Cheddar Bacon Biscuit Bites

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Cheddar Bacon Biscuit Bites

Adapted from Southern Living

For the record, I'm no baker. But I found making, kneading, and baking these easy peesy. They wanted me to tell you they're delicious with cocktails before dinner. Or if you're good-God-fearing folk, they'll work as breakfast finger food. My husband wanted to state for the record they need jalapeños. Or more cayenne.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus more for dusting your board)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon mustard powder

good pinch dried thyme (optional)

good pinch (or 2!) cayenne

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used salted butter, out of the fridge for 1/2 hour)

12 slices bacon (not thin cut), cooked and crumbled

1 heaping (really heaping) cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup finely diced onion or shallot

1/2 cup whole milk

Optional: chopped canned jalapeño, sundried tomatos, or whatever kinky stuff you're into

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, mustard powder, thyme, and cayenne. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening or flour until crumbly (should be in little pea sized lumps amongst the flour - fairly well interspersed amongst it.) Stir in bacon, cheese and onion and any other additions you fancy (see above.) Add milk, stirring just until moistened. 

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times until you've got a cohesive little baby dough - adding flour over the tops and your hands as needed to keep from sticking. This will be somewhat hellacious if your kitchen is hot, just FYI. Otherwise it should be a fairly - I'd even say fun experience.

Pat your rolling pin down with flour and roll into an 8x9 inch rectangle. (I cheat this by trimming off the uneven edges and using them as treats for the guests in the kitchen.) Cut into 1x3 inch rectangles for biscuit fingers or 1 1/2x1 1/2 inch squares for appetizer bites. A pizza cutter, rolled in flour, can make this task easier if you're not that precise (like me) with a knife.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes until they look 'set'. Fair warning - the tops won't get really brown but they will rise a bit and look kind of done if you're paying attention. Check them sooner than later - they bottoms will get brown and if they're in much longer than they should be - they'll turn black.

* Can be made ahead, cooled and frozen in plastic bags. Reheat at 350 just until warmed through.

Jalapeno Cheese Bread Stuffing with Apples and Shallots

I made this on Thanksgiving confident it would trump my sister's famous sausage cornbread stuffing. It didn't. It's not that it wasn't good - it was just invited to the wrong party. My sis-in-law hit it on the head when she said it would go great with beef tenderloin or prime rib. No truer words have ever been spoken. If you had seen her ensemble that night you would know she knows what she's talking about!

**Make ahead tip: You can make the apple/bacon/shallot mixture the night before and keep in the fridge in a ziploc or tupperware container. The day of, just toast the bread cubes and toss with the already prepared mixture then add in the chicken stock, white wine, Parmesan, cheddar, and beaten eggs (and salt/pepper if needed.) Then just bake off as directed below.

Jalapeno Cheese Bread Stuffing with Apples and Shallots

Ingredients:
Dash of olive oil
8 oz Sunday cut bacon (or whatever type you prefer), snipped with kitchen shears into little strips
1 large shallot (about 1/3 cup) finely chopped
2 medium pink lady (or any other sweet/tart apple), cut into smallish cubes
1 medium jalapeno (seeds and ribs removed unless you like it HOT), minced (or 2 jalapenos if you are so inclined)
Sea salt or kosher salt for seasoning
Good pinch fresh ground black pepper
Good pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 cup apple brandy (Calvados or regular apple jack)
1/2 teaspoon dried English mustard (such as Coleman's)
1/2 lb (half of a 1 lb loaf) of Jalapeno cheese bread, cut into 1 inch cubes and toasted in the oven at 350 for 8-10 minutes just until dried out and 'toasty'
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock, plus extra
2 tablespoons dry white wine
3 tablespoons (freshly) grated Parmesan
1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
pinch salt, optional

Instructions:
Add the olive oil to a medium/large rimmed nonstick pan and bring over medium/high heat. Add in the bacon and cook (reduce heat if it begins to brown/pop and spit too quickly) until crisp - about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer the bacon to a holding plate. If you need extra fat for the bottom of the pan to cook the shallots, add another dash or two of olive oil then add the chopped shallots, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat until softened - about 5 minutes. Add in the apple and jalapeno and cook another 3-4 minutes, just until the apple begins to lose its rigid shape. Add over a dash of fresh grated nutmeg then raise the heat to high and add the apple brandy. Let come to a boil and reduce by about half - should only take a couple minutes. Kill the heat and stir in the dry mustard (you can sub a 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard if you don't have Coleman's. No biggie.) Add the reserved bacon back in and mix again.

At this point you can either let the mixture cool down and chill it in the refrigerator (if making the night before) or go on with the rest of the steps.

Spray a 9x9 Pyrex or baking dish with nonstick spray, or butter it if you're a purist in such areas. Set aside and preheat the oven to 375.

To the cooled apple/shallot mixture, gently add and toss in the toasted bread cubes. Stir in the chicken stock, white wine, Parmesan, cheddar, eggs until just combined. Here is where you need to use your gut. The mixture should appear slightly more wet than dry. I don't know how else to say it. If you think it's a little dry, add in more chicken stock. This is also a matter of personal preference - some people like their stuffing on the dry side; others vice versa. Follow your instincts. The only hard fast rule is that stuffing shouldn't go into the oven looking DRY. It will only get drier and before you know it you'll be cutting into a stuffing brownie. But maybe that's not a bad thing I don't know. Anyway, once it's to your liking, decide if you need another dash or pepper or salt (if you've added in quite a bit more stock this is doubtful) and pour the stuffing into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the edges are just a bit golden and the whole thing looks 'set.' You'll know it when you see it, trust me.

Piggy Back Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Sharp Cheddar Frico

Happy Valentine's Day! I realize this isn't exactly a date night main entree, but as you can see I'm a week behind in my posting to cooking ratio. No matter - this recipe is my Valentine's present to YOU. Have you ever made pulled pork sandwiches? I hadn't and for the Super Bowl, I searched high and low for the perfect recipe with a particular version in mind I'd had years ago made by a friend in her crock pot. When pushed for what she put in it, she said "a can of Coke and an onion." Hmm...some people sure are protective of their recipes. I didn't doubt that those two things were in there, but she was leaving out the rest of the goods. I filed the idea of pulled pork via crock pot and Coke away until last Sunday when the obsession for the perfect recipe returned in full force.

As usual, I didn't use any recipe I found, but went rogue like a gypsy mixing potions. Lots of recipes call for brown sugar in addition to soda or juice or other sweet liquid but it struck me as a fun challenge to think of other things to contribute sweetness and flavor (I don't get out much.)

One thing came to me right away - pickle relish. My grandmother used it in her tuna fish and I had fond memories of its sweet but sharp bite amongst savory ingredients, so in it went. Even if you're not a fan, I don't think it will put you off as it's not an in your face guest at the party but rather a sit-quietly-in-the-corner-scoping-out-the-ladies type.

The thing to remember about long slow cooking - be it via crock pot or stove top simmering (ragu/short ribs/etc.) is even though it's a wonderful way to slowly develop incredible flavor, you have to remember to give it a good slap in the face after all that relaxing to wake up the flavors. I know this seems counter intuitive but trust me on this one.

This is why I hold off my final arsenal of flavors until the very end. Molasses, tomato paste, and more relish and spices, cracked black pepper being the most important. I mean with all that sweetness going on, someone's got to be the grown up and look responsible. This is also where the pig on pig action comes into play. You know I'm a texture freak, which is why I love putting crisp cooked bacon slices on top of the sandwiches instead of adding snipped bacon in with the tenderloin at the beginning. But if you don't like the idea of bacon on top of pulled pork, you can cut the crisped bacon into 1/2 inch pieces instead, tossing them in with the shredded meat at the last minute before serving if you like. And if you're already breaking the rules, I advise tipping in any bacon grease from the pan and stirring it in. It may sound wrong, but it's so right, like two old friends reuniting after a long time apart.

The cheddar fricos were an unfortunate accidental discovery on my part. I was literally about to scold my husband on his inability to eat anything without cheese on top of it, mid bite of pulled pork sandwich, when I noticed a little slightly burnt spot of cheese on my pan of stuffed jalapenos. You can guess what happened next. And please do - I'm too embarrassed to say it out loud. Anyway, if you want to dive head on into gluttony as I have, make the cheddar fricos to go on top.

PS - we saw Wolfman yesterday. If you haven't seen it yet, don't bother. Just have a martini and put in the Jack Nicholsen/Michelle Pfeiffer movie Wolf from the nineties. It will seem like 'Best Picture' in comparison if not at least entertain you which is more than I can say for the sadly misguided Wolfman:(

Piggy Back Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Sharp Cheddar Frico
* This recipe should make at least 16-18 sandwiches.
* The pulled pork would also be excellent on nachos.
* Cheese Frico is not pictured because it was a last minute discovery.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of pork tenderloin (you can just get 2 one pound tenders)
1/2 cup Dr Pepper
2 tablespoons pickle relish
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons chopped shallot
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 heaping tablespoons molasses
2 heaping tablespoons double concentrated tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sweet pickled relish

8+ slices bacon, baked in a 350 oven for 15 minutes until crisp (if you're serving the all of the pulled pork, double the bacon called for so that you'll have extra slices for topping just in case. BUT if you're adding the bacon into the pulled pork versus putting it on top, you only need about 5 cooked snipped pieces and their grease. Anymore might dominate the other flavors.)
16-18 Hamburger buns
Cheddar Frico, recipe below

Instructions:
Place the tenderloins in a cold crock pot. Meanwhile, mix up the first set of ingredients - the Dr. Pepper through the teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Pour it into the crock pot over the tenderloins, and lift and mix them around to make sure they're all touched by its magic. Put the lid on and put the crock pot on the 'high' setting for 1 hour.

After one hour, lower the crock pot to the 'low' setting and cook for 6 hours, flipping the tenderloins over at some point, preferably midway through. After six hours, use a fork to check and see if the meat shreds easily when scraped with a fork. If it does, turn off the crock pot and let cool for a few minutes, then transfer the meat to a medium lidded pot and shred mercilessly, using two forks. (If it's not shred-able yet, keep cooking another 30 minutes to an hour until it is.)

Once shredded thoroughly, stir in the last set of ingredients - the molasses through the relish, blending well, and put over low heat on the stove. Simmer with the lid on or partially on, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. (During this time you can prepare the bacon and cheese frico to go on top.) Do a final taste for seasonings, adjusting any salt/pepper if necessary to taste.

Serve on the softest buns you can find, preferably those melt in your mouth potato rolls, stirring the meat well beforehand to evenly distribute the juices. Top with crispy bacon then frico, and serve.

Cheddar Fricos
* This isn't so much a recipe as a guide. All frico are is mounds of cheese baked or fried until they form flattened little crisps. I like to bake mine for ease, but it helps to have parchment paper or a silpat to keep them from sticking.
* 3 cups of cheese should yield 12 fricos, but this isn't a science - the size are up to you so you may need to adjust the amount of cheese called for if you're serving it on all the pork sandwiches.

Ingredients:
3 cups of shredded sharp cheddar
a silpat or parchment paper
a baking sheet

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400. Place the shredded cheese in little mounds (anywhere from a heaping tablespoon to whatever you like, just be aware of adjusting cooking time if you make them bigger) on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure you space the little mounds at least an inch apart as they spread out like a cookie when baking.

Bake for 5-7 minutes, just until melted and flattened out and the edges become golden brown. Remove and let cool for 2 minutes before transferring with a spatula to your sandwiches. If you want them even crispier, transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Something to consider for the Super Bowl...

Or when it's 20 degrees which seems to be every night in New York this winter.

Let me start by saying I have no problem with the classic, good 'ol American grilled cheese. But this version ever so humbly blows the socks off the original. It's actually a little embarrassing.

And while I served these with a salad for dinner, I do think they'd be perfect Super Bowl finger food cut into little triangles. You can even fry up a big batch of the sandwiches then keep them warm in a low oven until you're ready to cut and serve them. They'll just sit in the oven happy as taxidermy, all gooey on the inside and crispy on the outside until kick off.

Gooey Goat and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese with Bacon
* This filling will make 3 sandwiches, or 12 'triangles' when cut cross wise from corner to corner as an app.
* If omitting the bacon, I'd use salted butter for more flavor, but then again I'm a salt addict.

Ingredients:
6 slices of sourdough bread
Butter, to spread

2.5 oz goat cheese, room temp
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (not fresh mozzarella, your regular bagged variety)
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
6-8 drops Tabasco (hot sauce)
1/4 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard (the all American ballpark kind)
Fresh cracked pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter plus a dash of olive oil

6-8 slices of bacon, baked on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes until crisp then patted dry and cut in half

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325.

Mix the goat cheese, mozzarella, mayo, salt, Tabasco, mustard, and pepper together in a small bowl, using a fork to help things along. Set aside. Meanwhile, spread 3 of the sourdough slices with butter on one side. Spread the cheese filling onto the remaining 3 slices, making sure the filling is evenly distributed across and not going over the edge. Add the bacon over the cheese spread, as much or as little as you want.

Now you can put the sandwiches together by placing the buttered slices, butter side-down on top of the cheese and bacon. Press the sandwiches gently but firmly together, pushing your palms down on them to help them stick.

Heat the 3 tablespoons butter and dash of oil in a large, rimmed, nonstick skillet. There should be enough butter, once melted and swirled around by tilting the pan, to coat the entire bottom with a thin layer. If not, add more butter until it does.

Once hot but not to the point of browning on you, add the sandwiches, spreading out evenly in the pan. These will cook quickly, so don't leave them. After about a minute, use a spatula to lift one, checking to see if your crust has become golden yet. If so, flip carefully but immediately to the other side, gently pushing the sandwiches around in the pan to soak up any leftover butter (by now some of it will have browned, adding that wonderful nutty flavor.) Cook just another 30 seconds or so until golden, then transfer to a baking rack fitted over a baking sheet and transferring to the oven to continue heating through and melting the cheese, about 8 minutes. If not serving right away, lower the heat to 200.

Remove, cut, and serve.

Golden Pan Seared Chicken with Quick Bacon Tomato Sauce

Tomato paste is the Spanx of ingredients. It gives an instant lift to practically anything - that little somethin' something'. You can use it for its hit-you-over-the-head tomato kick or simply to round out an unbalanced sauce by adding just a dab.

Here I do want that hit-you-over-the-head tomato flavor to play off the salty bacon and sweet shallots, but as you can see it doesn't take much. And I should caveat that when I say 'sauce' here, I don't mean the traditional Italian grandma kind you make by the bucket full. By the time you reduce the white wine and stir in the paste, there will be just enough of it to coat the chicken in its auburn stickiness. But what it lacks in volume it makes up for in flavor. (Spanx, remember?)

The most exciting part of making this is that you have a chance to steer the fates of others with a simple wave of your wooden spoon. You can add a luscious hit of carmelized garlic at the end cooking by mushing the cloves into the pan sauce (1 or both - depends on how much garlic flavor you want) or you can omit them. Garlic haters will never know it was there as the cloves remain whole throughout cooking infusing the sauce with an ever so subtle but important sweetness. As for me - I mushed in a clove on my own plate to avoid any grief from the husband. He tends to side with the vampires on that particular vegetable...

Golden Pan Seared Chicken with Quick Bacon Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
kosher or sea salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
pinch sea or kosher salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly 'smashed'
4 strips good quality bacon, snipped with kitchen shears into 1/4 inch wide strips
1/3 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
1/4 teaspoon double concentrated tomato paste, such as Amore brand

Instructions:
Season your chicken on one side with salt and pepper then lightly dredge both sides in flour shaking off excess. Set aside. Add your olive oil and butter to a large, rimmed skillet and bring over medium heat until melted and coating the entire bottom. Add the shallots and garlic cloves to the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper and cook, stirring every so often until softened - about 5 minutes. If they fry and spit too much when you add them, reduce the heat a little. Slow and steady is the key to bringing out their sweetness plus you don't want to burn the garlic. Add in the bacon, stirring in and letting cook for another 5-7 minutes until cooked through and lightly crispy but not hard.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the pan from the heat and transfer the bacon/shallots/garlic to a small bowl and set aside, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible. Bring the pan back over medium heat, adding in more olive oil if for some reason the pan looks dry. Once hot again, add the chicken breasts, placing them evenly around the pan and getting a nice sear.

Let cook for about 4 minutes on the first side (you can pick up the corner of one with your tongs - if it's nice and golden, it's ready to flip.) Then carefully flip and cook another 3-4 minutes on the second side or until cooked through. IF YOU HAVE UNUSUALLY THICK CHICKEN BREASTS, YOU CAN TRANSFER THEM TO A 350 OVEN TO LET FINISH COOKING OTHERWISE THE LEFTOVER RESIDUE ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR PAN MAY BEGIN TO GET TOO DARK AND BURN.

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the chicken to a plate and tint with foil to keep warm. Put the pan back on the heat and pour over the white wine or vermouth. Bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and reduce the wine by half. At this point, lower the heat and dump the shallot mixture back in stirring well to blend with the wine. Stir in the tomato paste then add your chicken breasts back in, nestling in the sauce to coat (I like to turn them over in it) and letting warm back through for a couple of minutes with the heat on low.

At this point you can decide the fate of the garlic cloves - either mushing them into the sauce or tossing them out - then plate up, piling the sticky shallot and bacon mixture over the top of each breast.

A Sad Tribute to the Cowboys Loss - Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Chicken

I know, I know - no picture. But trust me, the one I took was so ugly I couldn't bring myself to share it. The battery was dying on my camera and my husband was starving, so I snapped a quick one in low light. The end result had a horror movie quality not seen since the height of the slasher era in the early 80's. So instead I uploaded a random pic of my Texas vacation in October. Someone it seems, had lost a longhorn. If you've seen it, call them.

Anyhow, this recipe is a tasty one and I love it because you can prep it ahead and keep in the fridge before baking off. Just flatten the breasts, stuff them, roll them and wrap them in bacon, then cover on your baking sheet with plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Just remember to give them 20-30 minutes at room temp to lose their chill.

Bacon Wrapped, Jalapeno Popper Chicken
• Serves 3.

Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts flattened to 1/4 inch evenly all over

Filling:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large shallots, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 medium jalapenoes, seeded and finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup ricotta
3/4 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon dried mustard
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

6 slices of bacon

Instructions:
Start with the filling. Heat up the olive oil and butter in a large, nonstick skillet for 30 seconds over medium heat. Add the shallots and jalapenoes, season with salt and pepper, and saute until soft - about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the ricotta, cheddar, dried mustard and additional salt. Let the filling cool slightly while you prep the chicken.

Rinse and dry your breasts, then pound to about 1/4 thickness. Divide the mixture evenly over the center of each of the breasts, then use a butter knife or spoon to spread evenly over, stopping about 1/8 inch near all edges to prevent leakage. Then, beginning at the widest part of your breasts, carefully roll them up. Take your bacon and wrap each chicken roll with the bacon (usually two pieces of bacon per chicken.) Transfer to a Pam sprayed, aluminum lined baking sheet.

Bake on 400 for 18-22 minutes, or until bacon is crisped on the outside and chicken is cooked all the way through. Let rest for 3 minutes before serving.

PS - I have this post listed under potatoes because the night I made this, I only had two chicken breasts and used the leftover cheese/jalapeno mixture (about 1/3 cup) to add to 4 medium boiled red potatoes, mashed with a splash of lowfat milk, and it made the best mashed potatoes I've had in a long time!

Pasta with Bacon, Pecorino, Artichoke, and Black Pepper

Calling all food nerds out there. Are you a Giada or a Lidia?

While there's no shortage of celebrity chefs associated with Italian food (not to snub you Mario), I personally tend to think of either Giada DeLaurentiis or Lidia Bastianich. While maybe not as legitimate a chef as Lidia, I have to credit Giada with opening my eyes to Italian food beyond red sauce and pasta (what can I say - I'm a Texas girl...) In fact, it was watching early episodes of Everyday Italian that actually got me into the kitchen in the first place. Her easy breezy, laid back California way of talking you through a recipe (i.e. 'you can do it - it's not that hard') was exactly why I liked her show all those years ago when I was too scared to turn on my Cuisinart, preferring instead for it just to sit on my counter and look pretty. So I have a special place in my heart for her (I even went to her book signing when we lived in Minneapolis. She seemed very sweet, despite the plethora of pervs hovering to get a look at her 'girl's', which she had under safely under wraps in a turtleneck.)

But lately, I lean a little more towards Lidia Bastianich. I swear, that woman could prepare pigs' eyes and find a way to make you drool over them. Her show on PBS picks up where Food Network's glossy but simplified cooking shows leave off (again - I'm not snubbing it - Food Network is entirely responsible for my learning and loving to cook.)

But Lidia can literally conjure up Italy in your living room, talking about the sights and smells and people in a way that makes you want to say damn-it-all and hop a plane there right away. (Instead, I end up going into my kitchen to putter around, but maybe one day I'll book that ticket!)

This dish is based on a black pepper and pecorino pasta she made on Lidia's Italy recently. I changed it up a bit, but the spirit of Lidia was with me all the way, encouraging me to savor every smell, every taste, and texture. (And don't even think of using that gray, dried up pepper powder in the back of your pantry. Fresh cracked makes the dish!)

So as Lidia says: Tutti a Tavola…a Mangiare!

Pasta with Bacon, Pecorino, Artichoke, and Black Pepper

Ingredients:
8 oz bite sized pasta such as bow tie or cork screw (I used Colavita Radiators 69 which was great)
2 heaping tablespoons kosher salt for salting your pasta water
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 slices best quality bacon, snipped with kitchen shears into little 1/4 inch pieces (I use Apple Gate 'Sunday' bacon which is nitrate free and is excellent)
8 oz frozen artichoke hearts, preferably thawed a little
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 a cup grated pecorino romano + 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan
couple of ladles of pasta water
1-2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper, or to suit your taste

For garnish:
extra pecorino or parmesan
extra fresh cracked pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped


Instructions:
Heat a large pot of water over high heat, bringing it to a boil, but hold off adding your pasta to it until directed to do so. Meanwhile, start your bacon frying over medium heat in a large, rimmed skillet in the 2 teaspoons olive oil. Fry, stirring frequently for about five minutes, until the bacon has begun to crisp and brown. Add your artichokes to the bacon and as they begin to cook, break them up a little with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking, stirring every so often, for about 10-12 minutes until some of the edges begin to brown just slightly.

At this point, add the salt to your boiling pasta water, stir to bring back to a boil, and add your pasta. Going back to your artichokes and bacon, add the 1/4 cup of white wine and scrape up all of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking over a low simmer until the majority of the wine has evaporated - about 7 minutes or the time it takes your pasta to cook to al dente.

Using a spider or slotted spoon, strain the pasta and add it to your bacon and artichokes. Stir in your cheeses, along with a ladle or two from your pasta water to help create a sauce and help the cheese to melt in. Stir in your fresh cracked black pepper (as much as you want - its earthy weightiness is lovely against the sharp tang from the Pecorino) and taste for salt (I didn't need any but this is a personal thing.)

Serve with a choice of garnishes, or all three.