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Food52There has never been a more one-of-a-kind pizza like the bar pizza. For the most part they are never good, many times they are awful, but that has never stopped anybody from ordering one. Patrons order them because they are drinking. Combine it with hunger and it makes these pizzas far better then they would ever be if a shot of better judgement was in hand. Without exception a bar pizza reigns over the pink pickled eggs languishing in the murky liquid of the large glass jar back by the whisky. Bar pizzas are also infinitely better then the microwavable cups of Spaghetti-Os or the burritos ensconced in a cardboard tortilla. Even so, that doesn't make them good. Here is the catch, in Indiana this food exists and maintains a life all its own because in Indiana if a bar sells liquor by the drink it has to be able to serve food to a minimum of 25 people at all times. On top of that many bars(mostly working class bars) don't have room for a kitchen much less the money for one. To get around this law most bar fly type establishments bring in a microwave, a toaster oven labeled as a pizza oven, or a snack rack where pork rinds rule. Sporks and disposable tableware abide, as do paper towels used as napkins. It is less then the bare minimum and ordering anything while the bartender is busy is likely to make him/her hate you. In the moment though, when hunger and alcohol meet, a bar pizza is the best pizza ever. It doesn't happen often but it does happen enough that people continue to order them. If all things aline, it hits the sweet spot—that meaty place on the bat that makes hitting a home run feel effortless. In food speak it is the moment when something is at its best, it is perfectly ripe for eating, and waiting longer is to watch perfection in its decline. Here is the problem, why would I want to make one of these awful pizzas at home? If I do make them at home it doesn't mean I am drinking at home, well not often anyway. It means I have kids, kids that want pizza—all the time. I make a great pizza dough. I make great pizza but then there are those nights where I don't want too. It is readily apparent to me why I need to perfect this pizza. Make it a dinner everyone requests on any given night. The point is, this is a great pizza to have in your back pocket and I never would have thought much about it until I read an article at Serious Eats. At that moment I knew I was going to start making bar pizzas, I was diving in deep and going for it, and I did. Like lots of recipes though, and maybe even more so, this one takes practice. Myself, I always make a recipe three times before I give up on it and in this case it took all three times. It's okay, there is nothing wrong with eating your mistakes when it comes to food. Besides it is not a lot of work and here is why. My kids love spaghetti and there is rarely a day I don't have a homemade tomato sauce of some kind in the fridge. Bacon, ham, salami, or even pepperoni are always in the deli drawer. I almost always have some sort of mozzarella too, either fresh or grated. I have taken too keeping tortillas in the freezer for quesadillas, so adding tortillas as pizza crusts to the list of uses is a plus. . Even so, if you had none of these specific ingredients you have something, say eggs, ham, and gruyere. If not you won't make this pizza anyway. But as I said, I am looking for the sweet spot, with practice I found it, and ever since making bar pizzas is like effortlessly hitting one out of the park. 1. When it is time to sauce the tortilla put a dollop of sauce in the middle of the tortilla and using the back of the spoon spiral your way to the outer edge. If this were a regular pizza I would tell you to stop short of the edge by about 1/2-inch but with this kind of pizza take the ingredients to the edge. It keeps the tortilla from being charred beyond recognition. 2. I have used all kinds of pans to make this pizza, stainless steel, enamel, cast iron and a comal (pictured). I like the camol best but I also know not everyone has a comal. I made these in a 12-inch cast iron skillet for a long time before I started using the comal. I use a comal simply for ease of access to the tortilla. I makes the pizza easier to assemble. 3. Turn on the broiler before taking anything out of the fridge or putting a pan on the stove. It needs time to get hot. 4. Keep all the ingredients at pans edge. These go fast and you have to be ready with the ingredients. 5. It is important to brown the the tortilla deeply before turning it. If it isn’t brown enough the pizza will lack the crunch that makes it so good. 6. Place the top oven rack 7 to 8 inches from the broiler. This prevents the pizza from cooking to fast and keeps the edges from burning.Food NetworkMy mom, Angel, has always been the best cook in the neighborhood and everybody knew it. In the 1970s and '80s, when most of my friends were eating fast food and processed junk, all the kids wanted to come to my house for dinner. (We weren't going to go to the neighbors' houses to eat TV dinners.) This is one of the meals Mom would fix when I was growing up because it was easy, delicious and inexpensive, and it fed a crowd. This was my introduction to braising, the first braised dish I ever made-and I didn't even know we were braising. Mom called it pot roast and we had it weekly. And in true Italian pot roast fashion, we'd eat it over rigatoni. I now sometimes serve it over soft polenta with mascarpone, another excellent option. It showed me how much I loved the deep complex flavors of braises generally, which I prefer to eat over just about any other kind of dish. One of the pleasures of this meal is the big chunks of carrots and celery root that cook in that delicious liquid for four hours; they take on all the flavors of the braising liquid. They don't taste like carrots and celery root anymore; they taste like a steak, and that's why they're so good. A couple of critical steps in this recipe are getting a good sear on the meat and caramelizing the vegetables in the pot before deglazing. Beyond that, the red sauce is critical. And I also think it's important that a third of the meat be above the liquid-one of the factors that for me defines braising-so pot size is important; it shouldn't be so small that the meat is submerged or so big that the meat is sitting in just an inch of liquid.Food.comOf all my contest submissions, this is the one I'm most proud of. These appetizers are sure to impress your guests. They are a marriage of all kinds of textures and flavours. They are worth the effort and everything can be prepared up to one day in advance. It is even better to prepare the salsa a few hours before, as the flavours will develop. The tortilla chips, stored in an airtight container, will even keep a week or so! If Indian curry paste is not available in your supermarket, you will probably find it in an Asian store. I use the brand Patak's. Korma is a mild and Madras a hot curry paste. All table- and teaspoons are measured levelled, but this is particular important for the curry paste. That's why it is explicitly mentioned.Food52What can I say guys? I think this is the best recipe I’ll ever create. Maybe I’ve peaked. I’m so giddy and elated over this new fifteen minute creation. It is a minimal ingredient recipe and each ingredient is supremely important. I start off this recipe as if I were going to make a Cacio e Pepe, so lots of fresh cracked pepper, olive oil, and butter (I recommend using a plant based butter or a French salted butter.) Tomatoes reduce into a bubbling gravy bath of black garlic, tarragon, and cracked pepper. Black garlic is an aged and caramelized form of garlic that lends a molasses like umami to this dish. The heirloom tomatoes are juicy, flavorful, and convivial and while you don’t need to use heirloom tomatoes, go for a variety that is truly ripe and perhaps local. This ensures that you will get the most flavor out of your tomatoes. Tarragon adds a licorice bite and harmonizes with the black garlic beautifully. These elements are simply meant to be. Now, you may think, why are you using black garlic in this family recipe? It’s a specialty ingredient and it can be a bit pricey. I remain conscious of costs as we are very much on a budget. This is why I don’t make cashew creams and sauces. I don’t find that sustainable for our family at this time. However, we eat a load of beans and lentils. We don’t buy meat or fish. So there is wiggle room. Therefore, we can enjoy this as a special recipe and this is something I’ll definitely cook up for friends. In the end, it’s a convenient and quick recipe. With candles, ambiance, and wine, you may just feel like you’re at a restaurant.Food52Every good cook has their secret resources— the place where they source quality ingredients that can really take a dish to the next level. My not-so-secret resource is The Japanese Pantry, who source ingredients made by Japanese food artisan families who have been making these products for generations. Founders Chris and Greg once invited me to a tasting, and let’s just say I’ve never been able to purchase a bottle of conventional soy sauce, sesame oil, or vinegar since! When I lived in the countryside of Japan, it was hard not to notice that many Japanese food artisans were shuttering or struggling during a time when convenience foods were often more economical and available in modern Japan. At the same time, many of us in the US are yearning for a return to artisan-level quality. That’s why I think the work of The Japanese Pantry is doing so important in preserving and sharing the traditions of food artisans in Japan, and in turn, stemming the tide of forgetting. As a Japanese American myself, I’m grateful to The Japanese Pantry for doing this important and profound work, and for giving me access to these incredible makers and ingredients. One of my regular purchases is the Pure Rice Vinegar from Io Jozo, a 123-year-old vinegar company located on the Sea of Japan, near the town of Miyazu. Today, the company is run by Akihiro Iio, the fifth generation. The process to make the rice vinegar is incredibly labor intensive; the Iio family even makes their own sake from which the vinegar is made. The vinegar takes about 100 days in total to make, compared to the larger rice vinegar companies that produce their rice vinegar in just one day’s time. Iio Jozo also uses only 100% pesticide-free, new-harvest rice. They use 200 grams of rice to make one liter of vinegar, which is five times the minimum amount required by Japanese law. To me, that paints a picture of just how high quality and special one bottle of this magical vinegar really is! Perhaps luckily (or dangerously), Chris and Greg also happen to live (separately) near me! They generously provided me a bottle of my favorite rice vinegar to play with, and I enjoyed coming up with this simple recipe that I will definitely add to my rotation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed developing (and eating) it!Food52Every good cook has their secret resources— the place where they source quality ingredients that can really take a dish to the next level. My not-so-secret resource is The Japanese Pantry, who source ingredients made by Japanese food artisan families who have been making these products for generations. Founders Chris and Greg once invited me to a tasting, and let’s just say I’ve never been able to purchase a bottle of conventional soy sauce, sesame oil, or vinegar since! When I lived in the countryside of Japan, it was hard not to notice that many Japanese food artisans were shuttering or struggling during a time when convenience foods were often more economical and available in modern Japan. At the same time, many of us in the US are yearning for a return to artisan-level quality. That’s why I think the work of The Japanese Pantry is doing so important in preserving and sharing the traditions of food artisans in Japan, and in turn, stemming the tide of forgetting. As a Japanese American myself, I’m grateful to The Japanese Pantry for doing this important and profound work, and for giving me access to these incredible makers and ingredients. One of my regular purchases is the Pure Rice Vinegar from Io Jozo, a 123-year-old vinegar company located on the Sea of Japan, near the town of Miyazu. Today, the company is run by Akihiro Iio, the fifth generation. The process to make the rice vinegar is incredibly labor intensive; the Iio family even makes their own sake from which the vinegar is made. The vinegar takes about 100 days in total to make, compared to the larger rice vinegar companies that produce their rice vinegar in just one day’s time. Iio Jozo also uses only 100% pesticide-free, new-harvest rice. They use 200 grams of rice to make one liter of vinegar, which is five times the minimum amount required by Japanese law. To me, that paints a picture of just how high quality and special one bottle of this magical vinegar really is! Perhaps luckily (or dangerously), Chris and Greg also happen to live (separately) near me! They generously provided me a bottle of my favorite rice vinegar to play with, and I enjoyed coming up with this simple recipe that I will definitely add to my rotation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed developing (and eating) it!Food52Other than the thought of the initial financial investment in a wonderful standing rib roast, the very thought of having to actually cook it might be the greatest concern of the everyday kitchen mechanic such as myself. Most of us reserve our partaking of this wonderful cut of meat for visits to restaurants that specialize in doing a great job of presenting moist, succulent roasts. While the whole slice of rib roast is wonderful, I most love the area nearer the center, where the meat is truly medium rare. You see, most people will start the roast at a very high temperature (often 450-500°) to "sear" the outside of the roast for the first 30-60 minutes, then lower the temperature to a more normal 325-350° to complete the roasting. This initial searing heats the outer portion of the roast and creates an area of an inch or more around the outer edge of each slice that is cooked more than the central portion of the slice. So if you order a 12-ounce slice of roast (you wouldn't stop at a mere 8 ounces, would you?!), you usually get only half of that cooked to your liking. So (I said to myself), why not low/slow-roast the rib roast as one would a, oh, say, brisket or chuck roast...only not so long? The lower temperature will permeate the meat more evenly and gently, giving a more consistent level of doneness throughout the slice. Pan-searing before sticking it in the oven provides for that lovely crust on the outside, yet the inner portion is evenly roasted throughout. A 12 ounce slice of this roast yields about 11 1/2 ounces of perfectly roasted meat! Of course, a proper standing rib roast starts with a proper roast. It should have been dry aged for at least 21 days. The ribs should still be attached, though they can be cut off and then tied back on. It is important that the bones be there for the added flavor they impart. A side note: This roasting method does not boil the juices out of the meat. Therefore, don't plan on having enough drippings to make Yorkshire pudding or even gravy. Next day: Make sure you save a couple slices about 1 1/4" thick. Grill them the next day (45 seconds, rotate, 45 seconds, flip, 45 secnds, rotate, 45 seconds, rest 5 minutes) and serve them with my horseradish butter (1/4 cup butter, 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce). If there's any left after that, try some good old-fashioned roast beef hash!Food.comThis is a very easy, "no mixer" bread to make. It is very moist and a little heavy type banana bread. The really important thing to remember is using all black bananas to get my same results. I always use 5 medium sized bananas and this recipe makes 2 loaves. Also, I've never used buttermilk, but sour milk instead..a little vinegar added to regular milk. I've used this recipe since 1972 and last year made 32 loaves to give away for Christmas! It's truly a wonderful bread. I only bake it until the toothpick comes out almost clean, as we like it really moist. If you over bake it, or wait til the toothpick is completely clean, the bread will be a lot dryer. I realize some like it this way, so thats why I've given this hint. My family and friends would rather have it a little under done than over. It's so good with coffee, butter/jelly or I like mine just plain. I bake it in tin foil pans and it freezes wonderfully. I try to always have one or two in the freezer for company, or a little gift. This recipe came from a ladies club cookbook. The kind where everyone contributes recipes, they are made into a recipe book and sold to make money for charities. All the cooks are just plain "down home" country gals that produce miracles in the kitchen. It's my favorite cookbook and I've almost worn it out and it can't be replaced. I know there are many banana bread recipes here, so thanks for trying this recipe. I hope you enjoy it!Food.comThis recipe is from Pasta Cooking by Jeni Wright, c. 2002. The cook's tips (from the book) are as follows: 1) Since the oil is such an important ingredient here, only use the very best cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, 2) Don't use salt in the oil and garlic mixture because it will not dissolve sufficiently. This is why plenty of salt is recommended for cooking the pasta.
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