First, select the right cocktail to address the questions. Vodka martini, one green olive unstuffed, one onion. Second, there are two possible responses to inquiries about bread, viz, BYOB, bring your own bread, and, You gets no bread with them meatballs. I do have plenty of wine. Now sit down. Feel free to take notes. The recipe starts with a half a pound of bacon and 4 medium-sized Serrano peppers. Oil of choice. I like to add oil even though the thick cut bacon I prefer is very fatty. I never met a source of cholesterol I didn't adore. Originally Will Rogers wanted to say that, but he had to settle for the thing we all know about a man not liked, which was patently untrue. Rogers, though not a man to hate for no reason, did have a list of those he disliked, found only after his demise with very detailed reasons for his negative feelings. RIP. It can be viewed at his estate and museum in the Pacific Palisades. Check online for visiting hours. Plenty of parking most days. I cooked the bacon in the Dutch oven being half savage. I added powdered ginger, cumin, and maybe something else early on and Paprika later. Always use authentic Hungarian Paprika or your goulash will put fire in your belly and hair on your upper lip. I didn't have hedgehog and so was forced to make meatballs, 2 parts Italian hot sausage (don't ask what's in it) and 1 part lean ground beef, 8%. Ground beef is better lean. If you can, get ground sirloin or some other choice cut. I mold the meatballs myself by hand. That way I can be sure that none of the staff has poisoned me. Servants are a particularly devious and cunning race, which is why I rely entirely on my multiple personalities for domestic assistance. After the bacon is almost crisp I like to put cut carrots on top so they can benefit from the contact. I know there are those among you opposed to carrots in cooking because they do in sufficient quantity have a tendency to stage a flavor coup. They must be kept in their place! Carrots limited with extreme prejudice. The meatballs are placed carefully atop the layer of carrot pieces while the bacon is about two-thirds done. Next, this time anyway, I threw on curly kale which had been hiding in my refrigerator. If you knew how bare my fridge is you would know how very clever this kale must be. Actually, I think the Savoy cabbage preceded the kale; it was born for this job. I may have even thrown some cabbage leaves in the bacon fat. Little known fact: Certain leafy vegetables fry very nicely. If there are spices in the oil you can create a veggie-crunchy-spicy delight. My stews always have leafy vegetables done in the fatty spicy beginnings, and over the next few days the little flavor centers only flower like city states in the Italian Renaissance. After that it becomes a bit of a free-for-all. Vegetable broth or broth of choice. I prefer the flavor of vegetable broth and I use organic broth for these already fat-heavy stews. I just like the flavor. Chick peas aka Garbanzo beans or Great Northern beans, and by the way what's the difference between a Cannellini bean and a Great Northern bean? The presence of legumes is de rigueur since the stew will be served over rice, brown or white to taste. I wait to put the tomato or tomatoes, fresh sliced at the last. No need to cook them really. I have been using Roma tomatoes, finding they have a predictable flavor for these melanges. Et voila! One hour and fifteen minutes later you see the results. One last word on the bread party: I did use half a baguette from the Pioneer Bakery to sample the sauce, serving as an ad hoc brunch. A bottle of recent Syrah is breathing now anxiously on the counter. Excuse me. I've got a date and must make a move.