Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies

This Year's Dallas Holiday Bakeoff is a contest between the Shepard sisters. Click here for Kristin's entry.

Kristin may have been the more devious Shepard sister, but Sue Ellen was definitely the classier one. Nobody exudes style like Sue Ellen. Among her many memorable looks, the most iconic was the black and white dress from the fourth season, which she was wearing when she was arrested for shooting J.R. (spoiler: it was really her sister Kristin who did it!).

These Black and White Cookies pay homage to that iconic look, a buttery vanilla cookie half-dipped in dark chocolate. They taste as good as they look and would certainly give Sue Ellen the upper hand she needs to best Kristin.

Sue Ellen's Black and White Cookies
Base cookie recipe adapted from Do-Almost-Anything Vanilla Cookie Dough by Dorie Greenspan

(Note: the ingredients represent a half-recipe from Greenspan's original recipe. I realize that I used both grams and ounces below; however, the gram measurements are from the original recipe and the ounces refer to ingredients packaged by the weight as indicated, so you don't actually have to weigh them.)

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
131 grams (2/3 cup) sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
272 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
8 oz. dark chocolate (I used 2 Ghirardelli 60% cacao baking bars)
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil

1. Combine butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times while mixing. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract and mix on low speed, then add the flour in 3 or 4 additions, mixing on low speed as you add it. Scrape down the bowl as you go to evenly mix the dough.

2. Cut two large sheets of parchment paper and place the dough between the two sheets. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a consistent thickness of about 1/4 inch. Place the dough on a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours or freeze for 1 hour.

3. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 F.

4. Carefully peel away the parchment from the rolled out dough (remove the top parchment first; carefully flip the dough over onto a clean sheet of parchment and then remove the other parchment). Using a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Collect dough scraps and re-roll as needed to use as much of the dough as possible.

5. Bake cookies until the edges a lightly golden, about 19 to 21 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets top-to-bottom halfway through baking. Remove cookies from oven and cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch pieces. Place a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for about 1 minute. Stir the mixture, then microwave on high for 15 to 30 second increments, stirring after each heating, until the chocolate is almost completely melted, then stir the mixture until it is completely melted (the residual heat will melt and remaining chunks; you want to be careful not to over-microwave the chocolate, as it can burn). Stir in the vegetable oil. Transfer the mixture to a contain a tallish container--something that's barely wider than the cookies is ideal, like a coffee mug. Dip each cookie halfway into the melted chocolate, then transfer the cookie to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicon to dry. Place the cookies in the refrigerator to firm up the chocolate.

Related

Dallas Holiday Bakeoff 2016: Kristin's Peanut Butter Ginger Cookies
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Restaurant: Sfoglina (Washington, D.C.)

When I moved to the Van Ness neighborhood 10 years ago, about the best thing people said about its restaurant options was that there were a lot of sandwiches: Subway, Quiznos, Jerry's, Schlotsky's and Potbelly. Otherwise, there was a pretty grim selection of rather mediocre options, including a couple of subpar Chinese restaurants, an Indian restaurant I heard was not good, a combination Taco Bell/KFC and Tesoro, an Italian restaurant catering to the Days Inn guests and Tim Russert that failed to impress us enough to warrant a second visit.

Since then, this little enclave of businesses around the University of the District of Columbia has finally started attracting some decent to pretty remarkable places to eat. All of the aforementioned places except Subway, Potbelly and Tesoro are now gone. Today, Van Ness boasts a decent pho outlet, a pretty good Thai restaurant, an attractive restaurant/wine bar, a promising market and a James Beard award-nominated bakery.

With Sfoglina, Van Ness finally gets a full-service restaurant with A-list credibility. It's the fourth D.C. restaurant from the city's reigning duo of top-quality Italian cuisine: Chef Fabio Trabocchi and his wife/business partner Maria. First came Fiola, the downtown establishment known for its amazing lobster ravioli that recently was awarded a Michelin star, then Casa Luca, another downtown outlet that's more causal and less expensive (but just as tasty), and then Fiola Mare, the seafood-focused restaurant in Georgetown.

The Trabocchis' other restaurants have always been known for their pastas, which take center-stage at Sfoglina, which literally means "pasta maker." At present, the menu offers three classic pasta dishes and four seasonal choices, plus daily specials. Both of the pastas we ordered were absolute stunners. I had corzetti with mushrooms, a wonderfully woodsy flavor match for the perfectly al dente pasta coins served with a just-buttery-enough sauce offset with fresh herbs. My husband got the meaty Agnolotti del Plin, ravioli-like pasta stuffed with beef short ribs and served with a parmesan and rosemary sauce, a wonderfully wintery pasta. A side of roasted cauliflower was a great way to add some additional vegetables to the meal.

Our pastas went down easy with the restaurant's interesting selection of Italian wines, which includes about a dozen by-the-glass options like the bold Tolaini Valdisanti, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and cabernet franc. Want something stronger? There's also a short cocktail menu that includes a sensational "Van Ness" Manhattan made with byrrh quinquina and orange bitters.

The run-up to our main course was good, although not nearly as stellar. A salad of arugula, citrus, soft cheese and pomegranate arils is a good way to get some greens into the meal. Sfoglina's house bread, a crisp, crackery affair that arrives in a bag, is more interesting for its story (printed on the bag) than its flavor. Perhaps some spreads would make this initial offering more interesting. Caramelized vanilla pudding with chocolate provided a satisfying sweet end.

Service at Sfoglina was friendly and prompt. There was a bit of unevenness, but I think that's probably because the restaurant hasn't even been open to the public for a week. One of our servers butchered a few descriptions of the menu items and another was kinda pushy with the dessert menu when we'd said we wanted to sit a bit and finish our wine. These are pretty minor issues among a team that's otherwise polite and professional.

I love the design of the restaurant, which is warm and cozy. It's a fairly small space--not nearly as expansive as Fiola or Casa Luca--fitting with its status as a neighborhood restaurant. I also really appreciate that it's not nearly as noisy as most new restaurants these days. I'd read that smart design choices help dampen the noise at Sfoglina, which I really appreciate.

Sfoglina does face a few challenges, and it will be interesting to see how it handles them. For starters, the restaurant is sort of "out of the way," in comparison to the Trabocchis' other establishments. Van Ness, while on the up-and-up, is not a "hot" food zone like Shaw nor as highly trafficked an area as downtown or Georgetown. Sfoglina is also fairly expensive for the area--priced about the same as Casa Luca--probably about the most expensive restaurant north of Cleveland Park. As well heeled as the neighborhood is, this puts Sfoglina in a category of nearby restaurants we might enjoy for special occasions, but it's too heavy a hit on the wallet for us to warrant becoming regulars. For this reason, I doubt it will actually steal much of the tourist traffic away from Tesoro across the street.

Despite these challenges, I have high hopes that Sfoglina will succeed. It's nice to have an option like this in Van Ness, a neighborhood that has long been in need of a top-quality restaurant. Sfoglina's warm atmosphere and top-shelf pastas are an exciting draw in a corner of the city that's becoming tastier all the time.

Sfoglina, 4445 Connecticut Ave NW (In the new Park Ness building). (202) 450-1312. Reservations: Reserve.

Related

Restaurant: Fiola (Washington, D.C.)

Restaurant: Casa Luca (Washington, D.C.)

Scared, But Not Scared Off: How a Gunman Interrupted Our Lunch and a Community Stands With Comet

Where I grew up, I could walk half a mile to the closest main street. However, all it offered were car dealerships, and the sole business of potential interest to foot traffic, a record store, was bulldozed in the mid-80s to make way for...another car dealership. We lived in a nice neighborhood: it just didn't have good commercial amenities we could walk to.

I'm very luck that where I live now provides easy access to many amenities within short walking distance, particularly the one-block commercial strip along Connecticut Avenue just south of Nebraska Avenue that's just a few blocks away from me. It's a little too far north to be Van Ness and a little too far south to be Chevy Chase. Although technically it straddles two neighborhoods, I've taken calling it Forest Hills, which is both bigger and better known locally than the other option (Wakefield).

The area is home to a CVS, two dry cleaners, three gas stations, a nail salon, a chiropractor, a bank, a liquor store, a kitchen remodeler, a paint store, an art gallery/framing shop, some law offices, a small market/cafe, five full-service restaurants, and the strip's best-known business, Politics & Prose, a popular independent bookstore that survives and thrives in the Amazon era. It's a wonderfully varied collection of mostly independent businesses providing a sort of "small town within the big city" feel for the local inhabitants and any Connecticut Avenue commuters on their way in or out of town.

My husband and I have lived nearby for more than 10 years. We eat out in the neighborhood restaurants almost every weekend. I've met Michael Chabon, Elizabeth Strout and countless other famous authors at Politics & Prose. This is our neighborhood and we love it.

And it's under attack.

For the past month, the neighborhood's pizza restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, has been the target of a an outlandish conspiracy theory claiming the restaurant is a front for child trafficking and pedophilia. The basis of this is some stolen emails between Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and Comet's owner discussing pizza. Convinced this must be a coded message, conspiracy theorists dove into the social media accounts of the restaurant, its owner and its staff (and their friends), looking for photos to convert into nasty memes and anything else they could use to attack the restaurant. Not content to just attack Comet, they decided the whole neighborhood must be in on it, and spread their attacks to the block's other businesses.

Last Sunday, the story evolved from online harassment into something dangerous. As unbelievable as the so-called "pizzagate" story sounds, it was enough to convince Edgar Maddison Welch that children were being held captive in the restaurant. Claiming he intended to free these kids, Welch armed himself and drove 350 miles from his home in Salisbury, North Carolina, to Comet Ping Pong to "self-investigate."

That afternoon, we were sitting in Comet Ping Pong ready to enjoy a laid back pizza lunch in our favorite neighborhood pizzeria. We'd ordered our beers--Firestone IPA on tap--and pizza. Although I usually get a Stanley (sausage and roasted pepper) or a Jimmy (meatball), that day I decided to try the Momma'zu, a white pizza with sausage, fontina, ricotta and a side of meat sauce. Our beers arrived, but I never even took a sip.

A young man (who we later learned was Welch) entered the front of the restaurant and walked quickly through the main dining room, the bar area, and the ping-pong room in the back. He didn't stop or talk anyone. It wouldn't have been so odd except for the fact that he was toting a giant black assault rifle. As he walked by our table, my husband and I looked at each other in surprise. Did that just happen? Was that supposed to happen? Is that a prop for a forthcoming concert? We looked around. It happened so fast that not everyone noticed. A lot of people were happily still eating their pizza. But a few had noticed. And we noticed each other noticing, and so did the staff. And that's when the realization crystallized: We were in danger.

A few people got up and then moments later everyone did. We quickly exited the restaurant, followed by the staff. Not wanting to stick around to see if the gunman would come around from the back or out the front to shoot us, we quickly vacated the area. Soon after, the police arrived in droves. Welch, having searched the place and found nothing (of course), surrendered. He'd fired some shots during his search, but thankfully not at any of us customers. We were rattled for the rest of the day, ashamed we hadn't reacted faster, scared of what could have happened (or what might happen next) and angry, intensely angry, that one of our favorite neighborhood hangouts was (and still is) subject to an unending onslaught of baseless defamation. The next day, it all became national news.

We felt powerless and frustrated. Social media platforms have done little to nothing to stem the tide of harassment against the neighborhood. Despite having terms of use and a community standard against bullying and harassment, Facebook does not consider many of the attacks against Comet to be a violation of this policy. I've reported many of these nasty comments to Facebook, but so far, the company has found that only one of them violates its community standards. Facebook claims they "don’t tolerate bullying or harassment," but clearly the company tolerates it just fine. Having a policy it doesn't enforce may give Facebook users a false sense of security, which is a problem.

And we were concerned for Comet. Surely this would hurt business. Would the staff quit? Would Comet close? Would the attackers then turn to the next neighborhood business and continue their assault until it closed too?

Locals show their support for Comet Ping Pong

Then something remarkable happened: the community came together. I wasn't the only one who was angry. Scores of people turned out to support Comet. They left flowers and messages by the restaurant when it was closed Monday. They showed their support online. And when Comet reopened Tuesday, they ate pizza. The restaurant has been busy as ever, and during the weekend, a concerted effort to encourage people to visit Comet and the surrounding businesses, known as #StandWithComet, meant Comet was so packed they erected a tent to cover the front porch as a waiting area. It was completely full when we walked to the block around 6:45 on Friday.

Yesterday, we went back to Comet. Although it's usually kind of slow on Sunday afternoons, we had to wait 40 minutes for a table. The place was packed! I ordered the same pizza I ordered last Sunday, but didn't get to eat, the Momma'zu, and it was fantastic. We also got two rounds of Firestone IPAs, our usual and favorite tap selection. We talked about TV, our jobs and the amazing response from the community. I thought I might be apprehensive about being in Comet again, but it actually felt totally normal (except for the bigger than usual crowd, but that's a good thing). We've spent so much time in Comet, that we feel right at home there--the only time we haven't felt that way was last weekend when we got chased away. It was nice to have our normal Sunday afternoon back again.

Comet Ping Pong Momma'zu pizza: the pizza I ordered last Sunday but didn't get to enjoy until a week later. Delicious!

After witnessing the conspiracy theory against Comet and the neighborhood unfold, and having been at Comet when it turned really ugly, it has been nice to see the neighborhood rally behind these businesses with such an outpouring of support. In a time when people can act so bitterly against one another, it made us hopeful to be reminded that they can also be caring. The attacks against our neighborhood businesses aren't just felt by their owners and employees--us residents feel it too, and we're not going to put up with it. Our neighborhood is a special place, and we're going to fight to keep it that way. We #StandWithComet and all the local businesses that contribute to making our neighborhood a great place to live.

Want to #StandWithComet too? There are many ways to do so. Of course, the most obvious way is to visit the restaurant and enjoy its great pizza. Don't forget to support the neighborhood's other businesses too: grab a burger at Buck's Fishing and Camping, order a pizza from Besta Pizza, pick up a delicious sandwich from Little Red Fox, take in a warm bowl of Beef Bourguignon from Terasol, or enjoy a pint and a game at Jake's American Grille. And be sure to peruse Politics & Prose afterwards; maybe you'll meet a famous author or find a book you've been meaning to read. There's also a Go Fund Me effort to help Comet defray expenses from the days it was closed and the extra security the restaurant has hired. You can also show your support online, such as on Comet's Facebook page. And finally, importantly, be a critical thinker. There are so many sources for information these days, which means we must evaluate if what we're hearing and reading is sensible, factual and fair. Actions always have consequences and each of us must be responsible for our own actions.

Vaguely Southeast Asian Turkey-Noodle Soup

It's day 2 of Thanksgiving leftovers, and already I'm getting a little tired of just reheating the dishes I served on Thursday. Time for something else! Early in the day, I thought about making a simple turkey-noodle soup. I'd already thrown out the carcass, so there wasn't going to be a "make your own stock" situation at my house (I know I should save it and use it, but the last few years, it just sits in the freezer).

I thought I'd making something simple with cooked turkey, onion, celery, carrot, egg noodles and turkey broth. But then it dawned on me that with some Southeast Asian flavors, I could probably make something just as satisfying and a lot more interesting. In went the ginger, garlic, star anise, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and cilantro. The results were a big hit around the table. Home run!

Vaguely Southeast Asian Turkey-Noodle Soup

6 oz. rice sticks (rice noodles, similar in size to linguine) broken in half
4-6 cups boiling water
2 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 sweet onion, cut into slivers
2 stalks of celery, cut into slivers
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin julienne (like matchsticks--I recommend using a julienne peeler)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3 inches of ginger root, peeled and finely grated
6-8 scallions, sliced into small pieces, white and green parts separated
2 quarts (8 cups) low-sodium turkey broth
3 star anise pods
1 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked turkey cut into 1/2 inch or smaller pieces
Juice from 1 lime
1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1. Place the rice sticks in a bowl and add boiling water until the noodles are submerged. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then drain the noodles.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, and sauté until softened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the carrot, garlic, ginger and white scallion parts, and cook another minute until fragrant.

3. Increase heat to medium-high and add turkey broth, star anise, fish sauce, soy sauce and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Add the turkey and simmer over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the star anise pods, stir in the lime juice and adjust seasoning to taste. Stir in the cooked noodles.

4. Serve in bowls garnished with a good pinch of cilantro leaves and green scallion pieces.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Frittata

 Frittata is a wonderfully forgiving food. There are a lot of things you can throw together and encase with lightly scrambled eggs and some shredded cheese and it's guaranteed to be tasty. I've made frittata with 1) bacon, Brussels sprouts and caramelized onion, 2) sausage, mixed vegetables and gruyere, and 3) sausage and green beans, and each time it was a knockout dish. This is what you call a recipe for success.

So why not give it a try with Thanksgiving leftovers? My version incorporates turkey, stuffing, and Brussels sprouts tossed together with some smoked gouda, but surely sweet potatoes, greens, and other vegetables would be delicious prepared this way. Just add eggs and a some cheese. Friday never tasted so good.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Frittata

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced cooked turkey
1 cup sausage-cornbread stuffing
1 cup cooked Brussels sprouts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese
Cranberry sauce (garnish)

1. Preheat oven broiler with rack 4 inches below the broiler.

2. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick oven-safe frying pan over medium heat. Add the turkey, stuffing and Brussels sprouts and cook, stirring occasionally, until reheated, about 2 minutes. Spread the ingredients evenly in the pan.

3. Whisk together the eggs and half the cheese in a large bowl. Pour the eggs and cheese over the turkey mixture. Continue to cook on the stove to set the bottom of the eggs, about 3 minutes.

4. Transfer pan to the oven and broil until the top is firm, about 3 minutes. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top and broil an additional minute to melt and brown the cheese (watch to make sure it doesn't burn). Remove from oven and cut into wedges for serving. Serve with cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving Central

Recipe for a Thanksgiving Rebel: Kung Pao-Style Roast Chicken, Gravy and Fried Rice

Turkey is the traditional centerpiece of Thanksgiving. And while many people--including me--love a good roast turkey, there are those folks who don't like turkey. For whatever reason, it's just not their thing. They may feel guilted into making turkey anyway, because of the holiday. To those folks I say: be a rebel. Make something else! What's important on Thanksgiving is that make a meal your guests will love. It doesn't have to be all the "traditional" dishes if that's not what you and your crowd is into. Shake things up!

Along those lines, I came up with this Kung Pao-style roast chicken. Before any of you food purists out there get huffy with me, I realize this bears no resemblance to actual Kung Pao Chicken (a dish I adore, by the way). Rather, the flavors of the glaze and, to some extent, the accompanying gravy and fried rice are inspired by the spicy-sweet flavors of a good Kung Pao (those desiring recipes for actual Kung Pao Chicken can look here, here or here). However, the presentation has been modified to be something more akin to Thanksgiving: a whole roasted bird with gravy.

Consider the side of fried rice sort of like the accompanying stuffing, and I hope you'll see how this could be a satisfying alternative to traditional turkey and stuffing. Alternatively, you could just make this anytime for a satisfying dinner. You can this really spicy if you want by amping up the cayenne pepper and red chili pepper flakes. I went for something that gives a gentle undercurrent of heat. Be sure to cook the rice in advance for the fried rice.

Kung Pao-Style Roast Chicken and Fried Rice
Chicken roasting method adapted (liberally) from a recipe from Epicurious; fried rice adapted from a Serious Eats recipe

Note: Please note that this recipe calls for already cooked white rice--plan ahead! Szechuan peppercorns are available from spice stores and Chinese markets. They are not "hot" like a chili pepper but rather create a numbing sensation. Pick through the peppercorns and discard any black seeds that may be present, as well as unopened pods--you only want to use the hulls. The seeds are gritty and don't taste good.

4-5 lb. whole chicken
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. ground Szechuan peppercorns (see note)
2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. fine garlic powder
Dash (less than 1/8 tsp.) cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)

Glaze:
2 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes (or more, to taste)

Gravy:
Drippings from pan plus:
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. dry sherry (amontillado)
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. dark sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of red chili pepper flakes (or more, to taste)

Fried rice:
2 cups cooked white rice (plan ahead: cooking the rice takes about 35 minutes)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 sweet or yellow onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
1 large egg, lightly beaten


1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Set a V-rack into a roasting pan. Place the chicken, breast-side up, on the rack. Brush the chicken with vegetable oil. Combine ground Szechuan peppercorns, seasoned salt, black pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water to the roasting pan and roast another 15 minutes.

2. Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Brush the chicken with glaze and continue roasting the chicken for another 40 to 50 minutes, brushing with glaze every 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer stuck into thick portion of the breast or thigh should read at least 165 F). Remove chicken from rack and set aside on a cutting board to cool for about 10 minutes before carving the chicken.

3. Transfer drippings (about 2 tbsp. worth) from chicken roasting pan to a 10-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add the soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, garlic cloves, chicken stock, cornstarch and red chili pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the gravy has thickened, about 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Make the fried rice (you can do this while the chicken is roasting): Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rice and 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil and sauté until the rice is lightly golden and chewy, about 5 minutes. Remove the rice from the pan. Add the remaining vegetable oil and, when hot, add the onion and celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Return the fried rice to the pan and add the soy sauce, sesame oil and peanuts. Stir to combine, then push the ingredients to the sides leaving a 4-inch dry circle in the middle of the pan. Add the egg to the circle, and stir to scramble, then combine with other ingredients.

5. Serve the chicken carved with the fried rice an gravy on the side.

Thanksgiving Central

California-style brussels sprouts with pistachio and pomegranate

This dish may look like Christmas, but the Washington Post ran it last year as part of a healthy Thanksgiving recipes article. Brussels sprouts are always welcome at my Thanksgiving table, and this is a beautiful way to serve them.

California-Style Brussels Sprouts with Pistachio and Pomegranate 
Adapted from a recipe by The Washington Post

2 lbs. fresh Brussels sprouts, bottoms trimmed off and sprouts halved
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water (Note: The original recipe calls for 1 to 2 tbsp. and says it is optional, but I think that using more water was necessary)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 oz. fresh pomegranate arils (seeds)
1/2 cup roasted unsalted pistachios
Finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice from 2 lemons (use about 2 tbsp. of zest and 1 tbsp. of juice)

1. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the Brussels sprouts. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sprouts are a bright-green color and golden around the edges, about 10 minutes.  Add the water, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes until the sprouts are tender. Season the sprouts with salt and pepper.

2. Transfer the cooked sprouts to a serving platter and top with the pomegranate seeds, pistachios, lemon zest and lemon juice.