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"FacebookPinterestfried-pizza-628.jpeg\n\nFinally, it's on. Tonight in Denver, the first debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The biggest event of the election cycle (until the next debate), and we're all chomping at the bit, ready for some resolution, hungry for the truth! We won't get any of that. But we will get a fairly entertaining show. And what goes better with a little theater than some dinner and drinks and the company of the registered voters closest to your heart/values:\n\nFirst, the pizza. Chicago, O-Town, is all about the deep-dish pie. Tasty. But we're, um, downsizing it a bit and resurrecting a recent GQ recipe and perennial Neapolitan favorite, pizza fritta (or, in the vulgar 'murican: fried pizza). Like POTUS it's democratic as hell\u2014who doesn't like pizza? It's all about simple, universal (ahem) ingredients and a hot skillet/oven. And despite it's European roots, you don't have to be a foreign policy expert to make it. Here, GQ's Debbie Lee breaks it down:\n\nMix your own dough if you enjoy unnecessary hassles, but you'll get as delicious a pie if you buy premade dough from a market or pizzeria (just ask). What you shouldn't settle for is a boring Margherita pizza. Ours uses a puttanesca sauce, since the spicy mix of fresh tomatoes and briny bits like olives, capers, and anchovies (skip 'em if you hate 'em) is the perfect foil for the chewy, crispy crust.\n\nOh, and don't neglect the leftover dough scraps. Fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar, they're a built-in dessert.\n\nPizza Fritta Puttanesca (Makes two 11-inch pies)\n\n1 lb. cherry tomatoes, quartered\n\n 1 small shallot, diced\n\n 1 clove garlic, minced\n\n 2 anchovy fillets, minced\n\n 1/2 cup dry cured black olives, pitted and slivered\n\n 2 Tbsp. capers, chopped\n\n 1 tsp. red-pepper flakes\n\n Salt\u00E2\u00BF\u00BF\n\n 1 lb. pizza dough\n\n Vegetable oil\n\n 8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced\n\nDirections\n\n1. Mix the tomatoes, shallot, garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, and red-pepper flakes, then salt to taste in a large mixing bowl.\n\n 2. Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide in two. Roll each piece of dough into an eleven-inch circle.\n\n 3. Preheat the oven's broiler.\n\n 4. In a 12-inch skillet, pour in 1/2 inch of vegetable oil. Heat on medium-high until the oil temperature reaches 375 degrees (if you have a food thermometer) or until you can toss in a pea-sized ball of dough and watch it get crispy within 1 second.\n\n 5. Carefully lower one of the rounds into the hot oil and fry it about 90 seconds per side, or until it's golden brown. Repeat with the other round.\n\n 6. Transfer the fried dough to a baking sheet. Slather on the sauce, add the mozz, then shove the pies into the broiler for 4 to 6 minutes. You'll know they're done when the cheese bubbles and the crust chars a bit.\n\n Next course: lobster rolls! In honor of the former Massachusetts Governor and all the other rich, white dudes in and around Boston, GQ's Riley Blanton and Jen Schwartz\u2014their cholesterol spiking, their bibs running over with butter\u2014tirelessly developed this recipe over hours of selfless trial and error. No job is difficult or dirty enough for these two to outsource! And now that they've fine-tuned it for you, it's as easy as pie (above). Once you boil the crustacean, it's really just about mixing up the aioli and putting the meat on a toasty roll. And, hey, if you're in a hurry, just add the herbs to some Hellmann's and start chewing. Bahn Appatit, ya Bastahds!\n\nGQ's Rockin' (the Vote) Lobster Rolls (serves 4, 1 hour total kitchen time)\n\n6-ish pounds of live lobster (about 1.5 lbs. cooked lobster meat)\n\n 2 lemons\n\n 1 onion\n\n 1 bay leaf\n\n 1/2 cup canola oil\n\n 1 small garlic bulb\n\n 1 egg white\n\n 1 teaspoon salt\n\n 1/4 cup finely chopped celery\n\n 1/2 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped\n\n 1/2 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped\n\n Top-split-style hot dog buns\n\n 3 tablespoons butter\n\n Paprika\n\nFor the lobster:\n\n1. Use the largest pot you own. Fill it with water, a quartered lemon, a quartered onion, and the bay leaf. Cover and bring to a boil.\n\n 2. When the water boils, add your lobster one or two at a time, depending on the size of your pot. Don't overcrowd them so that one is half submerged.\n\n 3. Cook, covered, for about fifteen minutes or until lobsters are bright red and tails curl. Remove and transfer to an ice-water bath for a few minutes.\n\n 4. Crack apart the lobsters and excavate the meat. Don't forget about the knuckles.\n\n 5. Chop the tail and bigger pieces, but don't overdo it -- texture is good. Put it all in a mixing bowl.\n\nFor the herb aioli:\n\n1. Break apart the garlic bulb, and smash each clove using the side of a knife. Peel the skins and rough chop the garlic.\n\n 2. In a cast iron or non-stick pan, heat the canola oil and garlic and cook on low for about 30 minutes, stirring every five or so. Don't let it get too brown.\n\n 3. Strain the garlic bits from the oil through a fine mesh sieve (or, like we did, in a French press coffee maker).\n\n 4. In a blender, add the egg white and blend for 30 seconds.\n\n 5. With the blender still on, add the garlic oil very slowly through the top hole of the blender.\n\n 6. Squeeze half a lemon into the mix, and add the salt.\n\n 7. Blend until the oil is emulsified and you have a mayo consistency.\n\n Transfer the aioli to a bowl, and stir in the celery, tarragon, and chives.\n\nTo assemble:\n\n1. Combine the lobster meat with the aioli and toss to coat. You may not need all of the aioli, depending on your taste. Store the extra in the fridge, covered, for up to a week.\n\n 2. Heat butter in a pan on medium heat and toast the buns until golden and slightly charred on both sides.\n\n 3. Stuff the rolls with the meat and top with a dusting of paprika.\n\nAnd, finally, drinks! You've earned it. No one should have to endure a presidential campaign this long without a little alcohol to dull their nerves and keep them from screaming at the TV. We're calling this the October Surprise, because, well, it's October, and, Surprise! This election is still dragging on and we could use a drink. We asked hot-shit bartender Justin Pike from the Tasting Kitchen in Venice, California, for something manly to celebrate this manly contest between manly men, and for something we could make easily, while drunk. Think of it as factcheck.org, but for your soul.\n\nThe October Surprise, courtesy of the Tasting Kitchen's Justin Pike\n\n2 oz. bourbon\n\n 1/2 oz. Pedro Ximenez sherry\n\n 1 tsp. maraschino liqueur\n\n 2 dashes Angostura bitters\n\nStir on a large rock, garnish with lemon and orange twists.\n\nLet the show begin!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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