediately from the iron to plates, or keep them warm in the oven. Serve the waffles with syrup, fresh fruit and softened butter.

1.