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. 
   

Market Watch Vol. 1: Super King

Market Watch is a theoretically regular feature here on The Cocotte Communal, wherein we highlight places we shop at, with each of the contributors highlighting their favorite places to buy ingredients for their culinary adventures. If you're a contributor - feel free to edit this post to add your own two cents in a separate paragraph, with your name in bold before your take on the place in question.

HARTWELL - Super King, mentioned two posts ago, while describing delicious-sounding Pork Chop Sandwiches, by Anna, is a wondrous supermarket in Glendale.

I'm trying to wrack my brain to remember how I first heard of Super King. I think it was a Living Social or Groupon deal that I bought on a whim, and then used with gusto when I discovered one of their weekly specials was filet mignon for $3.99 a pound. I made the trek across the river, and braved the parking (always a nightmare at Super King - picture a Trader Joe's parking lot, and then cover the pavement in Batmobile-dispensed caltrops, and you get an idea of Super King on a good day) because the siren song of meat was great.

The butcher at Super King is intimidating - there's way more things on display than at your normal Albertson's or Giant Eagle or Kroger, and nobody there speaks much English. It's also the most packed part of the store, and for good reason. You've got a number, and when they call it, you act fast. I asked for two pounds of filet, and a giant slab of meat was held up and the guy said, "Smallest." Okay. Seems fair. At $3.99 a pound, an entire baby cow is really affordable.

I used the entire Groupon (or Living Social, who can say?) to purchase something like four pounds of filet mignon and took it home.

For comparison, this cut was the size of a small dog. 

They often have great deals on liquor as well, and carry some hot sauces you can't easily find anywhere else in East L.A. Try to carpool, though, cause of the parking issues.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

(Anna... well Cooking Light... but Anna wrote this)

Recently I got Cooking Light’s “readers top recipes” edition, which when I bought it I didn’t realize that it’s really a little cookbook with some pretty great recipes. What I enjoy about Cooking Light is that the recipes are mostly healthy without skimping a lot on ingredients, like they don't tell you only spray the Pam 3 times and if you do more than you're a fatty (or is it just me who thinks "light" recipes are calling me chubby? yea? ok..). And they give the serving size and nutrition information so you realize how much is serving is actually supposed to be.

Anyways, I had a lot of bananas that were not going to get eaten so Banana Bread seemed like a great idea, and peanut butter and bananas are pretty much made for each other so this recipe was a good one to try out. The original recipe called for flaxseed and allspice, I left both out… didn’t have flaxseed and was too lazy to grind up some allspice and it was still very tasty. Also you’ll notice I don’t have a loaf pan, so the bread is a little bit of a wonky shape… but whatev’s… it was still good.

Bread:

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana

1/3 cup plain fat free yogurt

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tbsp butter, melted

2 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tbsp chopped peanuts

Glaze:

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp low fat milk

1 tbsp creamy peanut butter

Heat oven to 350

for bread: combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars, beat well

Combine flour and the rest of the dry ingredients except for the peanuts. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and beat until just blended. Add peanuts. Pour batter into loaf pan coated with cooking spray (butter would be glorious for this too). Bake at 350 for 1 hr and 5 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack, till you can handle it then take out of pan and let cool.

For glaze: combine powdered sugar, milk and peanut butter in small bowl and drizzle over cooled bread.

makes 16 servings at 190 calories a slice :) 

Next time I might try adding nutella instead of peanut butter, cause really when bananas aren’t all about peanut butter they are about nutella.

And also maybe swap the butter for applesauce for less calories and see how that turns out.

PORK CHOP SANDWICHES

Herro, I'm Anna.

Pork chops... are not something I really grew up with. It wasn't until Max and I moved in together that I really even had them. And I realized they are really tasty when you let them sit in something, well, tasty, and super easy to cook in the toaster oven, which is always a plus, or easy to cook and sear on the stove and are actually pretty versatile.

I was trying to put something together for The National show at the bowl this past weekend and recalled the glorious GI Joe PSA's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1BDM1oBRJ8  (not really safe for work)

The first time I saw that I remember thinking... ew... why would someone put pork chops in a sandwich? Poor naive me, anything can/should go in a sandwich. While pork chop sandwiches aren't normally something to write home about (or write in a food blog about)... I think these were. 

I had some chops marinating in the Goya brand mojo criollo marinade for awhile, which almost tastes like a really citrus-ey jerk marinade (so good, you can get after it at super king) and cooked those in the toaster oven at 350 for 25 min then broiled for 5 min, slathered some ciabatta bread with sriracha mayo and grain mustard, and layered the sliced pork chops, gruyere cheese, spring mix, and red onions.

Ingredients:

Pork Chops and Marinade (any sort of marinade you want, just soy sauce, garlic and sriracha is always good)

Red Onions

Spring Mix

Ciabatta (trader joes par-baked is always good, or any bread would do)

Cheese (the gruyere was awesome)

Mustard (again, I used whole grain mustard)

Sriracha Mayo (recipe below)

Put Mayo and Mustard on sandwich, then layer with whatever ingredients... I mean... you're making a sandwich, you get it. If I wasn't transporting this I would have put some pickles and tomatoes on it too, but as is it transported really well, i.e. they weren't soggy later.

Sriracha Mayo: slightly adapted from: http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/appetizers-spreadable-dips/creamy-chili-hot-sauce-sriracha-mayo-french-fries/

3 TBSP Mayo

1 1/2 TBSP Sriracha (or more if you like it really spicy)

1 TBSP lemon juice (I'm not a huge mayo fan and upping the lemon juice gives it a nice brightness)

dash of soy sauce

The World's Best Gazpacho

Sara again! The best gazpacho I've ever had is at The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. Chef Jose Andres of Spain simply kicks ass at this way-overpriced tapas restaurant in the lobby of this trendy hotel. Suffice it to say, I immediately ran home and hunted down the recipe and made batches upon batches. I shared with our NR group a few months back and it's been hit after hit ever since! So I wanted to share...

Most important thing to note here is the specific ingredients. Ripe plum (Roma) tomatoes, sherry vinegar (vinagre de Jerez) and Spanish olive oil really make this super-easy recipe super-tasty. The vinegar and oil can be hard to hunt down, but I've found both at Whole Foods.

Also to note, I've never made the garnish from this recipe. I stick with the soup and usually double the recipe because it keeps really well. But if you're having a dinner party, the presentation with the garnish is gorgeous (at the restaurant at least!).

I recommend a large food processor (8 cups at least, especially if doubling) and a big strainer, and be sure you have two or three big bowls and at least a two-liter pitcher on hand.

Gazpacho al Estilo de Tichi (from The Washington Post)
Sherry vinegar lends a robust kick to this summer favorite. At Jaleo, chef Jose Andres offers gazpacho as a soup; at home, he keeps it on hand as a refreshing alternative to soft drinks.

4 main-course servings or 8 first-course servings

206 calories, 21g fat, 3g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 297mg sodium, 6g carbohydrates, 2g dietary fiber, n/a sugar, 1g protein.

Ingredients

For the gazpacho

• 10 (2 pounds) plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic (I've used up to an entire head of elephant garlic, so don't be shy!)
• 2-4 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or more to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
• 1 to 2 teaspoon salt

For the garnish

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
• 1 slice rustic white bread
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered if large)
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 pearl onions, quartered and separated into segments
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• Sea salt
• 4 chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions

For the gazpacho: In a blender or food processor, add the tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, garlic, sherry vinegar and water and blend until the mixture becomes a thick liquid. Taste for acidity (this will vary with the sweetness of the tomatoes) and add more vinegar if necessary (I usually add another 2 tbsp at least). Add the oil and salt. Blend again briefly to thoroughly incorporate the oil. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher or large bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cool, at least 30 minutes.

For the garnish: Meanwhile, in a small saute pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When it is shimmering, add the bread and cook until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes. Break the bread into small pieces to form about 16 croutons and set aside.

To assemble the soup, distribute the croutons, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and onions evenly among the bowls and drizzle with sherry vinegar and the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt and chives. At the table, pour the chilled gazpacho over the garnish. Serve immediately.

Recipe Source
Adapted from "Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America," by Jose Andres (Clarkson Potter, 2005, $35).

MashUp Recipes: Part Deux

The aforementioned Sara here, humble co-host of our monthly Noble Rot ("NR") wine club with my supernerd fiance, Benjamin. Thought I'd continue Hartwell's post and talk about the two contributions I made for NR on Friday.

Usually our NR themes are a direction for the wine-bringers and a sort of springboard for the food-bringers. But last month's "Cockatils & Dreams" theme allowed for a great food theme (I made candy-coated marshmallow cloud-pops sprinkled with non-pareils!), so I thought I'd try to focus a little more closely on this month's theme for my food. Thus, 'Best-Ever' Bison & Beef Meatballs and Paula Deen's Loaded Mashed Potatoes... Enjoy! xo.

'Best-Ever' Bison & Beef Meatballs (slightly modified from grouprecipes.com)
Prep Time 10 min
Cook Time 25 min
Serves 4 (note: I tripled this recipe and ended up with 50+ meatballs)

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground meat of your choice (since I tripled the recipe, I used 2 lb ground bison and 1 lb ground beef sirloin)
• 1/2 small onion grated or finely diced and sauteed til translucent then cooled to room temperature
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp Italian seasonings
• 2 tsp basil
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Directions

• Heat oven to 350°
• Spray a medium sized cookie sheet with nonstick spray
• Mix all the ingredients
• Form into 1-1/2inch balls
• Let them rest for 15 minutes
• Cook on the baking sheet for 10 minutes
• Turn them and cook another 10-15 minutes
• Serve hot, with pasta & sauce if preferred

Paula Deen's Loaded Mashed Potatoes (slightly modified from foodnetwork.com)
Prep Time 15 min
Cook Time 45 min
Serves 8 (note: I made 1.5x this recipe and ended up with twice the potatoes I needed for 12 people!)

Ingredients

• 2 heads garlic
• 6 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used Yukon Golds)
• Salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (12-ounce) carton sour cream
• 1 (8-ounce) block sharp white Cheddar, grated (I substituted Kraft's shredded Tripe Cheddar)
• 1 1/2 pounds cooked bacon, julienned (I pan-fried the bacon in 1-inch strips, then just tossed it in the food processor)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Cut tops off 2 garlic heads. Wrap in foil and roast for 30 minutes. When cool enough to handle remove the flesh from the garlic heads and set aside. (I suggest cooking for 45 minutes and using a butter knife to remove the garlic from the skin of each clove)
• In a large stockpot, cook potatoes in enough salted water to cover for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender.
• Drain and return to stockpot. Beat with an electric mixer (I just used a potato masher) until smooth; adding salt, to taste, pepper, butter, garlic and sour cream. With a spatula stir in cheese and bacon. Add more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve immediately.

On Pizza and Mash-ups

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. - Luciano Pavarotti

Hartwell here - Last night was a beautiful once-a-month event known as Noble Rot - a wine and food club organized (and often hosted) by Sara Fitzgerald and her handsome fiancé, Ben Moïse. Half the participants are assigned to bring wine, the others food. A theme is given, and wine choices adhere to the theme, while food choices are up to the cook's discretion.

Last night the theme was "Mash-ups" and the wines were all blends. I, for my part, was on food detail, and made the following two pizzas:

Tomato and Mozzarella Pizza

A classic standby, there is nothing simpler than this. If you live by a Trader Joe's, it's even easier. Fresh veggies, a whole lot of garlic, and olive oil make this a vegetarian crowd pleaser. If you're looking to meat it up, add some prosciutto.

serves 8

Ingredients:

Trader Joe's Garlic and Herb Pizza Dough

Heirloom cherry tomatoes (they don't have to be heirloom, but I'd go for grape tomatoes if you're only doing reds)

Crushed garlic (Trader Joe's sells this in a jar if you're too pressed for time to roast and crush your own - I vacillate)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (this provides the base for the pizza, as it's sauceless, or white and so should be good quality - I use Spanish for a little bit of spice)

Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella (Olivine is a great choice, or the small ones also floating in water, but the shrink-wrapped log of mozzarella at TJ's also works great - can you tell there's a TJ's by my office on the way home from work?)

Fresh Basil

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 450F. Let the dough rest for about twenty minutes, so that it comes to room temperature. This is going to make it easier to work with than trying to ply it cold, but will also make it stickier than normal, so...

2. Lightly flour your surface - I usually use baking sheets, but last night, just pressed out a double-thick rectangle of foil and it worked fantastic.

3. Flour up your hands.

4. Roll out your dough to be about 12-inches in diameter - too thick and it won't cook all the way through, but too thin and it's going to tear when you pick it up.

5. Drizzle olive oil in the middle of the pizza. Use the bottom of a spoon to rub it in ever-widening circles until your pizza is covered in a thin layer of olive oil. You don't want it drenched, but don't leave anything dry but the crust.

6. Take some crushed garlic and liberally apply it to your pizza. Use less if you're terrified of that much garlic.

7. Slice the mozzarella into discs about half a centimeter thick and arrange them on your pizza. If you're using that log from TJ's, you'll use about half of it. If you're using the tiny mozzarella balls in water or oil, just chop those suckers in half. You want some negative space here in your layout. They'll melt down and spread out, and it will be awesome.

8. Slice the tomatoes in half, and arrange on the pizza, on top of the mozzarella and in the nooks and crannies. If they're particularly juicy, go ahead and scoop the middles out of about half of them, just so they don't water down your dough. Put on as many as the square footage will allow. There is no such thing as too many tomatoes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a bad person.

9. Take leaves of fresh basil, wash and remove from stem. Place about 8 or 9 large leaves on there. It may look like they're taking up a lot of space, but they'll crisp up and shrink down considerably.

10. Slide that pizza into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Check on it at 15, and see if the middle seems done. Try picking it up. If it folds up way too easily, give it another five. Nobody will complain if it's golden brown and those tomatoes cook more.

11. Eat.

The second pizza was an Indian/Italian mash-up. It was delicious.

Chicken Masala Pizza

serves 8

Ingredients:

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Dough

Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce

Trader Joe's Roast Chicken Breast Strips

Trader Joe's Aged Monterey Jack Cheese (this cheese is tan, with a brown rind, and has a nutty quality to it - it is awesome)

Crushed garlic

Directions

1. Follow steps 1-4 above

2. Ladle masala sauce in the middle. Not too much! You can always add more. It's much harder to remove. Use the back of your ladle to spread it out in concentric circles towards the crust. If you need more, add a little more. It's okay if the crust is visible. You want a thin-layer, not a big glop.

3. Sprinkle some crushed garlic over the pizza. Less this time than with the other pizza. You want the masala and cheese to dominate here.

4. Tear apart the strips of chicken into more bite-sized pieces and arrange on the pizza. You'll probably use about 6 to 8 ounces of chicken here.

5. Grate the cheese over top of everything. You'll know an acceptable level when you see it. Dusted is probably too light a hand, but you don't want a winter wonderland.

6. Toss that puppy in the oven. Set the timer for 12 minutes. Bottom rack is best. This one should cook quicker than the first pizza because it's missing the water quotient the tomatoes add.

7. Remove and slice up. Grate a fresh batch of the cheese on top. This time, dusting is alright. Enjoy!

How to Get into George Washington Carver's Breeches

While I really just wanted to post about my amazing shoes I have procured for fall (let's just say there is burgundy leather and leopard print calf hair involved, not to mention the tassels), it looks like I am to write about food. Well, Cocottes wear shoes, too. But for today, they eat cookies. Anyways, yesterday marked the day I perfected my oldest recipe: the peanut butter cookie. Phoo! naysayers, this cookie is not passe nor pedestrian, but the true champion of cookies: salty, sweet, chewy, soft, not trying to prove anything. As a kid, my mom had this 3 ingredient peanut butter cookie that, being the ultimate fat kid, I started making at a young age just to ensure a steady supply of tasty treats in my life. Since then, I frequently fall into a pb cookie phase, tinkering with the recipe each time.

It's a simple concept, which has been replicated over the internets too many times, really. The genius is that the peanut butter acts as both the flour and oil, so all you need is a sweetener, a binder and a leavener. Let the goober shine, I say.

Since gluten and I started fighting a few years back, this has become a go-to bake and take recipe. It's easy and I like to shock and awe partygoers with a no oil, no flour tasty cookie. And it's a good cookie, don't get me wrong. But until last night, when it appeared as the closer to Shahab's lovely Persian feast we enjoyed with new friends, this cookie never really did my love Mr. Carver justice. I have finally created a goober creation that could seduce even the most discerning of peanut butter fanatics. Onto the info:

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. jar of peanut butter (Chunky is more exciting, but I don't get between a man and his pb)

1 3/4 cup of sugar (don't overdo it. I mean it)

2 eggs

2 tsp Baking soda (make sure it's fresh. How do I know it's fresh, you ask? 1/4 tsp mixed with 2 tsp of vinegar should yield bubbles. Do it. You like bubbles)

1/2 cup oats (old fashioned or Quick oats both work fine. I like old fashioned. If you are gluten sensitive, some people don't do well with oats, especially the rolled kind. You can also use 1/2 cup of cocoa, if you don't want to play Russian Roulette with you insides)

Some vanilla

Rolling magic: 1/3 c sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, dash of salt

Get after it:

Mix the sugar, egg, peanut butter, oatmeal, baking soda and vanilla together, about 2 minutes. At this point, you should be concerned; the batter is much thinner than regular batter.

Grab a pinch of dough anyways, and drop it onto a plate with Rolling Magic. Sprinkle the Magic over the ball of dough until covered, and gently form it into a ball, and drop it onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Though it will look suspiciously liquidy, rolling makes it much easier to handle and fail you the goober will not. Leave some room between them, as they will spread. If you want to do the fork press thing on top, go for it, but make sure it is pressed well, or you won't see it after baking.

Throw them in a heated 350 oven for about 12 minutes. Let them cool a couple minutes before gently letting them off the parchment and let them rest a bit, as they will firm a bit more, as the sugars and peanut butter turn into caramelly goo.

Yields about 30 cookies. That plate in the picture is what's left from last night's dinner. There were 4 of us. Read: double the recipe.