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That’s right, Super Bowl Sunday!! You gotta embrace the American tradition of the
Sunday football get together at least once a year. What better time to host than
for the BIG GAME!??! That way, at least there is hope that the half time entertainment
will be something worth watching. This party is great for a Super Bowl Bash. But,
it can really be used for any party where you want it to be a casual “appetizer
only” kind of affair. And, it is sure to please. Everything on the menu, with the
exception of the chicken wings, can be made at least a day or two ahead of time.
You’ll have a nice pot of chicken chili on the stove, keeping warm for your guests
to devour throughout the day. The rest of the menu is classic appetizer fare; spicy
buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing, savory Thai chicken and beef saté with
a yummy and spicy peanut sauce, and little mini “slider” sandwiches packed with
caramelized onions, roast beef and an awesome horseradish spread. We had to have
something somewhat healthy so we went with a very tasty broccoli and grape salad.
Don’t worry, it’s not all healthy, it has tasty bacon crumbles!! The happy finish
you ask?? Moist and chunky carrot cake cupcakes topped off with a super smooth cream
cheese frosting. Let’s get to it. . . your soon to be famous Super (thanks for asking)
Bowl Sunday Bash!!!
Chicken Chili
This is an awesome and wholesome chili, using chicken thighs instead of the traditional
ground beef. We use canned chipotle peppers to bring up the heat index but you can
use any variety of your favorite chilis. The key to making this an outrageous bowl
of chili is in the condiments!!
Chili Mix
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 ½ Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Store in airtight container. Enough for 3 lbs.
Meat.
Chicken Chili
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 oz. can kidney beans
1 15 oz. can pinto beans
1 15 oz. can white beans
1 15 oz. can sweet whole kernel corn
2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Chili Mix
Chicken stock or water
1 7 oz. can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (optional for spice)
Preheat oven to 425°F. Trim excess fat from chicken thighs and lay out on a
standard sized lipped cookie sheet. Season with half of the chili mix, turn the
thighs and season with the remaining mix. Bake at 425 for 20 – 25 minutes. Pull
from oven and let rest until cool. While chicken is cooling, heat oil in a large
(6+ quart) stockpot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. saté until tender, about
10 minutes. Add all canned ingredients to stockpot, no need to drain the liquid
from the cans. Mix well. Once chicken is cooled, cut into large bite sized chunks.
Add to bean and tomato mixture. Add sugar, stir well. Add chicken stock or water
to bring to desired consistency (1 – 2 cups). Put ¼ cup flour in a glass jar or
similar container. Add about a cup or so of cold water, place lid on tight and shake
the hell out of it! Pour flour mixture into chili, slowly, while stirring constantly.
Heat chili over medium heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer at least 45 minutes
before serving. This is when you can add the heat (spice). Chop up your pepper of
choice and add. Taste the chili and alter to personal taste. You can use jalapenos,
Serrano’s or whatever chili is your favorite. We recommend chipotle (smoked jalapenos).
They offer a nice smoky flavor in addition to the heat. Serve with appropriate condiments
(see below). This chili is always better the next day!
Serving recommendation: Place a small handful of corn ships in a soup bowl. Follow
with a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese. Fill bowl with chili. Garnish with a dollop
of sour cream, chopped avocado and some diced green onions. Put it in your mouth.
. . .
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Chicken and/or Beef Saté with Peanut Sauce
Don’t be intimidated by this. It calls for a couple of ingredients that are somewhat
uncommon (fish sauce and red curry paste). However, they are common enough that
a grocery store with a decent Asian section will have them.
Recipe is enough for 1 lb. of meat, we recommend a double or triple batch for this
party as these WILL get devoured!!
2/3 cup coconut milk
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. yellow curry powder
2/3 cup fish sauce
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
8 – 12 inch bamboo skewers
Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Cut chicken breasts or beef (preferably
sirloin or flank steak) into long and narrow thin strips. Place in marinade and
marinade at least 30 minutes (preferably overnight) in an airtight container stored
in the fridge. Soak skewers in water for 20 minutes. Skewer meat onto sticks by
weaving the strips onto the skewers. Grill or broil for about 5 minutes per side.
Brush meat with marinade when turning. Serve with Thai peanut sauce.
Thai Peanut Sauce (Makes enough for 3 batches of skewers)
1 15 oz can coconut milk
2 Tbsp. red curry paste (nam prik gaeng ped)
¼ cup fish sauce
3 Tbsp. Sugar
½ tsp. dried chili flakes
8 oz. roasted peanuts, chopped fine
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
Chop peanuts using a hand held chopper or a few quick pulses in a food processor.
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium sized saucepan, stir well. Heat over
medium heat and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes about 2
½ cups peanut sauce.
Chicken Wings
We made and taste tested just about every wing recipe out there. We came up with
this one and feel it is the best match for traditional buffalo style wings. The
wings are lightly floured and dried before frying which gives the outside just enough
substance to hang on to the hot sauce without feeling like they were dipped in a
heavy batter. These are awesome!!
5 lbs. chicken wings
6 cups vegetable oil
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 cup Frank’s Red Hot original cayenne pepper sauce
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
½ pound celery, washed and sliced into sticks
½ pound carrots, washed, peeled and sliced into sticks
Blue cheese dressing
Sesame seeds
Chopped green onion
In a large freezer sized Ziploc or similar type bag, combine flour, salt, pepper
and cayenne. Shake bag to combine. Wings should be thawed completely if they are
frozen. Trim the top of each wing and discard. Cut wing at the joint, leaving the
wing and the drumette. Wash and pat dry. Place wings, about 10 at a time, in flour
mixture. Shake to coat wings and place wings on a cooling rack positioned over a
cookie sheet (the excess flour will fall off the wings onto the cookie sheet below).
Let dry for about 10 – 15 minutes before frying. While wings are drying, heat oil
in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven (preferably) to 375 - 400°F. You will
need enough oil to completely submerge the wings (about 2 inches). To make the sauce,
melt butter over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan. Once butter is melted,
add Frank’s hot sauce and vinegar. Mix well and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Carefully drop about 10 –15 wings into the oil and fry until golden brown, about
10 minutes. Fry enough wings that there is one even layer in the oil, do not overcrowd.
Remove wings from oil and drain (you can use the same cooling rack/cookie sheet
set up used for drying the wings after flouring). Transfer cooked wings to mixing
bowl containing the sauce. Using a pair of tongs, mix the wings in the sauce until
completely coated. Transfer to serving tray and garnish with sesame seeds and chopped
green onions. Serve with blue cheese dressing, celery and carrot sticks. To make
a homemade blue cheese dressing, combine 1 cup mayonnaise, ½ cup plain yogurt and
6 oz. blue cheese, crumbled.
Roast Beef Sliders with Caramelized Onions and Horseradish Spread
These little gems are packed with flavor and it’s hard to stop at just one. If you
can find miniature rolls, they really work the best. If not, simply but some hoagie
style rolls and cut them up after you have assembled the sandwiches. You can make
these a day before the game and them pop them in the oven before serving.
1 lb. deli sliced roast beef
1/3 lb (about 6 oz) sharp cheddar cheese
2 large onions, peeled and sliced thin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
24 miniature sandwich rolls or 6 hoagie rolls
2 Tbsp. horseradish root
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sour cream
2 tsp. sugar
Preheat oven to 425°F. Heat butter and oil over medium heat in a large (preferably
non-stick) skillet. Add onions and saté until brown and caramelized, about 25 minutes,
sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. To assemble sandwiches, spread bottom of sandwich roll
with some of the horseradish spread. Add caramelized onions followed by the roast
beef and a slice of the cheddar cheese. Place sandwich bottoms and the roll tops
(inside facing up) on a large cookie sheet. Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes or
until tops are golden brown and the bottoms are heated throughout. Remove from oven
and spread horseradish spread on toasted roll tops. If you used hoagie rolls, carefully
slice each hoagie into 4 even pieces (use a sharp knife, being careful not to push
down to hard on sandwiches). Transfer to a serving dish and put one of those babies
in your mouth!!
Broccoli and Grape Salad
One of my best friends, Cate, had me over for dinner one night (as she always does)
and she made this salad. It was remarkably fresh and light tasting, not to mention
healthy. Any salad that is loaded with broccoli is bound to taste healthy. The grapes
give it that sweet touch and the bacon, well, bacon can never hurt!
4 cups (about 1 lb.) broccoli florets, cut up in small, bite size pieces
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup green grapes, halved
1 cup red grapes, halved
½ lb cooked bacon, crumbled
½ cup toasted slivered almonds
¼ cup chopped green onions
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. white wine champagne vinegar
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and toss that salad. Add salt and pepper to
taste. Toss that salad and put it in your mouth.
To toast the slivered almonds, take a small saucepan, heat about 1T olive oil over
medium high heat. Add almonds, about ½ tsp. salt and shake around in pan until evenly
brown and toasted.
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes
This carrot cake recipe is the bomb!! It uses a can of pineapple, juice and all.
They are moist and chunky. Not to mention, topped off with a rich and creamy cream
cheese frosting.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 2 – 12 cup cupcake pans, or fill with paper cupcake
liners.
Wet Ingredients
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1-1/4 vegetable cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla
Dry Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
In a large bowl, cream the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the oil and
vanilla and mix well.
Mix or sift together the dry ingredients and then fold into the egg mixture. Once
combined (do not over mix), fold in the following ingredients:
1 flat can crushed pineapple (juice and all)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecan nuts
2 cups shredded fresh carrots (about ¾ pound)
Fill cupcakes about 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350° for 30 – 35 minutes until
a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cup cake comes out clean. Transfer to
a cooling rack and let cool. Once cooled, remove from tins and frost with cream
cheese frosting. If any of the cakes have "spilled over" onto the cupcake pan during
baking, simply run a paring knife around the the edge to remove from pan. You can
always use a non stick pan to avoid this.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1-8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. real vanilla extract
1 cube butter, room temperature
Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and
mix until smooth.
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