Love Me Tender Tartlets

On Wednesday I attended a "Top Chef" viewing party. Just sitting around watching "Top Chef" isn't much of a party, so we all made a dish inspired by Las Vegas, the location for this season. Bridget, our hostess, made it clear that our food could be either "classy or trashy." Limitless possibilities.

I've never been to Vegas. Everyone yells at me when I say that, but I'm not into gambling or strip clubs, so that removes 75% of the draw right there. When I think Vegas, I think Elvis. And no food says Elvis like a peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich. Just slapping together a PBB&B doesn't really count as cooking in my book. So I decided to fancy it up a bit. I wanted appetizer-size portions, as this was going to be served at a party. Maybe this would be the time to put my mini-muffin pan to use.

Jim deserves the credit for this dish, really. He came up with making a shell out of peanut butter cookie and filling it with banana pudding. Inspired! And listen, I know just moments ago I complained that making a sandwich isn't cooking, so using store-bought cookie dough is kinda hypocritical. It is, I fully admit that. But I have a job and stuff, and I can't just be making cookies from scratch all the time. I know how to make peanut butter cookies. There is no challenge for me there. So I cheated. I used a tube of cookie dough. So shoot me. This was the first of many, eh, challenges. Because cookie dough rises. A lot. A lot more than you think it will when you smoosh it down into a mini-muffin tin.

I melon-ballered my way out of ruin. The cookie crusts weren't exactly what I had in mind, but they were peanut-buttery, and that was their purpose in life.


Next, the filling. Pudding is a common vehicle for banana, and it would dollop into my crusts nicely. Plus, I had a ton of eggs on hand. So I made banana pudding. From scratch. I'm not super into banana, but this was good. Panic did set in for a moment, that moment when you think, I've been whisking an awfully long time, and the recipe said this was going to start thickening. Why isn't it thickening?! Why can't I even make stupid pudding? I am a failur.... Oh, wait, now it's getting thick. Phew. Nevermind.


And for the final touch: BACON! So, this is sorta weird, I know, and I was kinda nervous. I didn't know who would be at this party, maybe they would think I was nuts. Maybe they wouldn't be the kind of people to try chocolate-covered bacon on a stick or a Maple Bacon Latte. But then I thought, do I really want to be associating with people like that? No, I do not. So I fried up my bacon and sprinkled it on top of those innocent little tartlets and they were transformed into Something Different.


Did my Love Me Tender Tartlets jettison to the top of my go-to party food list? No. But they'll go down as one of the more interesting dishes I've made. And I think it's safe to say they definitely fit the bill of a "Top Chef," Vegas inspired dish.