To meatbags with disposable income:

Now that another remarkable NFL season has concluded, let me express my gratitude on behalf of all 32 NFL teams for your incredible support. Record numbers of you watched at home, made your way to the stadium, [...]]]>

 To NFL Fans:

To meatbags with disposable income:

Now that another remarkable NFL season has concluded, let me express my gratitude on behalf of all 32 NFL teams for your incredible support. Record numbers of you watched at home, made your way to the stadium, and connected with the NFL in numerous other ways during the 2011 season. Your love of football is what makes the NFL special.

Remarkable in the fact that we didn’t think there would be a season last summer, but the crafty NFLPA had more money than we thought they did to survive a lockout. We’re grateful consumers chose to forget about our embarrassing labor incident and came back to us and our advertisers. As they say, love is blind (especially when cities dependent on tax revenue are held hostage by billionaire owners attempting to become trillionaire owners).

We are proud of the quality of the game today. From the individuals and team skills on display in every game to the record-breaking achievements of future Hall of Famers, the 2011 season was extraordinary on many levels.

Most of these records were set by kickers David Akers, Stephen Gostkowski, Sebastian Janikowski and quarterbacks Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Eli Manning, all of whom will surely will be inducted into the Hall of Fame by the simple fact that none of them are named Cris Carter.

It finished up with some of the most exciting playoff games of recent years leading to a tense, drama-filled Super Bowl between the Giants and Patriots that was the most-watched show in the history of television. What a tribute to our players, coaches, and fans!

Reaching from the depths of your plush couch to grab the remote with your doughy hands, pushing down with your never-seen-a-day-of-manual-labor-thumb and turning on your television is the most amazing tribute our highly-conditioned athletes could ever wish for if they could remember what they wished for.

As good as it’s been, I believe the NFL’s best days are ahead.

In London.

Our responsibility in leading the league is to protect and enhance the bond between our game and the passionate fans who sustain it. We know we have to earn your trust every day and prove we are worthy of your amazing support.

Which is why you can only get the NFL SundayTicket on DirecTV, why the NFL Network beefing up its 2012 schedule to include 13 games despite not being carried by some of the largest cable operators in the United States, and why we enforce Draconian blackout rules. We’re protecting the league by not letting you see the league.

Our commitment to improve everything we do is ongoing. We are not done yet. From the game on the field to the fan experience at home — and everything in between — there are ways we can do even better. We owe it to you, the fans, to believe in better and strive for more. Our game has always evolved and that will continue. I encourage you to visit our new web site – NFL.com/evolution – to explore how the game has improved over the past century.

Teddy Roosevelt does not approve of this ad.

There are more good changes to come.

Until there is a provision that calls for full-time professional referees, we’re going to have to disagree on the definition of “more good” change.

Our mission is captured very simply in these four words:
Forever forward. Forever football. Thank you once again for your passion and commitment to the game we all love.

Unless it’s a lateral.

Roger Goodell

“Lord Rog”

Hello, off-season. Do you need a nap as much as I do today?

I mean, another nap after the nap we’ve already taken this morning?

We made it. 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes is coming to close for 2012, as well as the first annual Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza which was a smashing success. Thanks again to Margrey Shanoff, Alyse, David [...]]]>

We made it. 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes is coming to close for 2012, as well as the first annual Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza which was a smashing success. Thanks again to Margrey Shanoff, Alyse, David Roy, Armando, Joshua Rivera, Becky, Dan Rubenstein, Ally and Holly Anderson for pitching in with their guacamole recipes for the project. Not a bad one in the bunch.

I’ve been asked several times today what I am making this weekend so let me in on a little secret; I have no idea.

Really. I don’t know yet. I want it to be easy, so I’m thinking of things I can make ahead of time and that need a lot of time in the kitchen on Sunday. Most likely the Smoky Chipotle Bacon Pimento Cheese, Pressed Italian Sandwiches, Blueberry Salsa and one of the guacamoles, Arugula, Carrot, Olive and Herbed Cheese Provencal Wraps, and maybe Chorizo in Red Wine. Beer (yes, even a High Shirley) and for sure the Lime Sorbet Margaritas which can double as dessert. There is also a rumor we might actually go out to a bar the game, but I doubt it. Well, maybe. If everyone gets their act together and picks a bar with fried pickles I could be tempted to go out.

What am I talking about? My friends are crazy if they think we’re going to a bar this weekend.

If you are still looking for ideas for this Sunday, check out the enormous recipe guide I put together for the cats over at SB Nation. Tons of recipes from all over the web, all coming with my personal recommendation. Or you can pursue the galleries here of all the recipes I’ve posted over the last five seasons or over on Pinterest.

Do you know what you’re making? Let me know the comments. I’m always looking for new ideas for next season. (I also like it when people tell me they are either making for the first time or have made my recipes, so if you have any tips about one of my snacks, please pass them on too.)

Ultimately though, I’m just ready for the game to start. Let’s see who’s going to win this thing.

I cannot think of a week before the Super Bowl that has dragged on so slowly as this one has.

Today we get:

Today is National Signing Day, which I guess I should care about as a fan of professional football since professional football players come from somewhere , namely college football, and this is one of the bigger days on the college football calendar. There is [...]]]>

Today is National Signing Day, which I guess I should care about as a fan of professional football since professional football players come from somewhere , namely college football, and this is one of the bigger days on the college football calendar. There is a bunch of nonsense with hats being selected and scads of normally reasonable adults drooling over high school kids, but overall it’s a pretty boring day to anyone not selecting a school or writing about selecting a school.  The whole process would be much more interesting if all the various athletic directors and coaches were put in a circle and recruits played a giant game of duck-duck-goose to see if how badly Charlie Weis or Urban Meyer really wanted them during the goose-chase.

Much like sausages and laws, do I really want to see how professional players are made? As I’ve said many times before, I didn’t attend a big college football school nor did anyone in my immediate family, so I don’t have any really rooting interest on Saturdays other than sheer pandemonium for the BCS. These days though, people buy and read up on artisanal sausages to know exactly where the ingredients came from. PACs, politicians and pundits all have Twitter feeds, so agreements like SOPA are probably discussed with more frequency by ordinary citizens these days than when the FCC was formed in the 1930s by the Communications Act. So maybe I should pay a little more attention to the origin stories of who may become some of my favorite athletes in the next four to ten years.

Or I can just read posts about baby mascots.

Artichoke and Leek Goat Cheese Spread

Tender artichoke hearts are given a boost by bright lemon juice, herbs and meaty olives while tender leeks give a nice sweetness and tang without the overpowering taste of onion in this great cheese blend. Make a day or two ahead of time to save time and sanity on game day!

You will need:

1 pound (16 ounces) goat cheese, softened to room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 medium sized leeks, tender white and green base, cleaned
14-16 ounce can artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup ripe green olives, drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt & pepper
chives

In place of the dried herbs, use a tablespoon of your favorite Italian seasoning and reduce the amount of salt and pepper.

Chop, rinse and drain the leeks. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet and saute the leeks under tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

If you have a small mortar and pestle, crush the dried herbs together to release the oils. (Or if you’re like me and don’t have a small mortar and pestle, use your muddler and a small ramekin to do the same job.)

Roughly chop the olives and artichoke hearts.

In a small bowl, combine the cooked leeks, chopped artichokes, olives, herbs, salt, pepper and lemon juice. This will help everything evenly combine with your cheese blend.

In large bowl, cream together the goat and cream cheese. If the cheese is still a little firm, a pastry blender helps do the trick. (This is true with almost anything in the kitchen. If I could drive my car with a pastry blender, I would.)

Fold in the sauteed leeks, artichokes, olives, herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper into the soft cheese blend until well combined.

Gently spread the cheese mixture in a small springform pan or line a large shallow bowl with plastic wrap and fill.

Cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours and up to a few days ahead of serving time.

When ready to serve, remove from the springform pan by popping off the side and lifting the bottom up, or if using a bowl; remove the top piece of plastic wrap, place the serving plate over the bowl and flip upside-down, then removing the base layer of plastic wrap.

Garnish with chives and serve with crackers and crudites.

Media Day, the day that if your team is not actually playing in the Super Bowl, you get sick of the Super Bowl.

Exhibit A: Tom Brady impersonator at Media Day garners loads of attention.

Exhibit B: Someone (in this case Jim [...]]]>

Media Day, the day that if your team is not actually playing in the Super Bowl, you get sick of the Super Bowl.

Exhibit A: Tom Brady impersonator at Media Day garners loads of attention.

Exhibit B: Someone (in this case Jim Herrmann, Giants linebackers coach who I am always worried I’m going to misspell his name) compares football to chess, which if you’ve ever played chess, know is nothing like football. No, nothing like it. Nope.

Exhibit C: An old story is warmed over (skinny Tom Brady at the draft) by someone in no way playing in the Super Bowl (Steve Mariucci) in which they inject themselves into the story.  Mariucci believes that if he had drafted Tom Brady for the 49ers, he’d still be coaching today. In related news, a butterfly flapped its wings in Brazil earlier today.

Exhibit D: From the New York Times article on Antrel Rolle’s Media Day:

In the meta world of media day, one of the journalists thought to ask Rolle if he felt the questions asked had been intelligent.

“There’s been a lot of great questions, a lot of insight and a lot of redundant questions,” Rolle said. “It is what it is.”

Sunday cannot come soon enough.

(Mostly because we’re all getting tired of Peyton Manning about now.)

Chicken Tikka Masala Wraps

There are few things my husband likes more than chicken tikka masala, so when the first weekend without Steeler football came around this postseason, I knew I needed to make something a little special to cheer him up for watching a black and gold-less football game. When we had visited Harrod’s in London last fall, I had seen some beautiful chicken tikka masala wrapped in kubus bread in their great hall of food and knew immediately I wanted to try to make them some point this season for the living room-gating. Kubus bread is a sort of pita flat bread from the Middle East, but I found that using lavish, pita and naan are good substitutes. With this batch, I did a mix of lavish wraps (easier to serve and handle at a party) and chicken tikka masala served with naan for people to scoop and wrap as they please.

The chicken tikka itself is delicious, so if you want to skip the whole hullabaloo of making masala sauce and wraps, just make chicken tikka kebabs instead. There is nothing quite like the mix of spices that flavor tikka and masala, so don’t worry if it’s the first time you’ve ever bought garam masala to make a dish. After you figure out how easy and great it is to cook with the spice mixture, you’re going to go through the whole bottle in no time.

You will need:

Chicken Tikka

2-2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken, trimmed and skin removed
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (About an inch or so of ginger, grated with a microplane or minced will due)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
6-8 ounces of plain yogurt

Masala

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, diced (Why there is a second onion in the picture, I do not know.)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (About an inch or so of ginger, grated with a microplane or minced will due)
26-28 ounces diced or crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon or so of kosher salt
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
cilantro, small bunch of leaves, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

2 packages lavish, naan, pita or combination of whatever flat bread you like

In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the tikka marinade; crushed garlic, grated ginger, lemon juice, ground coriander, cumin, garam masala and yogurt together.

Make a few shallow cuts in the chicken to let the marinade get down in the meat and cover completely in the yogurt and spice sauce.

Cover and refridgerate for at least 2-3 hours, but preferably overnight.

When ready to make the wraps:

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

Saute the onions until translucent and add the garlic.

Let the garlic cook for a few minutes and then add the crushed tomatoes.

Turn on the broiler in the oven.

Once the tomatoes have cooked down a bit, stir in the salt and the garam masala.

While the malasa sauce is cooking down, remove the chicken from the marinade and broil for 5-7 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the meat. You want a nice char on the chicken and the juices to run clear from the meat when cut. Set aside.

When the sauce has thicken a bit (should take about 5-10 minutes), stir in the heavy cream and cook down again another 10 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken.

If you are adding cayenne, toss it in now. (Don’t over do it though, as the cayenne will open up as the sauce simmers and will get hotter after a few minutes.)

Chop the chicken into small pieces and add to the masala sauce. Cook until thickened.

Add a small handle of chopped cilantro.

Remove from heat.

Cut lavish pieces in half.

Evenly spoon a small amount of the chicken tikka masala across one end of the lavish and wrap.

Keep the wraps warm in a 200º oven until ready to serve.

OR!

Serve in a bowl with cut up pieces of naan or pita for people to make their own mini-wraps.

Either way is great.

Make sure to keep a few wraps in the kitchen for yourself, because these babies go fast and you’re going to want to make sure you get a wrap or two for yourself!

When I was just about to start the third grade, my family moved from Casper, Wyoming to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Not too long after we moved, our family went out to dinner to a nice restaurant over on Cochran Run Road around the Mt. Lebanon-Green [...]]]>

When I was just about to start the third grade, my family moved from Casper, Wyoming to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Not too long after we moved, our family went out to dinner to a nice restaurant over on Cochran Run Road around the Mt. Lebanon-Green Tree border. (No, not Max & Erma’s. Up the hill a bit, closer to Mt. Lebanon. By the state store. No, it’s not there any more. Last I saw, it was a fabric store. This was twenty-some years ago. It was the place we ate at, then something else, then a fabric store. Yes, I am sure it wasn’t a Max & Erma’s. Edit- No, not The Colony either. )

This dinner sticks out in my mind because it was the first time I ever had a Shirley Temple. Our table wasn’t ready, the adults in the party were getting drinks at the bar and the bartender asked, “Would you like a Shirley Temple?” What? There are drinks at the bar for kids? Heck yes, I would like a Shirley Temple!

It even looked grown-up, with the layer of grenadine at the bottom of the glass underneath the ginger ale the cherry laid careful on top of the ice. My sister had been given a Roy Rogers, but that just looked like a regular old Coke with a cherry. My drink was fancy!

To this day, I’m a huge fan of Shirley Temples. Some made with orange juice, some made with ginger ale (still my favorite) and sometimes even made lemon-lime soda. Cherry without being overwhelmingly cloy like many fruit sodas, what’s not to love.

So the other week when college football podcaster Michael Felder posted a picture of his Miller High Life with two maraschino cherries in it, you could have knocked me over with a feather. An alcoholic Shirley Temple? Could it be done? I like High Life (my go-to brand for making light beer batter) and I like Shirley Temples, but would I like them together?

A taste test was in order, but not one where anyone could see the shame on my face in case they didn’t work out. Pro Bowl weekend. Since my fellow Pro Bowl loving buddy Holly Anderson now lives 2000 miles away, I was going to be on my own for the Pro Bowl.

You will need:

1 shot (1 1/2 ounces) grenadine
1-2 maraschino cherries
1 Miller High Life

Miller High Life is rather bubbly — they don’t call it the Champagne of Beers for nothing — so it matches the carbonation of ginger ale rather nicely.

Add the grenadine and the cherries to the bottom of a pint glass.

Pour in the High Life.

If you want, you can fool around and make it a bit more sour with kirschwasser or cherry bitters, but I found that they took away from the traditional Shirley Temple profile.

Compare to the bottled Shirley Temple you already had in the fridge!

The result?

This drink shouldn’t work. It has no business tasting as good as it does. The sparkly High Life makes the grenadine pop, while cutting through the sweetness all at the same time. Bry kept stealing sips from my glass, asking over and over, “How can it taste this good?”

According to Wikipedia, there is a cocktail out there called the Queen Mary that is grenadine and beer, but aside of Wikipedia and content farm type sites culling information from Wikipedia, I cannot find a single legitimate cocktail recipe for this drink anywhere.

Also according to Wikipedia, the character Mary Coombs orders a beer with a shot of grenadine in the Peter Fonda chase movie, DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY. Since I didn’t recall seeing a pink-hued beer in that film (I went through a horrible Peter Fonda obsession after he gently flirted with me at an after-party for some revival screening of THE HIRED HAND about nine or ten years ago), I re-watched it this morning via Netflix streaming.

Yep, she orders a beer with a shot of grenadine in it alright, but the bartender certainly doesn’t give her a beer with grenadine, nor does she request or receive the cherries required for a Shirley Temple-type drink.

Let this day be the day we give the High Shirley its due. Like the Pro Bowl, the High Shirley is fun, nonsensical to people on the outside, slightly embarrassing to explain why you like it, offensive to purists, goofy in a Drew-Brees-to-kick-the-extra-point sort of way and not something you’re likely to want every weekend.

But it doesn’t mean it isn’t good.

Special hat tip to Sorry Everyone for help with name, since my first shot of High Shirley Temple was a bit long. Go spend some time with his month long love letter to banh mi sandwiches.

Edit –

I said “legitimate” source!

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados.

I had planned on posting my own personal guacamole recipe, but when Holly’s IRON FIST guacamole turned out to be so close to mine (just without the cumin), so I decided maybe it would be worth reviewing a few store bought guacamoles for the Football Foodie readership who might be in a hurry on Super Bowl Sunday, or worse, pinned underneath a car or a fallen tree and unable to use half of their body for guacamole making since pitting an avocado really is a two-armed endeavor, or at least a bit easier with two arms. I’m sure people with one arm make great guacamole, but if you’re newly stuck under a car or a tree, you may not be in the right state of mind for making guacamole.

Then a funny thing happened. I couldn’t bring myself to buy pre-made guacamole. I looked at the bags of guacamole puree at Trader Joe’s, the vacuum-sealed bags at my neighborhood Gelson’s, the plastic containers filled with green-ish goo in the refrigerated section at my little corner market. I read all the ingredients and they all looked okay; avocados, garlic, spices, jalapeno, lime, and yet, there was nothing appealing about any of them. See, I’ve had store bought guacamole and really, they’re not bad, but they’re not really good either, they’re just sort of tasteless. There is very little flavor left in the avocados by the time they get to your home, their richness long since given away to the citrus they’ve been cured with, their greenness left merely to act as a vessel for transporting jalapeno and making sure tortilla chips aren’t seen naked at the party. Even the best homemade guacamole loses its zip over a couple of days, no matter how tightly you pack it up.

I was staring glassy-eyed at a package of “spicy” guacamole at the store when Bry reminded me, “Hey, doesn’t Trader Joe’s sell little kits to make guacamole with? Why not make that?”

Hope! yes! Guacamole in a package, but you still have to assemble it! Maybe this won’t be so bad! Plus, for $3.99 you’re getting much more than the 6-8 ounces of guacamole in all of the pre-packaged deals! Let’s try that!

You will need:

Salt

One Trader Joe’s Guacamole Kit which contains:

2 small avocados
2 cloves of garlic
1 shallot
1 Roma tomato
1 jalapeno
1 lime

The lime was fine, the avocados on the smaller side, the Roma tomato was a little underripe (forgivable since it’s January), a small shallot, two cloves of garlic (a little on the older side, but not turning green), and a mid-sized jalapeno.

When selecting my guacamole kit, I saw all different sizes of jalapenos packed in the containers, so if you like it hotter you can get a kit with a large pepper.

Mince the garlic and the shallots, dice the tomato and the jalapeno. (Since the kit didn’t mention anything about removing the seeds from either the tomato or the jalapeno, I left them in. I did however dice the jalapeno pretty finely to accidental “hot” bites.)

My biggest worry when I bought the Trader Joe’s Guacamole Kit was the quality of the avocados in the little fresh-pack box. Would they be overripe? Underripe? I had opened the package to quickly check their firmness, but couldn’t get a good feel of the avocados without taking the whole kit apart in the aisle which probably would have caused me to spill my little sample cup of Trader Joe’s coffee, and no one wants to be the one who causes a clean-up on aisle five. (“Irv, I wasn’t even in aisle five!”)

Fortunately, these guys turned out fine even though they were little on the firm side which is better having avocados that are brown and mushy. Avoid guacamole kits holding avocados that look a little too dark and shrunken around the stem or kits containing bright green avocados.

Season with salt if desired, about a half a teaspoon since it’s a small amount guacamole.

Combine with the juice of the lime.

This is where the kit went a little off course. The particular avocados were ripe enough (and a little too small) as not to need an entire lime worth of juice to soften them up, although I imagine if one was stuck with one of the kits with hard avocados you’d be happy about all the lime. Maybe if TJ’s suggested using half to a whole lime worth of juice in their directions, people would end up with a better guacamole.

Serve.

The good:

Shallot: People always worry about too much onion in their guacamole. Shallots dice up so nicely into tiny little pieces, it’s a shame more people don’t make their guacamole with shallots.

Avocado: Pleasantly surprising in quality, if a little on the small side. If you are buying a day or two a head of time, I recommend looking for kits that have underripe avocados, leaving those out on the counter to ripen and putting the rest of the kit in the refrigerator. If the avocados are just about at peak, but the whole thing in the fridge.

The needs work:

Lime: It’s a lot lime juice. Adjust according to need.

Tomato: It’s also a lot of tomato filling out the guacamole.

As you can see, the Trader Joe’s guacamole kit doesn’t yield much guacamole, a little under two cups worth. While two cups of onion dip may seem like a lot of dip, two cups of guacamole is just enough for two or three people, maybe four if everyone has an extra slice of pizza. What might make this kit perfect is buying a third avocado to balance out the tomato and the lime. Even with the extra dollar or two spent for a third small avocado, you’re still doing pretty good for a $3.99 guacamole kit and are well ahead of the game than spending anywhere between $4 and $7 for half as much tasteless guacamole.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

We’re sort of having bad day around here at TSW HQ, but I cannot imagine it’s any worse than the past few days at the Colts headquarters (see: Peyton Manning vs Jim Irsay vs the joint statement saying they’re all [...]]]>

We’re sort of having bad day around here at TSW HQ, but I cannot imagine it’s any worse than the past few days at the Colts headquarters (see: Peyton Manning vs Jim Irsay vs the joint statement saying they’re all a happy family), or what is still going on at Jets HQ (see: continued post-season fallout of the Rex Ryan vs locker room strife according to Darrelle Revis) or even at the Steelers front office (see: Ben Roethlisberger vs Rooneys firing Bruce Arians).

Again, this is why I believe the week before the week before the Super Bowl is one of the worst weeks of the NFL calendar. Too much time, not enough news and people just get themselves into trouble.

Spicy Spinach Pancetta Balls: 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes

Spinach balls have been a cocktail party staple for decades, but I’m a firm believer that the old classic is begging to be spiced up with some hot pepper and some meaty pancetta.  I’ve never made these and not have them disappear within in minutes. Plus, these little bites can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, saving you a lot of time on game day.

Just flash freeze the spinach balls on a baking sheet for 30 minutes and then put in a freezer safe container. Add 5-10 minutes to baking time when ready to serve.

You will need:

2 12-16 ounce bags of fresh spinach
4-6 ounces of pancetta, cubed
2 cups stuffing
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable stock
A few sprigs of fresh thyme, stems removed
1 generous teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Crisp up the pancetta in a frying pan while wilting the spinach in a dry pan.

Once the pancetta and the spinach are done, drain and set aside to cool. With a sharp knife, roughly chop up the cooked spinach.

Either by hand or in a food processor, mince the onion and the garlic together.

Chop in the thyme, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, gently fold together the spinach, pancetta, beaten eggs, melted butter, vegetable stock and onion and cheese mixture until evenly combined.

Break the stuffing into smaller pieces, but do not smash them entirely into bread crumbs.

Fold in the stuffing.

Form into generous teaspoon-sized balls and place on a lined baking pan. (I use my cookie scoop like I do for anything that has to be ball sized or does in a mini-muffin pan.)

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and crispy on the outside.

Serve with either marinara or ranch dressing for dipping.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados.

Today’s recipe comes from my pal, Holly Anderson. Holly was the one who asked me to be a part of the original Ladies(…) after bonding in the Deadspin/Defamer super collider and we’ve been friends ever since. These days you can find Holly running the big show over at SI’s The Campus Union where you can find her covering college football in a smart, funny and irreverent way that only she brings to the conversation (because college football needs more drama club stories).

It came to no surprise to me that Holly’s guacamole would be the recipe submitted that was closest to my own. We share similar tastes in men, Pro Bowls, music and movies; of course our guacamole would be spiritual avocado cousins. What makes Holly’s guacamole special is the extra kick of lime zest, an addition that’s going to find a permanent home in my own guacamole from now on. The avocado comes alive in this recipe and isn’t buried behind heat. A purist’s delight. 

Take it away, Holly!

Holly Anderson’s IRON FIST of Guacamole: Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza

OK, here we go!

THINGS YOU WILL NEED
4 medium avocados
2 smallish tomatoes
1/2 small red onion
2-3 limes
2 cloves garlic
Fresh cilantro
Kosher salt (highly optional)

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Potato masher (optional)
Citrus zester or fine grater

THINGS YOU MUST DO

Crush garlic cloves and throw in small bowl.

(Cook’s note: Since Holly was calling this the IRON FIST of Guacamole, I decided to use a meat tenderizer on the garlic, because in my mind a hammer is a fist and my fist probably couldn’t smash garlic without some sort of injury to both my hand and my ego.)

Zest one lime over garlic, squeeze in juice from two limes, and stir with a fork. Set aside to marinate a little.

Peel and pit avocados and mash haphazardly in a larger bowl, either with a potato masher or two forks. It shouldn’t take long, and you’ll want to keep things very chunky; the lime and tomato juice will bond it together.

Roughly chop the tomato and onion (onion smaller; do not kill your guests) and combine with avocados, only stirring as much as necessary. We want big pieces of everything.

Me: Do you de-seed the tomatoes? (Surprisingly, not everyone does.)
Holly: I do not, because I usually use Romas around Super Bowl time (because in our crummy tomato winter, everything else is pink and gross) and they’re not too gelatinous inside.

Stir in garlic-lime mixture. I will occasionally find the need to add more liquid at this point for bonding purposes; this is what the third lime is for.

Strip cilantro leaves from stems and tear them with your hands if they’re really big, but otherwise just throw ‘em in the bowl and stir to combine.

Taste at this point and tweak to your liking; I put salt in there because sometimes it really seems like it needs it, depending on the flavor of the particular fruits and veggies therein, but I usually go without.

(Cook’s note: I salted this batch of guacamole, but that’s probably because I would salt my salt if I could get away with it.)

Holly: p/p/s Miz Naincy calls this “Chunky-Cado Stuff,” because it’s not pureed like hers, but I find that name appalling.
Me: HA! I like her name. Becky from NYC (Halfbee) sent me a guac recipe so spicy and sweet, I’m calling it the Velvet Glove of Guacamole and have been looking for names for the other recipes.
Holly: Mine is now the IRON FIST of Guacamole, since it’s chunky! I dub it!
Me: Done!

You know how I said this was the spiritual avocado cousin of my own guacamole? Add a teaspoon of cumin and you’ve got my guacamole recipe.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

We’re moving a little slowly around here today, so why don’t we all read these articles and come back later for discussion (after we’ve had a nap).

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados.

Today’s recipe comes from Becky, who I know from what back in the days when people commented on a Will Leitch run Deadspin. She’s funny, smart and like myself, very superstitious about her lucky game time snacks. 

I’ve named Becky’s guacamole “The Velvet Glove” because unlike Alyse’s Mango Serrano Guacamole last week where the sweet hit your palate before the heat, the heat of the chipotle smacks you right in the mouth before kissing you with refreshing mango.

Take it away, Becky!

I made this combo up right after college. It was during the Great Mango Salsa Craze of ’05 and I was right at the forefront of my “make my own chipotle mayo because it has not yet caught on anywhere other than Cornell dining for some reason” phase. Kismet, I guess.

Thank you so much for the pastry blender tip by the way. You’re like my snack food spirit guide. [Editor's Note: Flattery gets you everywhere around here.]

I included some pictures because I was bored and my dog was being cute and also because I really need a life.

Mango Chipotle Guacamole: A Hurricane Becky Guide

6 avocados
juice of 1 lime
3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced
1 small red onion, chopped up really really small (nothing ruins my day quite like a giant bite of raw onion)
1 big ass mango, diced (2 small will do, in NY in winter you can’t be too picky)
3-5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (I like to scrape out the seeds, but you don’t have to if you like more heat)
salt to taste
some fresh cilantro works too but I couldn’t find any of decent quality (suburban Shop Rite, ew) and also sometimes think it makes the flavor a little too “busy”

Step 1- Play this song, since it will be stuck in your head and serve as your soundtrack anyway: New Year’s Eve by Mal Blum. [Editor's note: Hey! Guacamole lyrics!]

Step 2- Slice, scoop and mash your avocados with your lime juice.

Step 3- Do not slice your finger down to the bone while doing step 2. (Note: if you fail step 3 like I did, bandage that sucker up real tight so as not to bleed into your guac.)

Step 4- Remind Chewy for the hundredth time that there’s nothing for her up here.

Step 5- Mix everything else in and add salt until it tastes good.

Step 6- Put the guac in an appropriately sized bowl. Make sure you don’t bleed into it.

Step 7- Serve it with delicious chips. (Hell yeah, blue corn.)

[Editor's note: When I asked if could use frozen mango since I was having a hard time finding good ones in LA, this was her response.]

I’ve actually never used frozen mango…I always just buy extra mangos and salvage whatever parts are ripe until I have enough. But that’s because I’m a moron [Editor's note: disagree] and didn’t know there was such a thing as frozen mango until just now. So I have no idea what frozen mango tastes like. But I trust your judgment!

I made mine with frozen mango, thawing for several hours and then giving a whirl in the salad spinner before chopping to get rid of any excess water in the fruit.

At first, we had just three chipotle peppers without seeds in the guacamole. Jeremy asked for more heat, so I put in a fourth one with seeds for more kick. Woo-doggy did it get hot once it had a chance to sit and open up a bit.

Gloriously hot and sweet. Thanks, Becky!

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Midweek the week before Super Bowl week is the worst week of the entire NFL weekly calendar.

Sure, you can pay attention to the Senior Bowl down in Mobile or the dozens of coaching changes that fill the NFL airwaves this time of year, [...]]]>

Midweek the week before Super Bowl week is the worst week of the entire NFL weekly calendar.

Sure, you can pay attention to the Senior Bowl down in Mobile or the dozens of coaching changes that fill the NFL airwaves this time of year, but those are the moves of the future. Those are players and coaching staffs that matter for next season, not the current season that still hasn’t reached its final conclusion. A future that is dancing on the grave of the 2011-2012 season before the body is even in the ground.

The NFL certainly didn’t help the early demise of the season by moving the Pro Bowl up two weeks a few years ago. Players shouldn’t be getting ready to relax and enjoy the Pro Bowl this week, and certainly players on Super Bowl teams shouldn’t have to bow out of the game because they’re playing in the biggest game of the year the following week.

Players, coaches, trainers, front office, back office, head office, branch offices should all forced to sit and stew during the final weeks of the season and the Super Bowl. No moves. No flying Jeff Fisher all over the country wooing him with the finest mustache grooming supplies owners have to offer. No asking Peyton Manning 10,000 times if he’d like to be a Jet. No John Elway saying Tim Tebow has earned the right to start in training camp this summer.

That’s all for next season. This season still isn’t dead yet.

Ancho and Guajillo Chile Chicken Enchilada Dip: 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes

Tacos and burritos are always a hit at any Super Bowl party, but for me? I love, love, love, love enchiladas. Unfortunately making our usual breakfast enchiladas doesn’t really lend itself to a night game and big platters of enchiladas can be hard to serve at a party, not to mention time consuming to wrap all the enchiladas.

Which is why a enchilada dip made from scratch is the way to go. You get the rich taste of the ancho chiles, the heat from the guajillos chiles, rich cheese, smoky cumin all over a nice base of tomato. It’s filling, tasty, and feeds a crowd. This particular batch? Was perfect New Year’s Day drinking and watching football food.

If you like, you can make the enchilada sauce a day or two ahead of time and refrigerate for when you are ready to make your dip. Want to make it vegetarian? Use vegetable stock in place of chicken stock and substitute out chicken with a few cans of rinsed pinto or black beans.

You will need:

1 1/2 – 2 pounds boneless chicken, cooked and shredded
4 ancho chiles, seeds removed
2 guajillo chiles, seeds removed (optional, can also use New Mexico chile)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups (about one 15-16 ounce can) of diced tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons tomato paste concentrate (not pictured)
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 small to medium white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, freshly shredded, divided
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded, divided
1/2-3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped black olives
2-3 cups boiling water
salt and pepper (for the chicken)
olive oil (for the chicken)

Guajillo chiles are completely optional, but I think they had a nice hint of heat to the dip without being overwhelming like a chipotle or arbol. They’re hotter than the anchos, without losing the rich pepper taste.

If you’re like me and have sensitive thin skin, you may want to wear gloves for this part. (Or cover your hands in vegetable oil, which they say works from preventing a reaction to the capsaicin in the chiles, but I’ve never found effective.)

Carefully cut off the stems off the top of the chiles and then slice open. Remove the seeds and ribs from the dried peppers (they should peel right out) and then slice the chiles into halves or thirds so they are flat.

In a dry skillet over medium-low heat, gently heat up the peppers on both sides until they just start to blister. Keep a very close eye on them, as it is easy to burn a chile into bitterness during this stage. I usually do about 20-30 seconds on each side for the ancho chiles and 10-15 seconds per side for the thinner guajillo, gentle pushing down with my tongs while they heat. This helps open up the chiles and releases their oil.

After you’ve heated your chiles, put them in a glass bowl or large measuring cup then cover with 2-3 cups of boiling water.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to steep for about 2 hours.

With about a half hour left on the chiles steeping time, dice the onion and saute over medium in 1 tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil until translucent. Add the garlic and heat for a few minutes more and set aside to cool slightly.

Once the chiles have had time rest, preheat the oven to 350º.

Remove the chiles from the water, reserving the liquid for later.

In a food processor or a blender, puree together the sauteed garlic and onion, the diced tomatoes, the chiles and 1 or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste depending on how concentrated of a tomato paste you are using.

Then blend in 2 cups of chicken stock and 1/2 cup of the reserved chile soaking liquid.

Transfer to a skillet and stir in the cumin, oregano (be sure to give the oregano a good crushing between the palms of your hands, salt and pepper.

Bring to a simmer and reduce heat.

Allow to thicken, stirring often, for about 20-30 minutes.

While your enchilada sauce is going on the stove, roast your chicken with a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper and a light sprinkle of cumin if you wish. Cook until the juices run clear from the chicken if pricked with a fork, about 20-25 minutes. Set aside to rest until the sauce is ready.

Normally once the enchilada sauce was thickened as so, you’d run it through a strainer to remove the thicker parts of chile and tomato skins. Since we’re making a dip and would like the extra heft, we’re going to skip that step.

In a large shallow roasting dish (long time readers know I’m a fan of putting baked dips in shallow pans as to ensure even topping delivery, so the 9×13 pan it is!), shred the cooked chicken. Mix in the enchilada sauce and most of the shredded Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, leaving enough to top the dip later on.

Bake at 350º for about 15-20 minutes, long enough to melt the cheese and heat up the chicken and the enchilada sauce until bubbling.

Remove the dish from the oven. Give everything a big stir and the top with the remaining cheese. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted, say another 5-10 minutes.

Pipe the sour cream evenly over the top of the dip and toss on the chopped olives.

Serve with corn chips for a more manageable enchilada party experience.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados.

Today’s recipe was sent in from Ally Garner, hostess of Copacetic in Carolina and Southern Fried Football. Ally’s a UGA Bulldog by education and a ‘Bama fan by marriage, so if there is anything Ally knows, it’s tailgating. When she told me how much success she’d had this season with a pineapple and cucumber guacamole she had found via the Fearless Homemaker, I knew it I had to try it despite the unconventional ingredients.

Pineapple and Cucumber Guacamole (Guacamole con Piña y Pepino) comes to us from chef Roberto Santibanez’s Truly Mexican: Essential Recipe and Techniques for Authentic Mexican Cooking, a book worth checking out for the mole recipes alone and a sharp looking apple tequila guacamole.

Pineapple and cucumber add a nice crunch to the creamy avocado, onion and cilantro make a nice ying and yang of floral and tang, while the heat of a little extra jalapeno matches brings it all together nicely. To say it was a hit on Championship Sunday would be an understatement, people just couldn’t get enough of this wonderfully tart, sweet and hot guacamole.

You will need:

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced (I used 1/2 of the above cucumber, about 1/2-3/4 of a cup diced.)
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 fresh serrano or jalapeño chiles, minced, including seeds, or more to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste (I used a lot two limes worth of juice.)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (Or taste. I probably used about two teaspoons of salt.)
2 large or 4 small ripe Mexican Hass avocados, halved and pitted
1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 bunch chopped cilantro, chopped, divided (I mixed it all in the guacamole.)

Tip from Ally: Don’t try to add garlic, it ruins the whole balance.

Mix everything together except the avocado in a large bowl, then fold in the avocado.

(Sorry about the lack of chopping photos. I did make this on Championship Sunday along with three other dishes while watching the Pens-Caps game in the morning. You understand.)

Serve.

Another tip from Ally: You can add tomatoes from your garden in the summer time and serve with pita chips!

Pineapple and Cucumber Guacamole (Guacamole con Piña y Pepino) adapted from Truly Mexican: Essential Recipe and Techniques for Authentic Mexican Cooking

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

This is what stinks about the whole Billy Cundiff Rushed His Kick Because Of An Error On The Gillette Stadium Scoreboard brew ha-ha; it gives the Ravens fans something to complain about after the Super Bowl.

Not this week, not next week. [...]]]>

This is what stinks about the whole Billy Cundiff Rushed His Kick Because Of An Error On The Gillette Stadium Scoreboard brew ha-ha; it gives the Ravens fans something to complain about after the Super Bowl.

Not this week, not next week. This week and next week are for Cundiff taking responsibility for the missed kick, Lee Evans crushing disappointment for letting the probable game-winning touchdown be slapped out of his hands and for everyone else to wonder why John Harbaugh didn’t take a timeout to get his special teams set.

After the Super Bowl? If the Patriots win, Ravens fans can (and probably will) complain that they were robbed a fair shot to tie the game and Baltimore would have obviously won the Super Bowl over the Giants. If the Patriots lose, Ravens fans can (and probably will) complain that they were robbed a fair shot to tie the game and Baltimore would have won the Super Bowl over the Giants unlike those cheaters in Foxboro.

And they will have a point.

Sweet Potato Pie Bites with Toasted Marshmallow Creme

You’re going to need a dessert for your Super Bowl party, but one that is not so sickly sweet it doesn’t go with beer, cocktails and soda. Sweet potato pie with a touch of toasted marshmallow creme make a great addition to the buffet without a lot of work, and can even be made a day or two ahead of time and refrigerated for game time.

This makes a good 50-60 bite sized pies which sounds like a lot of pie, but the first tray of these disappeared before we even got the brisket off the grill on Sunday, so don’t worry about having leftovers. Or worry about having leftovers and hide a few for yourself to have for breakfast the next day, which is what I wish I would have done.

(I also wished I would have made a double batch of Smoky Chipotle Bacon Pimento Cheese, because I only got two bites of that before it was gone. See? Lee Evans and Kyle Williams aren’t the only ones filled with regret this week.)

Sweet Potato Filling:

3 pounds sweet potatoes
4 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk (optional)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon
3-4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 of a lemon)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
dash or two of allspice (Yes, I know allspice tastes like a combination of the above, but it makes me feel better to throw it in there.)

Optional evaporated milk? Like most people making pumpkin or sweet potato pie, I’ve always put evaporated milk in my filling. But this past Sunday I was so distracted by Kris Letang’s power play goal in the first period against the Washington Capitals on Sunday, I forgot to put the evaporated milk in my filling. The mini pies turned out fine and the overall taste was unaffected, although the consistency was just not as custard-like as usual, but that’s easily overlooked when making something bite-sized. I wouldn’t make the same mistake with a full-sized pie.

Crust:

I will swear by the Joy of Cooking’s Flaky Pastry Dough crust until the day I die. No other recipe even comes close to the taste and buttery lightness of their recipe. The only thing I change is using butter flavored shortening, which I am fairly certain didn’t exist when my 1997 edition came out. (I have the newer edition of Joy, but like the 1997 one better. Probably because the binding is broken to all the pages I use the most, has little bookmarks I’ve made in every chapter and is covered in flour and other foodstuff stains.)

This is double the original recipe, since you need about four nine-inch pie crusts worth of dough.

5 cups flour
1 cup butter flavored shortening, chilled and cut into pieces
1 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces
2 teaspoons salt
2/3 to a 1 cup ice water

Or you can just use two packages of pre-made pie crust dough.

Marshmallow topping:

7 ounce jar of marshmallow creme or fluff
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk (not pictured)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º.

Clean and then prick the sweet potatoes all the way around with a fork or a knife. Roast until tender and soft all the way through, should take about 45 minutes to an hour in the oven. (Which is how long it should take you to make your dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.)

While the potatoes are roasting, mix together the salt and flour in a large bowl. Then cut in the shortening and the butter into the flour using either a pastry blender or two knives, working in a crisscross direction.

When the dough has become sandy in texture with pea-sized lumps, slowly add the ice water a bit at a time until the dough starts to come together. Give a few turns by hand and add a bit more water until the dough has been combined, but not completely smooth. It should still be rough and you should be able to see batches of butter here and there in the dough.

Form into four equal disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a day or two before using. (Each disk should make a good 9-10 inch pie crust.)

Once the potatoes have softened, remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes for safe handling.

Scoop out the soft potato insides. (I save the sweet potato skins and freeze them for dog treats.)

Puree in either a food processor, a blender, a potato ricer, or by hand with a lot of elbow grease and a masher.

Mix together with the rest of the filling ingredients until smooth.

Increase the oven temperature to 400º and lightly oil your mini-muffin pans

You have two ways of making your mini-pie crusts.

You can either roll out your dough and cut into individual crusts. I’ve found that my 3 1/2 inch round ravioli cutter makes the perfect size with a pretty edge as is seen here in this mini apple pies I made for Bry’s birthday party last year.

Or you can can create little dough balls and press in the mini-muffin tins with a tassie tamper. Don’t own a tassie tamper? Me neither, so I use the round end of my drinks muddler. Don’t own a muddler? Well, how the heck are you making mojitos? Wait, I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me. Use your fingers to make little shells in the mini-muffin pans, but not for your mojitos.

Fill with the sweet potato mixture and bake until set, about 12-15 minutes.

Set aside to cool while you make the frosting. (Eat one for “testing” purposes, of course.)

Using a mixer, beat together the marshmallow cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Slowly add in the milk until it comes smooth and thin.

Put a small tab of the marshmallow topping on each pie and then heat under the broiler for a minute or two until golden.

(If you get distracted because the Pens-Caps game is going to overtime and you’re now going to be late to the Championship Sunday party at your friend’s house and leave the pies in 30 seconds too long and some of the marshmallow gets burnt, don’t sweat it. My research has shown people love burnt marshmallow and they will be eaten just as fast as the prettier pies.)

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

The 1997 Joy of Cooking is available on Amazon here.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados.

Today’s guacamole comes to us from Dan Rubenstein, co-host of the popular college football podcast, The Solid Verbal (which can also be found on the Grantland Network) and is one of young guns the Bleacher Report brought in as a featured columnist. If you’ve ever caught The Solid Verbal, you’ll know food comes up from time to time on the show, so the fact that Dan makes a mean guacamole shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Tomatillo salsa gives the guacamole a bright taste and really brings out the natural green color in avocado while the hot sauce provides a smooth heat across the palate with each bite.

I have to apologize to Dan for the lack of glamor shots of his guacamole in this post. We made this batch to take to a Championship Sunday party yesterday figuring I could take a well-lit picture of the dip at our friend’s house. By the time I went to take a picture of Dan’s guacamole, it was already gone.

Take it away, Dan!

Avocados
Finely diced red or sweet onion
Salsa Verde (I find grabbing extra at a neighborhood salsa bar to be the best strategy here. Also, I like the color to be as bright green as possible, so using this instead of red salsa appeases me. I also just prefer tomatillo)
Cilantro (a solid palm full, adjust for taste), chopped pretty finely
Hearty amount of lime, keeps it fresher, and I like the tang
Very finely chopped jalapeño, I go easy
Few squirts of hot sauce for heat, but not so much that it darkens the bright greenness of the guac
Pinches of salt and pepper to bring everything out

Probably a little less than half a red onion for 3-4 avocados. Excuse me lack of measurements, probably a couple of salsa bar containers of salsa verde. I’d use very little jalapeño (less than one), just because I prefer my guac to be richer than it is spicy. 2-3 dashes of hot sauce.

I also like the salsa verde because it’s liquid-y, I prefer the chunks to be in avocado form, not chunks of tomato. Just a personal preference.

Dan didn’t provide directions (understandable, as we should all know how to make guacamole by now), so here is my technique for this particular batch since Dan said he liked his guacamole to be chunky.

In a bowl, combine 1/2 a minced red onion, chopped cilantro, a small amount of jalapeno and salsa verde.
Add 3-4 avocados, the juice of 2 limes and a few hits of hot sauce.
Fold together until just shy of desired avocado chunkiness.

Season with salt until pepper to taste and mix to desired consistency.

As a side note, my two go-to apps with guac are either quesadillas cut into triangles (a good pepper jack works well, with the bite of the cheese and the richness of the guac) or rolled and baked taquitos (ground taco meat, cilantro, onions, lime and hot sauce inside). I use corn tortillas, either steamed or microwaved first, then rolled and put on a slick cooking sheet and put in the oven until crispy.

Good luck!

Luck isn’t needed with Dan’s guacamole. The dip is as sure-fire as they come.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

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Not that it matters to anyone else other than me, but I’m 7-8 in playoffs picks (the one loss, obviously being the Steelers Wild Card Weekend).

Baltimore Ravens – New England Patriots

I’ve seen some late-week picks going for the Ravens after early predictions [...]]]>

Not that it matters to anyone else other than me, but I’m 7-8 in playoffs picks (the one loss, obviously being the Steelers Wild Card Weekend).

Baltimore Ravens – New England Patriots

I’ve seen some late-week picks going for the Ravens after early predictions had the Pats heavy favorites, despite Ed Reed calling out his quarterback Joe “Ed Hardy of Unibrows” Flacco for being scared against the Texans. Sure, New England has a pretty weak defense compared to Baltimore, but all four of the Ravens 2011 losses came on the road, including giving up games to the listless Jaguars and San Diego Chargers. Picking the Patriots over Baltimore 31-17, but really rooting for a meteor/bird flu outbreak in Foxboro on Sunday. (I guess the Patriots are a lesser evil. YOU MEMBER I SAID SOMETHING NICE ABOUT YOU NEXT SEASON PATS FANS.)

New York Giants – San Francisco 49ers

Ted Ginn’s status is the only thing keeping me from jumping all the way on the Niner bandwagon. Watching Eli Manning, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks have been an absolutely delight the past few weeks have been a master class in “shutting up the haters” with their high-scoring offense that has really come into their own since mid-December, but when Jim Harbaugh has the league believing that Alex Smith (Alex Smith who not just once but twice had to fight Shaun Hill for a starting spot!) is a Super Bowl quarterback, that’s something special. I’m taking the 49ers over the Giants 30-27, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see the same score with New York on top.

Homemade Beer Nuts

Canned nuts are expensive and more often than not, kind of have a stale taste to them. Making your own beer nuts is easy and allows you to season them how you like them. Perfect munching material.

You will need:

1 pound raw peanuts, either with or without the skins
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt

Optional seasonings:
Cayenne pepper, chili powder, cardamon, cinnamon, all spice

In a large open skillet, combine the raw peanuts sugar and water.

Over medium-low heat, bring to a simmer stirring occasionally to prevent the sugar from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the sugar starts to granulate, add the salt and a pinch or two of any seasoning you may be using.

Reduce the heat slightly keep stirring until the sugar is completely sandy and sticking to the individual peanuts.

Remove from heat and stir a bit more to keep the peanuts from sticking together. I usually switch to a slotted spoon at the point so I can shake off the excess seasoning from the nuts.

Spread on a lined cookie sheet and allow to completely cool.

Serve.

If kept in an sealed container, homemade beer nuts keep for 2-3 weeks (but won’t last that long around hungry snackers).

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados

Today’s Tomatillo Jalapeno Guacamole comes from fellow Steelers THUNDERDOME Fantasy Football member, Josh Rivera. I’m not sure when Josh and I first became pals, but I believe the timeline goes something like this; Josh followed me on Twitter and replied enough times for me to notice that his avatar (at the time) was of Porkins. Funny, Steelers fan and a Star Wars fan? Yes, of course I followed back. At some point I gave him a bunch of restaurant recommendations for his family’s trip to Pittsburgh, they run into Russell Crowe, trip’s a hit. Then a cross-country trip Bry and I took had us stopping in his home town of Albuquerque for a night of drinking and late-night tacos (along with our good friend, Jeremy aka Mr. Beaks who happened to be there at the same time for a set visit). Good times had by all and Josh was invited to join our fantasy football league. Since then we’ve had a chance to return the favor and host Josh here in Los Angeles and have been friends ever since. Funny how modern tribes and friendships work.

As a native of Albuquerque, Josh has pretty strong opinions on tacos, salsas and of course, guacamole. If you’re not familiar with the taste of raw tomatillo, it’s a tart — almost sour, crunchy fruit. Once you remove the outer husk and clean off any remaining waxy residue, you’ll find a bright green firm berry. While I am a huge fan of roasted green tomatillo salsas and cut up in vegetable soup, I wasn’t sure how I’d like in my guacamole. I worried the tart would be too much and would overwhelm the delicate avocado. Fortunately my fears were completely unfounded, as the crunch of the tomatillo played nicely with the chopped onion and the sour flavor perfectly counterbalanced the sweet acidity of the tomato. Leaving the seeds in the jalapeno created the perfect amount of heat and just a light dusting of garlic powder made sure the avocado was never overpowered by the seasoning as can happen with too much minced raw garlic.

Take it away, Josh!

My entry:
2 avocados (It might require an extra avocado if it becomes too many other ingredients. Just depends.)
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2-1 medium onion, diced (just a regular white onion)
1 jalapeno, diced
garlic powder
lime juice
salt
Bonus: Big fan of adding a diced tomatillo lately. Try it out.

Me: Hey, do you de-seed your tomato?
Josh: Nope. That sounds like a lot of work. I dislike work.
Me: The jalapeno?
Josh: Nope.

Scoop out avocado and mash to desired chunkiness (I like mine pretty chunky, but not TOO chunky) with fork.

Lightly dust with garlic powder and fold.

Put in tomato, onion and jalapeno, fold.

Sprinkle with lime juice (on top of being delicious, this also helps it keep in the fridge if you make a larger batch). Fold.

Sprinkle with salt and fold again.

Repeat salting to taste.

Serve!

Cook’s note: I made this batch, covered the surface of the guacamole with plastic wrap to prevent browning and let it stand at room temperate for about an hour before serving. Helped open up the garlic, the jalapeno and smoothed out the tomatillo just a touch. It was gone in about 15 minutes flat.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Living in my little holler of the Hollywood Hills means I have easy access to the 101 and Hollywood, a skip past what the tourist always ask for in broken English as the “big white sign” and Lake Hollywood to the Valley, the UCB [...]]]>

Living in my little holler of the Hollywood Hills means I have easy access to the 101 and Hollywood, a skip past what the tourist always ask for in broken English as the “big white sign” and Lake Hollywood to the Valley, the UCB Theater, Griffith Park…

… And the Scientology Celebrity Centre.

For many years, the Celebrity Centre has put on brunches (supposedly where Tom Cruise introduced Will Smith to his friends) on Sundays for their outreach, so when this flyer showed up in my mailbox I was a little surprised. Football? I cannot recall the Celebrity Centre hosting an event for football in the near-decade I’ve lived in this neighborhood.

Pizza? Wings? Barbeque? Kid friendly? Obviously, because if you’re about to be audited, you cannot drink.

Just kidding, you don’t have to get audited when you go to the Celebrity Centre. One of my neighbors who is not a Scientologist held an acting class there for a while and reported no one ever approached her or her students about joining the Centre. Said it was more like a community hall than anything else. But be safe and use the buddy system just in case someone tries to talk you into an e-meter test you didn’t study for.

I mean, it seems harmless enough. Aside of the period between “ancient Sunday ritual”and “Football”, I’m sure you’re fine if you’re looking for a place to watch the Conference Championships this weekend.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados

I first met Smrtmnky in the heyday of the Defamer comment section. No one made me laugh harder on a regular basis than he did back in the days of Grazer Head. I’d read his bon mots aloud to Bry, saying his name as “SmirrMkee” with no other name to go from.  Defamer faded and friendships moved to Twitter and eventually, real life. As whip-smart and witty in person as he is online, anyone has met him can attest he’s one cool dude to know. His knowledge of movies, music and the entertainment industry is up there with any other expert you’ll ever met.  

And now? I know that he makes one of the best guacamoles I’ve ever tried. Smoky roasted garlic permeates the creamy avocado while the roasted habanero is the strong — but never overpowering –  baseline in this guacamole.

Take it away, buddy!

Can you just use the amount everyone’s using for the amount of avocados used? I usually do however many people are coming, normally 4-5.
3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced. I like seeds but i know people hate them so you can choose what you want to do with them. Sweetness of the romas helps cut down the spiciness of the habanero.
Half of a sweet onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, rubbed with olive oil
1 habanero stem and seeds removed, rubbed w/olive oil (if you want it hotter, keep some seeds)
Cilantro to taste or oregano
Kosher salt and ground pepper

Roast the garlic and habanero for about 20-30 min at 400 degrees or until the garlic is soft. I normally roast it in a foil pocket.

Mince the habanero and the garlic or whip them through the food processor ’till they’re all mushed up.

Lots and lots of lime juice. natural preferably

Season to taste or enough to induce a heart attack. (Cook’s note: I went “heart attack” with the salt. Of course I did.)

Ground pepper to garnish

I also learned a good low cal way to go: cut half of the avocados used. get a small bag of peas. cook as directed. rinse in cold water. blend to right consistency and add to guac. it’s not only healthy but cost cutting, too!

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Between Sirius/XM, ESPN, Twitter and my friends’ Facebook updates, I’ve been reminded that today marks the 10th anniversary of the Tuck Rule game. Earlier today I was just thinking how great it would be to have the complete NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB archives available to [...]]]>

Between Sirius/XM, ESPN, Twitter and my friends’ Facebook updates, I’ve been reminded that today marks the 10th anniversary of the Tuck Rule game. Earlier today I was just thinking how great it would be to have the complete NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB archives available to rewatch games on some sort of streaming service (stuck a pin in the topic for a post at a later time), and one of first games that came to mind that I’d watch to rewatch at least once a year was the Tuck Rule game even though I remember everything about watching the game and the game itself like it was yesterday.

Mostly because I blame that game for crushing the Steelers 2002 Super Bowl run when they were expecting the Raiders the following week.

Mini Twice Baked Potato Bites

I was thinking about making my favorite Blue Cheese Baby Potatoes not that long ago, and thought to myself, “You know, I’d like mini baked potatoes instead. What a good idea, Sarah.” Jotted the idea down in my giant list of Football Foodie ideas in my Evernotes, but as a backup item.

• Miniature baked potatoes. (Too close to the blue cheese potatoes, but what if baked and then filled with a mix from a big potato/toppings so like a miniature twice baked potatoes. UPDATE: Dammit Rachael Ray made these.)

This happens all the time. I’ll have an idea, Google the idea, and somehow Rachael Ray will have already made it. Now, I don’t hate Rachael Ray like many people do. True, I don’t watch her show or read her books and I do think she should be dragged in front of the Hague for making the baby talk “sammy” part of the American lexicon, but in the larger scheme of things, I find her to be one the lesser evils of the current Food Network star universe. Even Anthony Bourdain has laid off picking on her these days.

(By the way, if you ever want to know why I don’t watch much of the Food Network or even shows like Top Chef on Bravo, it’s because it’s rarely about the cooking and more about competition, which isn’t very exciting or informative for me as a home cook. Sara Moulton said it best with her interview with Eater about a year ago; “I didn’t move, they dumped me. I’ll say it. I was part of the old guard and every time a new president comes in they make changes. Another thing happened, they switched their demographic. It had been women of I don’t know what age group. But they changed it to 15-35 year old males. That explains a lot of what happened. They were more interested in really good looking people with really big personalities.”)

Anyway, back to Rachael Ray’s mini twice baked potatoes. When I looked at her recipe, the basic idea idea was the same but there was no way I’d make them the same way as she did. Red Bliss potatoes are too dry for baking twice, I prefer to use them when making a boiled potato. She uses butter in her twice baked minis, while over the years I’ve found that butter tends to make twice baked potatoes greasy. It also needed more bacon and sour cream. But the final straw in her recipe was baking the small spuds and then scooping them all out individually. What? Scoop out 24 individual potatoes? I’m on a schedule, woman!

We did agree that extra sharp cheddar is the way to go as to make sure the cheese really stands out.

So consider our dueling recipes the Santonio Holmes of mini spuds; different for each team they play for.

Actually, strike that analogy. Smoktonio was jerk on his way out of Pittsburgh and I’ve been thanking the Rooney’s lucky stars that they got rid of him when they did, especially in light of the past three — THREE — weeks of meltdown in New Jersey. If it wasn’t for the Giants, I’d say they’d have to declare the Meadowlands a Superfund site the fumes out of the Jets organization.

You will need:

2 pounds baby potatoes, cleaned
1-2 medium russet potatoes, cleaned
1/2 pound bacon (optional, can be omitted for vegetarians)
1 cup or so of shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/3-1/2 cup sour cream
1 bunch chives, chopped
approximately 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Why are there three potatoes in the picture? Well, if I’m going to go ahead and heat up the oven for baked potatoes, I usually throw in one or two extra so I can reheat them and have them for lunch during the week. Saves time and energy.

Stab the clean russet potatoes all over with a knife to release the steam while baking. Rub each potato with olive oil and individual wrap the spuds in aluminum foil and throw in the oven.

While the large russets are baking, put the baby potatoes in a medium roasting pan and toss with olive oil until lightly coated and about a teaspoon of kosher salt.

After the russets have baked for about 30 minutes, put the baby potatoes in the oven along side their larger cousins. Bake for another 30 minutes, shaking the baby potatoes once or twice while roasting for even baking.

With the potatoes in the oven, chop the bacon and cook over medium heat until crispy. Drain and set aside.

When the potatoes are done remove from the oven and allow to sit aside for a couple of minutes to cool. Once the baby potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice each potato 3/4 of the way through and give a gentle squeeze to create a pocket for potato-on-potato stuffing and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, take a baked russet potato or two (you’ll be able to judge on how much you need based on potato size), and scoop out the baked potato insides. Mix in the shredded cheddar, sour cream and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and about a teaspoon of ground pepper combine until smooth. Fold in the bacon and the chives.

Using either a pastry bag with an extra-large tip or a plastic bag with a corner cut off, pipe the seasoned potatoes into the baby potatoes. (You can also use a spoon for the task, but it’s a little more time consuming.)

Once all the baby potatoes have been filled, sprinkle with a touch more salt and pepper and bake at 350º for about 20 more minutes or until the top of the potatoes are golden.

Garnish with chives and serve.

OVERTIME!

Have some leftover potato stuffing?

Pipe it onto a lined cooking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden to create little potato puffs.

If you’re planning a large spread for the game and need to save yourself some time, you can make the potatoes and stuff them the day before, refrigerate and then bake for a second time — adding about 10-15 minutes to the cooking time –  when ready to serve.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados!

The first guacamole recipe on this Double Dip Thursday is from David Roy. David is a father, Rajun’ Cajun fan and from what I’ve seen him share about his eating around Portland on Tumblr, a man who knows his food.

But first, I have to apologize to all of the readers and David for the lack of guacamole “glamor shots” shots in this post. This batch was made for New Year’s Day game day; a mix of hungover, making a lot of different snacks to feed the hangover, and swearing at the television because the Steelers-Browns game was a little too close for comfort. (Possibly also yelling at the Bengals for being the Bengals against the Ravens.) I thought I had taken the beauty shots of the guacamole before serving it, but when I downloaded my images late that night, there were none to be found. Unfortunately, there was no guacamole left to take pictures of which is bad for the site, but it’s a strong testament to how well this guacamole went over. 

Update: Found what happened the guacamole glamor shot. I forgot that my camera had run out of juice during the guacamole making and I had taken the prettier pictures with Bry’s iPhone (which has much better resolution than my Android phone). Post updated for pretty!

I have to admit, I had never heard of putting olive oil in guacamole until David’s recipe landed in my inbox. Then Alyse’s Mango Serrano Guacamole also called for olive oil. It’s been a revelation to this guacamole eater, as olive oil smooths out the balance between the heat of the peppers and tang of the tomatoes. 

Take it away, David!

David Roy’s Serrano and Olive Oil Guacamole: Super Bowl Extravaganza

Sarah, my go-to guacamole recipe is hardly a recipe at all, since it’s so simple and basic. I’ve made it this way for years, because I’ve yet to find anything better or quicker. I like letting the avocados shine, and I can tell you that every time I make it this way, it’s gone in a flash. My guess is most of your submissions are going to look similar to this.

4-6 medium avocados
½ medium sweet onion, diced
½ lime
1 small hot pepper, diced fine
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 handful chopped tomatoes—use the good stuff from your garden or the market in season, and Romas out of season
About 1 scant TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper

I usually use serranos, since they are a) hot, but not scorching, b) typically bright red in the stores, so they add a nice bit of color, and c) crunchy, so they hold some texture even when diced fine. If all I have on hand is a red or orange bell pepper, I’ll add a glug of hotsauce.

I forgot to mention that I seed the tomatoes, but I suppose that’s a given. (Editor’s note: Surprisingly, that is not a given as when I clarify this step with each guacamole author, the responses vary.)

The olive oil is not mandatory, but I love it. It seems to help everything come together just a bit better, and I think it aids (along with the lime juice) in slowing down browning of the avocados.

(Editor’s note: Forgot to put the sweet onion the group shot. Here’s the sweet onion. Did I mention I was screaming at the television when I made this guacamole.)

Score the avocados, dump into a bowl, and mash to desired consistency (I like mine fairly chunky).

Add tomatoes, onion, cilantro, olive oil and a some of the diced peppers, along with a bit of salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lime.

Taste, and add more diced peppers, s&p, and lime as you wish.

NOMNOMNOM

Start-to-finish shouldn’t run you longer than 15 minutes.

Yep, came together in no time at all. I had never put sweet onion in my guacamole before and I have to say, I really liked how mellow this guacamole was with the Maui. If you’re looking for an easy, fresh guacamole, this David’s recipe is a sure success.

Follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

When building your Super Bowl menu, you need at least one item that is as indulgent and over the top as the game itself. You only get one shot a year to really go whole hog for football and not be judged by casual [...]]]>

When building your Super Bowl menu, you need at least one item that is as indulgent and over the top as the game itself. You only get one shot a year to really go whole hog for football and not be judged by casual sports fans.

Bring on the pork belly.

Until recently, unless you were a seasoned chef, pork belly wasn’t an ingredient commonly found in the typical American kitchen. Then David Chang and his Momofuku restaurant and subsequent cookbook happened. Suddenly pork belly was everywhere because Chang in all of his wisdom, demystified this amazing cut of meat much like Madden gave every sports fan a better understanding of the play call (for better or for worse).

Is it easy? Absolutely. This has to be one the easiest recipes I’ve ever posted on the Football Foodie aside of reminding everyone to have enough ice at the party. Is it time consuming? Yes, but only because it has to brine overnight, so don’t let the prep time dissuaded you from making this dish.

The only thing intimidating about Chang’s pork belly recipe are the steamed buns the meat is usually served upon. Making them by hand is a rather arduous task and the end results vary, and even if you buy pre-made pork buns from a Korean market, you still need to steam them properly. Since you don’t want to spend all of Super Bowl Sunday in the kitchen, use tortillas instead of buns for tacos. Add radishes to your pickled veggies, much like you’d find at any taco stand in Los Angeles. I spent my whole life hating radishes until I moved to LA and learned to put them on tacos. Who knew? They’re a perfect crunchy compliment to a taco filled with glorious meat.

My only warning for making these pork belly tacos is when you and your guests get to the last one on the platter. You will fight over the last taco as if the Joker has just handed you and your friends a broken pool cue and the last one standing gets to eat. Like you’re Ray Lewis at the bottom of the pile. Or Darren Sharper. Like the forward pass hasn’t been invented and President Teddy Roosevelt is about to ban the sport.

Bet Teddy would fight like hell for a pork belly taco.

You will need:

Pork Belly:

2 pound pork belly, skin removed
1/3 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup sugar

Fresh pickled vegetables:

2 small cucumbers
2 carrots, peeled
4-5 radishes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Flour tortillas
Scallions, chopped

As you can see, I forgot to ask my butchers, the estimable Lindy & Grundy, to remove the pork skin and was stuck doing it myself. Probably should have used a better knife — a carving knife or a chef’s knife –  but the large serrated baby worked well enough.

(My attempt to make chews for my dog out the the pork skin ended up coming out more  like what they refer to in the South as cracklins’. She still loved them.)

I’ve seen people say to use 1/4 of both salt and sugar for the pork belly, all the way up to 1/2 cup each when they adapt David Chang’s recipe. 1/3 cup seems like a good middle and has never done me wrong. If you’re making more pork belly, obviously increase the amount of sugar and salt used using a 1:1 ratio.

Mix together the salt and sugar. Use a roasting pan that fits the pork belly as snugly as possible and then massage the meat with the salt and sugar, discarding any remaining seasoning.

Cover and refrigerate, at least 8 hours but preferably overnight to 24 hours.

Post-brining.

When ready to roast, preheat the oven to 450º.

Remove the pork belly from the fridge. Rinse off the the salt and sugar brine from the pork belly and pat the meat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Discard any water and brine from the bottom of the pan and dry. Place the meat back in the roasting pan fat side up.

Roast for one hour, basting the pork belly with the rendered fat after 20 minutes and basting again every 10-15 minutes until the meat gets a nice golden cover.

After an hour, reduce the oven temperature to 250º and cook for another hour or until the pork belly is tender and starts to offer a resistance to pressure, but not falling apart.

During this hour, build a barricade at the kitchen entrance to prevent your partners, friends, neighbors, pets and random velociraptors from swooping and stealing the pork belly as its delicious smell travels and soon your four friends who RSVP’d will suddenly become forty.

Once the pork belly is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool on a cutting board or plate to cool slightly. Once the meat has cooled a bit, taste a small bite. Now you know why you built that barricade, because you’re not going to want to share a single bite.

After the meat has cooled a bit, wrap in plastic to refrigerate again.

Why let the meat rest again? Because if you try to slice the pork belly now, it will fall apart and you’ll lose all the wonderful juices inside the meat. (This is pretty much a pork confit at this point.)

While the pork belly is chilling, make your pickled vegetables.

Slice the carrots, cucumbers and radishes about 1/8 of an inch thick. In a medium bowl, toss together with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cover and refridgerate for about an hour, which is about the time it will take for your pork belly to firm up.

Once ready to serve, warm the tortillas in the oven for a few minutes to soften and drain the water from the quick-pickled vegetables.

Slice the pork belly.

Heat for a couple of minutes on each side in a warm pan.

Put a couple of slices of pork belly in each tortilla along with the pickled vegetables and the chopped scallions. Serve with hoisin sauce and hot sauce for guests to season as preferred.

Savory pork, the snap of the vegetables and the heat of sauces. It doesn’t get much better for tacos.

Adapted from the Momofuku cookbook.

You can follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados!

Today, a rich mango plays against the undercurrent of serrano peppers in this wonderful guacamole from my old friend, Alyse. She’s been doing design work for the web since you first discovered Compuserve, had the music from Legend of Zelda played on violin during her wedding, and hosts one the largest collections of Kelly Slater fandom you’ve ever seen. And oh yeah, she along with the rest of her Lego building team were recently featured on i09 and CNN for their epic 22,000 piece Battle of Isengard which recently took first place at BrickCon. In other words, she’s pretty damn cool.

I’ve known Alyse for going on thirteen years now, which means I’ve seen her bring this guacamole to more barbeques, movie nights and parties than I can count. People always ask for her guacamole — high-praise in a city where every Angeleno has their own strong opinions on what makes a good guac, and it’s usually one of the first dips gone from the table. I was really excited she sent this in right away when my call for guacamole recipes went out as I had always wondered what went into it.

The creaminess of the avocado hits you first, then the sweet mango, onion and garlic and then there it is. The heat of the serrano pepper, which has you reaching for another chip immediately.

Just one change to Alyse’s original recipe. Mangoes this time of year are not always the ripest and there is nothing I hate more than woody, fibrous, hard mango. None of the ones in the store looked any good, so after talking it over with Alyse, we agreed I’d try it out with frozen mango instead, but working to get rid of any excess moisture as not to end up with with a watery dip. Since a typical mango is a pound, but you figure once you remove the skin and the seeds it’s probably lost about 1/3-1/2 of its weight, and frozen mango is generally sold in one pound bags, I decided to use one bag for each two mangoes called for in the recipe.

Take it away, Alyse!

Alyse’s Mango Serrano Guacamole

Here’s my attempt at writing down my guacamole, if you want to try it out. I honestly am not sure if I captured everything but I hope it works. I usually just wing it, like if I forget lemon, I only use lime or vice versa but I prefer to use both. And if mangos aren’t in season, I use tomatoes instead. If I don’t have fresh garlic, I’ll use garlic salt but that’s only when I’m desperate.

4-6 avocados
3-4 mangos (substitute white onions, cucumber, tomatoes, small bay shrimp, etc…)
2-3 serrano chiles
1 bunch of cilantro
1 purple onion
2-3 garlic cloves
1 lime
1 lemon
olive oil
pepper to taste

(Cook’s note: As previously discussed, I substituted frozen mango for fresh. After allowing it thaw for a few hours on a plate, I gave the mango pieces a whirl in a salad spinner to remove as much excess moisture as possible, then chopped the large chunks into smaller bits for better incorporation into the guacamole.)

De-seed the chiles and cut into large chunks. Use more chiles if you want more spice. The smaller the chile, the hotter it will be. Chop up a quarter or half of the onion into smaller pieces. Use more onion if you like the taste. Wash and clean half a bunch of the cilantro. Tear off most of the leaves. Some stems are fine but not the ends.

In a food processor, throw all of these together along with garlic and chop. Add drizzle of olive oil as these are combined as needed. It will almost become a paste but don’t over mix!

Half the avocados. If very ripe, spoon out into bowl and mash with fork. If perfectly ripe yet firm, cut into squares, then spoon out. Do not mash.

Roll then half a lime. Squeeze both halves into bowl and mix with spoon. Roll then half a lemon. Add half of lemon juice into bowl and mix.

Cut the mangos into squares and add to the bowl. Mix together.

Add the cilantro, chile, garlic, onion paste and mix together. Add drizzles of olive oil if needed to aid mixing.

Add lots of salt and pepper to taste. If you want more acid, add the second half of the lemon or add more lime juice, after tasting.

This guacamole, even in the cold of winter, makes me think of a summer day. The brightness of the mango really does pair well with meaty avocado.

Plus, since it has fruit in it you can say you’ve had a healthy Super Bowl treat (thus offsetting the extra grilled sausage you just ate).

You can follow Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza here for the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very page.

]]> http://sarahsprague.com/2012/01/17/alyses-mango-serrano-guacamole-super-bowl-guacamole-extravaganza/feed/ 3 http://sarahsprague.com/2012/01/16/vegetable-spring-rolls-with-spicy-peanut-sauce-and-garlic-soy-sauce-28-days-of-super-bowl-recipes/ http://sarahsprague.com/2012/01/16/vegetable-spring-rolls-with-spicy-peanut-sauce-and-garlic-soy-sauce-28-days-of-super-bowl-recipes/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:12:13 +0000 sarah sprague http://sarahsprague.com/?p=2532612157

Listen, I don’t mean to belittle the amazing performances of the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots and the New York Giants (sorry Ravens, the Texans should have totally won that game), but really, look at these results:

I hoped against hope [...]]]>

Listen, I don’t mean to belittle the amazing performances of the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots and the New York Giants (sorry Ravens, the Texans should have totally won that game), but really, look at these results:

I hoped against hope that the Houston Texans would take down the Baltimore Ravens, but still picked the team of purple and black Zubuz wearing fans. Part of me feels relieved for my pick’em team as it jumped into second place in the league, part of me wonders if I had gone with my heart and not my head if the Texans would have won because obviously, my actions controlled the weekend.

Skippy Reed still has a stranglehold on first place and with a five point margin ahead of me in second and six points ahead of last year’s CFB champ Pretty Girls and Waffles, with JoshR’s Swaaaaaaagin team and SA rounding out the top five. You might want to double check the math, but with three remaining games I believe the rest of us are just fighting for second place (and remaining bragging rights). But as I said, you might want to double check my math.

Vegetable Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce and Garlic Soy Sauce

Vegetable spring rolls hit all the right tastes on the palate when properly assembled.

Rice noodles: Chewy
Bean sprouts: Crunchy
Carrots: Sweetness
Cucumbers: Brightness
Cabbage: Tartness and spice
Mint, Cilantro and Scallions: Freshness, floral and mild heat

When matched with spicy peanut butter-hoisin-pepper sauce and a garlic infused soy sauce, they’re satisfying without weighing you down. In other words, you’ll have more room for beer in your stomach during the game.

I made this particular batch for a friend’s birthday party last fall and they were gone in minutes. By keeping the spring rolls wrapped tightly with damp towels in the refrigerator, they stayed fresh without becoming gummy even though they had been several hours before serving.

You will need:

Spring Rolls:

1 package rice noodles
1 package spring roll wrappers
2-3 cups sprouts
1-2 cups cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, shredded (about one or two large carrots should do it)
1 cup English cucumber (1 should do it)
1/2 bunch mint, stems removed
1 bunch cilantro, stems removed
3-4 scallions

Dipping sauces:

Peanut butter, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, garlic powder, hot sauce, water

Soy sauce, minced garlic, sugar

Make the rice noodles as per package directions, which is usually to soak them in boiling water and then drain.

Mince together the mint, cilantro and scallions.

Set up your work station, including a bowl of warm water to soften the spring roll wrappers and a tray with damp towels to keep the finished spring rolls moist.

Spin the wrappers using the tips of your fingers in warm water until pliable, but not falling apart.

Create a base layer of noodles, then sprouts, then a light sprinkle of carrots, cucumbers, cabbage and herbs about a 1/3 of the way from the edge of the wrapper closest to you leaving an inch on both sides. Use a light hand as you don’t want to over-stuff your spring roll.

Fold over the sides and the bottom of the wrapper then roll up.

Creating a nice looking roll.

Place on a tray with very damp towels to keep fresh, even covering the rolls as you work to keep the outer wrapper from becoming gummy.

If not serving immediately, cover with even more damp towels and wrap in plastic.

In one bowl, mix about 1/2 cup soy sauce, a splash of rice vinegar if you have it, some minced garlic and about a teaspoon or so of sugar.

In another bowl, mix together about 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/4 hoisin sauce, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, a tablespoon of hot sauce, a splash of rice vinegar.

Thin with water until desired dipping consistency.

Serve.

They’re like little bright salads on your buffet, giving you (and probably more than a few thankful guests on a New Years diet) a happy respite from the heavy pizza sitting next to it on the table.

Don’t forget to follow our Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza over the next couple of weeks!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batch he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

I recently asked my readers how they made their guacamole so we could have a little fun in the weeks leading up to one of the biggest snacking day of the year, the Super Bowl. It was going to be Super Bowl Guacamole Week, but then I received more than a week’s worth of recipes and it blew up into an extravaganza of avocados!

First up is a straightforward cilantro and citrus free number from Margery Miller Shanoff.

I had the opportunity to meet Margery a couple of years ago at a sports writers Blogs with Balls weekend in Las Vegas when she joined her husband and founder of The Quickish, Dan Shanoff, on the trip. I had felt a special kinship with Margery even before I met her as Dan had long traced his passion to the University of Florida Gators back to his wife, so had I converted my own husband to Steelers football, Penguins hockey and yes, Pirates baseball. Margery was smart, witty and a fun person to share mimosas with while watching college football. It is no wonder why Dan has written such splendid love letters to her.

And she makes a mean guacamole.

Don’t let the simple ingredients of this guacamole recipe fool you. At the first taste of Margery’s guacamole, my eyes lit up and I said to Bry, “This is the guacamole you want on a burger. It’s perfect.” Avocados are at the forefront where they belong, the garlic opens up nicely during the resting period and by using garlic salt instead of normal kosher salt, you don’t over do the seasoning. It’s thick, rich and incredibly fresh tasting without being tart, a problem that often arises when people put about twenty limes in their guacamole because they’re so afraid of it turning brown. Plus, this recipe requires you to make the guacamole a few ahead of time, which means you’re not racing around the kitchen fifteen minutes ahead of kickoff for your dip.

Take it away, Margery!

Margery Miller Shanoff’s Cilantro & Citrus Free Guacamole

So, I’m no food writer, and I’m certainly no foodie, but I love to cook, and dips are one of my specialties. That said, I’ve never really written out this recipe, so my apologies if it’s a disaster. My guac is really nothing special, but it has a few tweaks that I (and others) think make it pretty delicious.

First, the ingredients: I’m a cilantro hater, so my version is cilantro and citrus free. Second, the ingredients really matter, so you need fresh and ripe avocados, plum or vine ripened tomatoes that are firm and red, and a red onion. I do about 2 avocados to 2-3 tomatoes to 1/2 an onion. I also often add mild chopped canned chiles, but just a little (about a tablespoon, chopped further and w/o the juice). The *secret* ingredient is garlic salt.

Second, when you actually make it, I think the method seem to matter a good amount for the guac.

Cut the tomatoes. Scoop out the inside stuff and just cut up the outside (sweeter and non-acidic) part. I cut into pieces that are about 1/8 to 1/4 inch square – not too small and not too big.

Cut the onion. This I really dice because I don’t love onion raw and I like it to blend as much as possible.

Add some garlic salt to this mixture. A sprinkle across the top.

Cut up the avocado and add it into the bowl.  I usually scoop a half onto the cutting board, slice, and then chop into chunks of, again, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch square.

(Cook’s note: I cheated and did the old score your avocados in the rind trick. As you can see my avocados were very ripe and I didn’t want to risk making them mushy on the cutting board.)

Mix it all up and if the avocado is on the firm side, you can try smooshing it a little with a spoon.

Add the tablespoon of chopped chiles, and more garlic salt (to taste, and then a little extra).

(Cook’s note: Adding the extra garlic salt even after “to taste” seems is important!)

Cover tightly with saran wrap so that it’s touching the top of the guac and no air is touching the guac (this avoids the dreaded brown top).

(Cook’s note: Before covering, give the bowl a good few whacks on the counter so any air bubbles in the guacamole rise to the top and then smooth out the top with a spoon. Tap the plastic wrap in the center of the dip and working outwards, press the wrap onto the guacamole to minimize the air trapped under the protective seal. I also added a second layer of plastic wrap over the top of the bowl.)

I like to let sit in fridge for a few hours, and then serve.

You might need to mix a little in case it did oxidize a bit.

(Cook’s note: No browning here, which surprised me considering the lack of lemon or lime juice in the guacamole.)

Eat with Tostitos scoops.

- Margery Miller Shanoff

This batch of guacamole was gone in less than 30 minutes, with nothing but high praise from everyone. Looking for a bright tasting guacamole recipe for your Super Bowl party? This one should be at the top of the list. And if you’re like me and like a break from all the hot and spicy dips, then you’ll especially like Margery’s recipe.

What a great way to kickoff our Super Bowl Guacamole Extravaganza!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

By most measures the NFL Divisional Playoff Weekend is the best two days of the entire football season. Half the teams survived the Wild Card, half rested with the bye week. Rust vs momentum. Dome teams vs outdoor stadiums. Three cold weather locations, four [...]]]>

By most measures the NFL Divisional Playoff Weekend is the best two days of the entire football season. Half the teams survived the Wild Card, half rested with the bye week. Rust vs momentum. Dome teams vs outdoor stadiums. Three cold weather locations, four if you’re a Californian or a Cajun. The last time we have football on a Saturday until next season.

Saints-49ers

Everyone and Vegas can keep picking New Orleans for the one road upset this weekend, but San Francisco’s defense is a more cohesive unit than what the Saints saw last weekend out of the Lions, including Aldon Smith’s 14 sacks and Dashon Goldson’s six interceptions. New Orleans is 3-2 in outdoor games this season, and you have to think that 49er faithful are going to be a little more than fired up for their first playoff game in a decade.

Tebows-Patriots

I’ve never been more pro-New England in my life. I might actually even go out and buy a Brady jersey or at least a pair of UGGs. Can’t even bring myself to think about this game, much less write about it.

Texans-Ravens

It’s going to take some serious running from Arians Foster to get past Baltimore, so here’s to hoping Ray-Ray gets so distracted hamming it up for the camera, he forgets his coverage. I believe Houston finished ahead of Baltimore in fewest yards allowed on defense this season and last week’s win over Baltimore included an impressive three interceptions, so we could easily be looking at 13-10 grind of a game.

Giants-Packers

Eli Manning (aka The Blue Great Gazoo) is our great hope against the nearly unstoppable machine of the Green Bay Packers, nearly pulling off a win against the current champions in a 38-35 loss in early December. If Hakeem Nicks scores, does he do the Aaron Rodgers belt move in the end zone?

Admit it, you laughed when he did the Dirty Bird last weekend in Atlanta. Okay, maybe not you, Falcon fans. Everyone else.

Mini Croque Monsieur Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

I love croque monsieur ham and cheese sandwiches. The nuttiness of Gruyere cheese, the hint of salt from the Parmesan, creamy bechamel, tang of Dijon mustard and meaty ham make for an adult grilled cheese treat. Unfortunately, they’re a little too messy to make and serve en masse for a party. Enter these little slider-sized versions of the classic French treat which are not only easier to hold during the game, but the smaller serving size assures you’ll also have room to indulge in the rest of your game day spread.

This recipe yields a lot of cheese sauce and if you really wanted to, you could use the same amount of the sauce with double the amount of ham and rolls.

(I just happen to like my sandwiches very cheesy.)

You will need:

1 package of 12 dinner rolls or Hawaiian rolls
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6-8 ounces grated Gruyere cheese, divided
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 pound of sliced country ham or Black Forest ham
Salt and ground pepper (to taste)

Why there are chives in this picture, I do not know. Was I going to use them for a garnish? Maybe, but that would throw off the taste of the sandwich. Anyway, you don’t need chives.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Leaving the dinner rolls as one large piece, slice off the top and put the two halves on a lined cookie sheet. Toast in the oven until lightly browned.

In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat until bubbling. Add the flour and whisk together until smooth, making the roux.

Slowly whisk in the milk in a steady stream and increase the heat to medium. Add a dash of salt, little more than a dash of ground pepper and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Cook until thickened, about 5-7 minutes.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese and most of the Gruyere, reserving about 3/4 cup for topping. Once the cheese has melted, remove from heat and set aside.

Choose the half of the dinner rolls that look larger and sturdier and brush with Dijon mustard.

Then evenly layer on the sliced ham…

Followed by the cheese sauce, and top with the remaining Gruyere.

Heat in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and then put under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to create a slightly browned crust for the cheese.

Once removed from the oven, allow the bottom half of the sandwiches-to-be half to cool slightly so the cheese can set for easier slicing. Using a large knife, cut through the cheese and ham along the cuts in the rolls to make individual mini-sandwiches.

Top with the remaining halves of the rolls and serve.

Want to save time? You can make the cheese sauce a day ahead of time and gently reheat when ready to bake.

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

Yeah, I still owe everyone a Steelers post mortem. Go read The Grinches Whole Stole Football and Roadhouse Blues while you wait for it be posted.

Spicy Pickle Dip

I know what you’re thinking. “But Sarah, you don’t look Canadian.”

Here’s a tip:

If you read all the articles about why or why not there should be there should be a playoff and not a bowl system for college football, all the articles on how good or how bad the LSU-Alabama title game was, [...]]]>

Here’s a tip:

If you read all the articles about why or why not there should be there should be a playoff and not a bowl system for college football, all the articles on how good or how bad the LSU-Alabama title game was, imagine they they were written by Friedrich Nietzsche and Soren Kierkegaard. You’ll find that regardless of the talking point, one or the other will naturally fit the voice of the article.

Arugula, Carrot, Olive and Herbed Cheese Provencal Wraps

In my years of entertaining and eating, I’ve found small vegetable wraps offer nice reprieve on the buffet. Easier to serve than a green salad at a party, more filling due to the lavish or tortilla wrapping, and frankly, they’re just tasty. The bite of the arugula, the sweetness of the carrot, salt of the olives with the creaminess of the cheese all come together in perfect harmony with this handy little wraps.

You can make and serve these wraps on game days, but I’ve found the taste improves if given at least a few hours — if not a whole day — to rest in the refrigerator wrapped in wax paper or plastic wrap.

You will need:

1 package of lavish (generally 6 pieces) or large flour burrito-sized tortillas
6 ounces of a soft herbed cheese, such as Boursin, softened
4 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1/2- 3/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
2-3 cups grated carrots
4-5 cups chopped watercress (About 8-10 ounces)

I like a lot of olives, but you may not like a lot of olives. You may not even like olives at all. Back in the days of the Google Reader ShareBro universe (RIP), I found out that a surprising number of people don’t like olives. Obviously these people were traumatized in their youth by an older sibling who put black olives on their fingers at Thanksgiving. My suggestion to those people (other than they might want to talk about their family issues with a trained professional) is that they use chopped up artichoke hearts in this recipe.

The original recipe called for using all Boursin cheese in these wraps. I’ve found that makes them just a touch too salty and harder to spread (plus it means you’re buying more of the expensive stuff), so mixing it with plain cream cheese is a simple solution to these problems.

Spread a very thin layer of the softened cheeses on the lavish.

Create a base layer of arugula then top it with a sprinkling of carrots and olives.

Wrap.

Slice in half and serve.

You get a nice crunch from the carrots, peppery arugula, herbs from the cheese and a nice bite from the olives. Everything you need in a football snack.

Adapted from Vegetarian Times.

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

It’s been a long weekend and we have a busy Monday ahead of us as we get ready for the LSU-’Bama game, so let’s get through this quickly.

And by busy Monday, I mean I’m going to email my buddies twenty times with suggestions [...]]]>

It’s been a long weekend and we have a busy Monday ahead of us as we get ready for the LSU-’Bama game, so let’s get through this quickly.

And by busy Monday, I mean I’m going to email my buddies twenty times with suggestions on where we can watch the game tonight other than the agreed-upon-everyone-but-me dive bar in Hollywood. I really don’t like that joint.

Bengals-Texans

Went to Barney’s in WeHo with my buddy and purposely sat amongst the Bengals fans on Saturday. I was excited for them and honestly, there didn’t seem to be a single Texans fan in the joint. Three and half quarters later and they were stripping off their jerseys in shame when they made trips to the restroom. Sure, T.J. Yates had a solid game, Arian Foster ran like Arian Foster, and an INT from J.J. Watt for six made for a pretty sound drubbing of Cincinnati, but a stronger offensive line and a healthy Leon Hall in the secondary and I’m not sure the Texans get by the Bengals. I said it all season, a stronger Cincinnati team is not what this rival AFC North fan wants to see, but it’s coming whether I like it or not.

Lions-Saints

All those people who started to pick the Lions over the Saints for the upset late in the week? Degenerate gamblers, each and every single one of them.

Still at Barney’s, I experienced my first poor visceral reaction to a group of Saints fans after years of not minding the good fortune story out of New Orleans; goodness where they annoying. The “WHO DAT” cheers only started when they had the game well in hand in the fourth quarter.

Barney’s overall? Mozzarella sticks, fried pickles, tri tip sliders, pepperoni pizza, coffee and four Jamesons on the rocks. No wonder I felt like hell at 2 AM.

Falcons-Giants

So much for what everyone was predicting to be the most interesting game of the weekend. Actually, safeties and solid defense are interesting, but just not when they all come from the same team. Everyone’s favorite fantasy stud Michael Turner was held to just 41 yards running on about 15 carries as the Falcons’ offense spurted and stopped, never really getting going the entire game. Let’s hope New York can keep the energy going as they return to Green Bay next week to avenge their 38-35 loss to them in Week 13 (mostly because Aaron Rodgers is a rather bland spokesperson and shouldn’t be allowed in any more insurance ads.)

Steelers-Broncos

That’s going to get its own post.

Yeah.

Htipiti!

Htipiti is one of those great savory, salty dips from the Mediterranean goes well with pita chips or crudite much like hummus. Tangy feta, lemon and roasted peppers are balanced out by smooth olive oil and the heat of chili flakes. Little green onion, little garlic and a touch of smoked paprika and you’ve got yourself a party.

You can also use htipiti as a spread on wraps or even baked on a flatbread with vegetables for a sort of impromptu Greek pizza.

You will need:

1 pound block of feta, drained
1 12-16 ounce jar of roasted red peppers, drained and patted dry
2-3 scallions
2 garlic cloves
1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, divided
1-2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
1-3 tablespoons lemon juice

While not mandatory, I highly recommend using Rick’s Picks Pepi Pep Peps when making this dip for hint of ginger they use with their peppers. The little extra zing helps cut through the feta.

Also, I’m a huge fan of Whole Foods block feta. It’s got the creamy texture missing from many mass-produced feta cheeses with the right balance of salt.

Using either a food processor, traditional blender or stick blender, combine the feta, peppers, half the paprika, scallions and garlic.

Slowly add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add a tablespoon at a time of lemon juice to get the right amount of zest you prefer. Sometimes I make this with just 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, sometimes I use up to three tablespoons. Depends on how the peppers are working the cheese that day.

Top with the remaining paprika and serve with pita chips, crackers or vegetables.

One of he nicer things about serving htipiti as a football snack is that it never feels too heavy. The lemon and the heat of the peppers give a freshness to the feta that almost makes the dip feel refreshing. A palate cleanser almost between more substantial snacks, if you will.

Don’t forget to send your recipes for Super Bowl Guacamole Week, deadline is today!

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

Quick post today as I’m trying to get a few things wrapped up for wild card weekend.

Just a few thoughts:

Does it seem like no one is talking about the NFL playoffs quite yet? All the chatter so far this week seems to be centered around the Jets locker room implosion, which team is (foolishly) going after head coach Jeff Fisher and 2012 draft [...]]]>

Does it seem like no one is talking about the NFL playoffs quite yet? All the chatter so far this week seems to be centered around the Jets locker room implosion, which team is (foolishly) going after head coach Jeff Fisher and 2012 draft predictions.

I asked one of my fantasy football leagues this morning if they felt the same way or if it was just me, and I got back responses brought up that despite how banged up the Steelers it seems unlikely they’ll lose to the Broncos (bad mojo), that the Steelers are such a mess injury-wise no knows how they’re going to do this post-season (maybe), and that maybe just no one wants to jinx the game because of the former (agreed).

In retrospect, I should have maybe asked this question of broader sampling of fans and not just my homer-league, because I don’t get feeling the Steelers fan base is alone here. Sure, the Texans are excited because it’s their first playoff game in Houston since 1994, but is anyone actually talking about it other than in Texas? Is it because no one knows how to hype a game featuring two rookie quarterbacks? Saints fans have the additional distraction of the LSU-’Bama game. On Twitter, I follow at least a couple of dozen Giants and Falcons fans, but haven’t seen a single word out of any of them about this weekend’s bout. Noted 49ers fan/Off the Bench editor/Daulerio-hater Rick Chandler even feels left out, “49ers are pretty much absent from any media Super Bowl discussions, giving the playoffs a distinct 2010 SF Giants feel to them,” and that’s the most I’ve seen from anyone I follow whose team is on a bye-week.

Maybe it’s because the NFL’s final two weeks of the season were played on holidays. Maybe it’s because there are still bowl games, well, being ludicrous bowl games. (If you haven’t read Holly’s piece on Airraid, you should get to it sooner rather than later.) Maybe it’s because it’s many of the same playoff teams this season; Packers, Saints, Giants, Steelers, Patriots and Ravens, and fans are tired of them in the way they’re tired of the Red Sox, Yankees and Cardinals.

Pierogi Lasagna

Longtime Football Foodie readers know we’re no strangers to matching pierogies with football around these parts. Making traditional homemade pierogies is easy enough and we’re still making special blue cheese pierogies in Buffalo sauce when the craving hits around game time.

But the only problem with making pierogies from scratch is that it’s quite a time commitment. What if you want the taste of pierogies, but don’t want to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen? Easy. You make a pierogi lasagna. All the cheese, onions and potatoes you could ever need layered between lasagna noodles gives you the same taste without all the work.

Strike that. This version has way more delicious, creamy cheese melted between fluffy potatoes with the soft bite of onion and garlic.

You will need:

5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped (approximately 5 lbs, it can be a little more or a little less)
3 pounds onions, sliced
1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
12-14 lasagna noodles (Just under a pound of packaged lasagna, or you can make the whole box just to be safe.)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup sour cream, plus more for topping (approximately a tablespoon or so a serving)
1/4 milk
salt and pepper
cooking spray or vegetable oil to coat the baking dish

Preheat oven to 350º.

In separate large pots, boil salted water for both the potatoes and lasagna noodles.

Cook the lasagna noodles as per the package directions and boil the potatoes like you were making mashed potatoes.

Tip: Get the potatoes and onions started set before making the lasagna noodles since they take more time than the pasta.

While the potatoes are going, slice the onions and separate the rings a bit and mince the garlic. If you prefer to dice up your onions a bit, have at it.

In a large skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter.

Once the butter has melted, saute the onions over medium heat until translucent and then add the garlic and reduce the heat just a bit. Cook for a few more minutes until the garlic has opened up and the onions have mostly softened.

Once the potatoes are soft, drain off all the water. Return the pot to the stove and put over low heat and give the pot a good shake and the spuds a good stir to get the last of the water out of them.

Remove from heat and mix in a little more than half of the shredded cheddar cheese (it will melt right away), the sour cream and the milk. Season with about a teaspoon or two of kosher salt and about a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.

Once the lasagna noodles are done, drain.

Coat a 9×13 baking dish with a light coating cooking spray or vegetable oil. Create a base layer of lasagna noodles.

Then a layer of mashed potatoes. Let’s say about 1/4-1/3 of your potatoes.

Then a layer of onions and then a layer of cheese.

Repeat until you’ve filled the pan with a final layer of lasagna noodles. You should get about three layers.

Take whatever melted butter is left in the bottom of the skillet and drizzle it over the top so the noodles don’t dry out too much.

Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes, until rapidly bubbling.

Remove the foil and let the pierogi lasagna rest before slicing.

Pierogi layers! (And too warm photography!)

Top with sour cream and serve.

Don’t forget to send your recipes for Super Bowl Guacamole Week, deadline is Monday.

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

I’ve been listening to a lot of sports talk radio this week. Specifically, I’ve been listening to a lot of NFL sports talk radio this week in Sirus/XM. The Blitz. The Opening Drive. The Blitz Drive. The Opening Blitz Drive. Drive Opening the Blitz. [...]]]>

I’ve been listening to a lot of sports talk radio this week. Specifically, I’ve been listening to a lot of NFL sports talk radio this week in Sirus/XM. The Blitz. The Opening Drive. The Blitz Drive. The Opening Blitz Drive. Drive Opening the Blitz. Like most rational people, I avoid sports talk radio because it’s full of crazy people who like to yell at each other, but the week between the end of the NFL regular season and the playoffs crystallizes the feelings of excitement, panic, frustration and depression fans feel in ways you don’t get to experience at any other time of the year.

Jets fans blaming everyone except the popcorn vendors at the Meadowlands for not making the playoffs. Vikings fans wondering if they’ll get past Green Bay next year. The irrationally optimistic Bengals fan claiming their squad will run the table. The irrationally pessimistic Ravens fan who said, “He’s no Dan Marino, but he’s no Matt Ryan either,” when describing Joe Flacco. The Dallas fan who called in to declare, “The Cowboys have more important things than the playoffs to worry about, they’ve got the draft.” A joy, each and every single fan.

Except for the fan from Pittsburgh who wondered which members of the Steelers staff Bill Cowher will go after once he’s named head coach of the San Diego Chargers. That guy was just embarrassing.

Smoky Habanero Jalapeno Popper Bread

One of my favorite local wine bars (Shut it!) here in Los Angeles shares an open kitchen with their sister restaurant next door. One night over a bottle of pinot, I watched the chef make this enormous jalapeno popper panini with about two pounds of white cheddar and a dozen jalapenos for the grilled cheese night they were hosting. Watching her slice jalapeno after jalapeno, I couldn’t wait try to make a similar cheesy bread at home.

My first attempt was a disaster. Way too much mild cheddar and cream cheese –  most of which ended up sliding off the bread, and surprisingly, not enough heat from the jalapenos. Next time around, halved the amount of cream cheese, added some smoked cheddar to compliment the heat of the peppers, used sharp cheddar for the salty tang of cheese and mixed in a few habaneros so it would have some kick. Perfection.

You will need:

1 large loaf of soft French bread (1 lbs size)
4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3  habaneros, seeds removed and chopped as fine as possible
3 jalapenos, seeds removed and chopped
3-4 scallions, chopped

Preheat oven to 350º.

Toss everything except for the bread into a bowl.

Combine the cheese, peppers and onions all together.

Cut the bread in half and then slice longways so you have four open quadrants of loaf.

Spread the mixture evenly on all four pieces of bread.

Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown on top.

Let rest for about five minutes before slicing to give the cheese a few minutes to firm up a bit as not to lose all the toppings on your knife.

Serve with ranch dressing for dipping.

The crunch of the toasty bread, the creaminess of the cheese, the heat of the peppers with just a hint of onion makes for not only an easier alternative to making jalapenos poppers at home, but a tastier one.

What is also great about this recipe is that it makes quite a bit of cheesy bread, so you can save some for a later snacking date. This batch was made for a Thursday night game, then the other half was frozen for use on Sunday when we needed an extra game food for our guests. Just flash freeze bread on a baking sheet for 30 minutes to set the toppings and then store in freezer-safe bags until needed, adding about 10-15 minutes to the baking time. Great if you’re still getting through the remaining sixty-seven college football bowl games and need food for multiple nights.

Don’t forget to send your recipes for Super Bowl Guacamole Week, deadline is Monday.

Your 360-interactive-all-media-guide for the Football Foodie and the 28 Days of Super Bowl recipes can be found here, so you can follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and our own new glorious galleries that can be found at the top of this very post!

As we get ready to get ready to dig into the 2012 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes, a few updates.

It’s about the time of the year when fellow football fans start asking if I have any good black-eyed peas recipe for New Year’s Day. (For those of you who do not know the history of black-eyed peas, in many cultures around the [...]]]>  

It’s about the time of the year when fellow football fans start asking if I have any good black-eyed peas recipe for New Year’s Day. (For those of you who do not know the history of black-eyed peas, in many cultures around the world, from the Middle East to the American South, eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is thought to bring prosperity in the New Year.) Since Smoky Cowboy Caviar is only recipe I have ever posted involving the storied pea, I thought it was high-time to add another one to the catalog, especially with so many crucial Week 17 games heading our way on New Year’s Day. If I was a Raiders/Chargers/Eagles/Giants/Cowboys/Jets/Bengals fan, I’d plan on eating a tray or two of this dip on January 1, 2012.

Much like the Breakfast Puff Pastry Braid with Eggs, Sausage and Cheese recipe posted earlier, this is a great snack for the day after the party. Creamy cheese, spicy chorizo, hearty black-eyed peas with a hint of smoky cumin are perfect for a hungry stomach.

New Year’s Day Lucky Black-Eyed Peas Dip with Chorizo

You will need:

1 pound chorizo, either in links or packaged
(2) 15 ounce cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 ounces roasted green chilies, drained
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2-1 teaspoon cumin (to taste)
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

If you wanted to throw some chopped tomatoes in there, I am sure you could.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the chorizo. If your chorizo came in casings, cut it open and crumble it into smaller pieces as it cooks.

Once the meat has been browned, toss in the onions.

While the chopped onions are softening in the pan, lightly mash the black-eye peas. You don’t need to break them all down, just enough that you have a mix of whole and partial black-eyed peas.

When the onions are soft, mix in the green chilies, cumin, garlic and black-eyed peas.

Cook until the beans are heating all the way through and have absorbed the juices from the chorizo.

Stir in the cilantro and remove from the stove.

Mix the black-eyed peas and chorizo with the cheddar and Jack cheese in a shallow, 2-quart baking dish. Why shallow? Better for dipping!

Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and the top is starting to get a golden crust.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with tortilla chips.

This is going to be the last of the regular season Football Foodie postings until after the New Year. Going to work on the back end of the site next week and try to finally get some worthwhile galleries up for better recipe navigation.

Skippy Reed leads the NFL Football Foodie Pick’Em Pool, and then there is a whole mess of us jammed together for spots 2-10. Crazy tight race, so don’t forget we’re running the pool through the play-offs this year.  (Actually, with the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the entries down in the 20s jump up into the top ten.)

Starting to get recipes (and the threat of sending in recipes) for Super Bowl Guacamole Week, so if you’re planning to sending in your best guac recipe, please get it to me soon.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day are the last two big NFL brunch days here on the West Coast. Throw in a few random early bowl games on January 2 plus the extra relatives you’ve got hanging around the next couple of weeks [...]]]>

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day are the last two big NFL brunch days here on the West Coast. Throw in a few random early bowl games on January 2 plus the extra relatives you’ve got hanging around the next couple of weeks and you’re going to need an fast and easy — not to mention hangover approved — breakfast.

In this particular puff pastry braid, I used chorizo, chipotle peppers, sharp cheddar and scallions, but you can make these with Swiss cheese and sauteed mushrooms; Italian sausage, mozzarella, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes; or country ham, potatoes and cheese. Basically if you can put it in an omelette, you can put it in puff pastry.

Puff Pastry Braid with Eggs, Sausage and Cheese

You will need:

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
7 eggs, divided
1/2 pound of chorizo, cooked and chopped (about 2-3 links of sausage)
2-3 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, minced
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2-3 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
dash of salt and pepper

Yields 1 braid, you can easily double this if you have a large group to feed.

If you’re the type of person who likes to put cream and milk in your scrambled eggs, then go for it. If you’re the type of person who also likes to put a tablespoon of flour in your scrambled eggs to make them fluffier, do that too. Sometimes I do those things, sometimes I don’t.

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Cook and chop the chorizo, shred the cheese, mince the chipotles, chop the scallions. In a large bowl, beat together six eggs and add milk or flour desired.

(Ignore the technology in the corner, as I was trying to switch up my fantasy football team as I cooked. Also ignore the Boursin cheese in the other corner. It was being brought up to room temperature for a recipe you will see at a later date.)

Now, this next part is also up to personal preference. You want really fluffy eggs, make the scrambled eggs separately in the butter and then layer eggs, sausage, cheese, chipotle peppers and scallions on the puff pastry.

If you’re like me and you want everything together in a big mess no matter what it looks like, follow these steps.

In a large skillet, melt the butter of medium heat and add in the chopped chorizo.

Once the pan is warm enough, toss in everything but the puff pastry. Stir constantly until the eggs are melted and the cheese is scrambled. Or the other way around. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

On a piece of parchment paper the size of your baking sheet, roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle.

Pile the egg, sausage, cheese and pepper mixture down the center of the pastry longways, leaving a couple of inches at each end.

On both long sides of the pastry, make slices going towards the center every inch to inch and a half. (Sorry I didn’t get a picture of it.)

Fold the ends over the egg mixture and then fold the pastry sections over like a braid until you reach the other end. Don’t worry if one end looks all wonky. Once you bake it and slice the pastry, no one will notice.

Beat the remaining egg and brush over the top of the pastry braid.

Bake at 400º for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Once done, let rest for a couple of minutes to firm up the braid so it doesn’t fall apart on you when slicing.

Cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch slices and serve.

The flaky pastry, the creamy eggs and cheese play perfectly against the spicy chipotle peppers and chorizo. It’s hearty, filling and just what you want for a morning game, especially when the 10 am games start on New Year’s Day. Week 17 football traditionally has been a joke, but the last few years we’ve seen some great match-ups with real playoff implications. (Parity!) Giants-Cowboys, Bengals-Ravens, Jets-Dolphins, Green Bay-Detroit; those games are going to matter, and you’re going to need the fuel to get your butt out of bed and watch them no matter how late you were out the night before.

Don’t forget to submit your guacamole recipes for the first annual Football Foodie Super Bowl Guacamole Week!

The lightness of the crust – even lighter than some focaccias, with the tang of tomatoes, the chewiness of the mozzarella and the crunch of the bread crumbs is a nice and inexpensive break from the usual take out pizza pie.

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The [...]]]>

Guacamole!

Everyone has their own way of making it. Some people use lemon juice, some people use lime juice. Pureed smooth or chunky. With or without onion, tomato, jalapeno, mango, garlic, cumin or cilantro. And yes, some people put mayonnaise in their guacamole. The guy who ran the deli counter at my corner market whipped his secret guacamole (secret because you had to live in the neighborhood for years before he’d let you know about the batches he’d make on Saturdays), with sour cream and when you raved about how good it was, he’d say, “South American guacamole. Better than all other guacamole.”

The photo above? This joint put feta in their guacamole. Surprisingly good.

The topic came up on Twitter the other day and I wondered, what sort of guacamole do people make? What is your go-to recipe for guacamole? Do you have a special technique? For example, I like using my pastry cutter to mash everything together in the bowl. Maybe you put your guacamole in a blender or use a mortar and pestle.

Let’s have some fun and have Super Bowl Guacamole Week during this year’s Football Foodie run-up to the championship. Email your favorite guacamole recipe to sarah@sarahsprague.com, and over the next few weeks I’ll make a batch of each submission and post about the merits of each type of guacamole starting in  mid-January.

Be sure to include the reasons why you love your guacamole. If it is an adaption of another recipe, be sure to include a link or a reference. Do you also have a sports or food blog? Feel free to post your guacamole over there and send me a link, and I’ll include those recipes too.

Deadline for entry is January 9, 2012.

By the time we reached Italian coast I hadn’t eaten a sandwich in nearly two weeks. I had seen beautiful over-stuffed sandwiches in the food halls of Harrod’s back in London, packaged sandwiches on the Eurostar as we sped through France, [...]]]>

By the time we reached Italian coast I hadn’t eaten a sandwich in nearly two weeks. I had seen beautiful over-stuffed sandwiches in the food halls of Harrod’s back in London, packaged sandwiches on the Eurostar as we sped through France, sandwiches with rich cheeses in Brussels, sausages with dark bread in Prague, ham with mustard in Switzerland and Austria, and all matter of stunning looking sandwiches at the gas stations along the German Autobahn; the latter being most curious to me, as it was nothing more than a market at a rest stop and yet there were these buffets of fresh sandwiches on display, allowed to breathe the fresh air and not wrapped in suffocating cellophane like I was used to seeing back in the States. They were the most appealing looking sandwiches I had ever seen in my life.

Guest post over at On Sandwiches today, talking about the best tomato and mozzarella sandwich I’ve ever had. You should go read it.

You should also follow the site. Their love of sandwiches knows no bounds. It’s lovely.

(Sorry if I struggled with their use of “associate” when describing the people you eat sandwiches with.)

First things first; congrats to Studley for winning the 2011 Football Foodie CFB Pick’Em Pool by an outstanding eleven-point margin. The fight for second place was tight with WisconsinRob coming in just a single point ahead of  Sambria [...]]]>

First things first; congrats to Studley for winning the 2011 Football Foodie CFB Pick’Em Pool by an outstanding eleven-point margin. The fight for second place was tight with WisconsinRob coming in just a single point ahead of  Sambria in third place and a mere two points above DougOLis in fourth.

Studley gets the opportunity to submit a guest post on the sports and/or food topic of his choosing as well as a few things I’ve already picked out for him from the LSU store. Who wouldn’t want to win LSU ice cube trays?

Congratulations again, Studley.

Steak and Ale Pie

As we head into December, game days start to get colder and we want for something warmer, heartier to go with our football, and one of my favorite dishes for this time of year is the classic British pub food, steak and ale pie.

The secret to one a great steak and ale pie is taking the time to really let the meat, mushrooms, onions and herbs develop in a slow simmer on the stove top. The pearl onions and the pancetta almost completely dissolve into the gravy, which in turn will permeate their flavors deep into the beef and mushrooms. Carrot, thyme, marjoram, garlic and the hint of Worcestershire sauce meld together beautifully, and you’ll have a hard time deciding if you want the gravy on your next bite of crisp pastry or if you want to dip a fry in its savory embrace.

Perfect wintertime football food.

You will need:

2 – 2.5 lbs beef, fat trimmed cubed (Chuck or braising beef. I prefer to use half chuck and half tenderloin tips.)
4 ounces cubed pancetta, or 4 slices of lean bacon, finely chopped
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
10 ounces pearl onions, blanched, peeled and halved
1/2 cup sliced carrots (about two-three medium carrots)
3 gloves of garlic, minced
8 tablespoons butter, divided
8 ounces of beef stock
14 ounces of British ale, preferably a strong ale
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
2-3 sprigs fresh marjoram
2 bay leaves
1 sheet of puff pasty (1/2 pound will do)
1 egg
3-4 tablespoons of flour
salt and pepper

Fullers ESB is a great beer for steak and ale pie, with both its strong malt and hops tones. Plus it comes in a big bottle so you can drink the rest of it while cooking.

I prefer to use pearl onions over regular onions because of their slightly sweeter profile and because they are so thin, they easily cook down completely into the sauce. Many grocery stores sell them already blanched and peeled fresh, but you can also use frozen pearl onions that have been thawed.

Season the flour with about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss the beef with the seasoned flour mixture until well coated.

In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter over high heat.

When the pan is very hot, add the cubed beef and brown on all sides. The key here is to keep the heat up so the meat gets evenly browned, as the sear is going to help give the dish its rich flavor. Stir the meat often for even browning.

Once the meat has been browned, remove it from the pot and set it aside. Don’t worry if the beef is still a bit pink in the middle, you’re just looking for the browning.

Turn the heat down on the pot and toss in the cubed pancetta.

When the pancetta is mostly cooked, add in the sliced pearl onions. If there is not enough fat from the pancetta left in the bottom of the pot to prevent the onions from sticking, add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.

Cook for a few minutes or until the onions have started to soften. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two more.

Once the onions and the garlic have softened, stir in the beef stock and bring to a simmer.

After the stock has come to a simmer, slightly tilt the pan and pour in the beer. You want to either deglaze the bottom of the pan with the beer directly, or scrap with a wooden spoon until all the flavorful brown bits have made their way back into the liquids.

Add the herbs, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and carrots and bring to low boil.

Toss in the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more.

Then add the beef back into the pot.

Bring to a low simmer and cover.

Now here’s the hard part.

Let it simmer, stirring occasionally and making sure nothing stick to the bottom of the pot, for an hour and a half.

This will be the longest 90 minutes of your life. It will smell amazing and you’ll want to take a taste of it every time you lift the lid. Anyone who shares a living space with you will try to sneak bites. Your pets will take up residence next to the stove. Neighbors will show up at your door asking if they could possibly come over and watch the game at your place, even if it means watching Jacksonville-Tampa Bay, they’re in.

Once you’ve reached the final 30 minutes of stewing the meat, preheat the oven to 425º and set out the pastry to thaw for rolling out.

After the longest 90 minutes of your life, you’ll have thickened perfection.

Remove the bay leafs and check for seasoning, adding more salt or pepper to taste.

Pour the steak and ale mixture into a 2 quart baking dish. I prefer to use a 11 x 8-inch dish since it’s easier to cut it into servings once the pie is done. Be sure to scrape every last bit of goodness out of the pot into your dish.

If needed, roll out the pastry dough to be the correct size of your baking dish.

Beat the egg and brush it along the edge of the dish so the pastry can form a seal for baking.

Cover the baking dish with the pastry dough and cut off any extra dough that falls too far down the side of the dish. Brush the pastry with beaten egg.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry has turned golden brown. If the edges start to cook too quickly, cover with foil.

Once done, let rest for about 5-10 minutes.

Cut the pastry, trying to keep as much as the filling under the crust as possible.

(This is actually not possible, and it will be a mess, but do it anyway.)

Serve with steak fries or mashed potatoes.

Can you believe it’s already this late in the season? The college bowl games have been announced. This morning I was talking about wild card pairings in the NFL. Feels like the year just started and here we are with less than a month of the regular season left.

It also means it’s time to start stockpiling Super Bowl recipes.

It’s the last weekend for the Football Foodie College Football Pick’em Pool. Now, I don’t say that the current leader Studley has already won the pool, but for Wisconsin Rob, Doug or SA to overtake him [...]]]>

It’s the last weekend for the Football Foodie College Football Pick’em Pool. Now, I don’t say that the current leader Studley has already won the pool, but for Wisconsin Rob, Doug or SA to overtake him to win, Studley’s going to have to miss more than half his picks this weekend and they’re going to need to be perfect.

No pressure or anything.

Studley’s a huge LSU fan, which ties neatly into a huge Packer fan winning last year’s NFL Pick’em Pool. (Note to self; get more Steeler fans involved in the pick’em leagues.)

Veggie Sloppy Joes

I’m not a fan of sloppy joes with ground meat, as they tend to be rubbery and spongy. I’m also not a fan of sloppy joes made with tofu or seitan. However, I am a huge fan of sloppy joes made with veggies, beans and mushrooms. By mincing the all the ingredients, you get a nice texture that is reminiscent of ground beef, but with a more toothsome feel from the beans, some crunch from the celery and a meaty taste from the mushrooms at the finish of cooking. The spice from the chili powder pared with just enough heat from the the cayanne pepper with the sweetness of the brown sugar make a nice substitute for the barbecue sauce you see in many sloppy joe recipes.

It also doesn’t hurt that sandwiches like these are lifesavers around the holidays when there is candy and parties and fatty food everywhere. No need to give up weekend football snacking just because you ate twenty-five pieces of crab rangoon the night before at a holiday party.

2 large carrots, cleaned and peeled
2-3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
1 green bell pepper, seeds and stem removed
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can tomato sauce 15-16 oz
2 tablespoons tomato paste
15-16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
8 oz mushrooms, cleaned
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/3 teaspoon cayanne pepper (to taste)
buns, preferably whole wheat

This recipe also works with black beans, but you get a better taste with kidney beans.

Either with a sharp knife or in a food processor, chop the carrots, celery, pepper, and onion together to a small mince.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the carrot, celery, pepper and onion mixture.

Cook down a few minutes, stirring occasionally until softened.

Add the garlic and cook another minute or two.

Lower the heat to medium and add the salt, pepper, spices, brown sugar, tomato sauce and tomato paste.

Cover and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring once or twice.

While the sauce is cooking down, chop the kidney beans.

Check for seasoning.

Add the chopped kidney beans to the base, cover and cook another 2-3 minutes. Long enough to heat the beans, but not cause them to break down.

Mince the mushrooms.

Remove cover and stir in the mushrooms, lowering the heat if needed to prevent sticking.

Stir in the mushrooms and cook a few minutes more, until the Sloppy Joe’s has the thin or thick consistency as preferred.

Serve on toasted buns.

Why sandwich buns and not hamburger buns? Because I’m a little uptight about my sloppiness.

You know how last week I was really excited for the Thursday Night Football?

Well, reality has set in and an injury-decimated Jets against run-run-run-run-run-run-fade-run-run-run-run-run-run-run Broncos sounds like as much fun as watching, well, an injury-decimated Jets against run-run-run-run-run-run-fade-run-run-run-run-run-run-run Broncos. (Okay, maybe a slight [...]]]>

You know how last week I was really excited for the Thursday Night Football?

Well, reality has set in and an injury-decimated Jets against run-run-run-run-run-run-fade-run-run-run-run-run-run-run Broncos sounds like as much fun as watching, well, an injury-decimated Jets against run-run-run-run-run-run-fade-run-run-run-run-run-run-run Broncos. (Okay, maybe a slight playoff interest in seeing the Jets lose just in case the Steelers need some help in the Wild Card race in a few weeks.)

Too bad the networks can’t flex the Jags-Browns game into the Thursday night slot, or even better yet, the Monday night New England-Kansas City rout bout.

Smoky Chipotle Bacon Pimento Cheese

Over the summer I stumbled across a smoked cheddar and bacon version of pimento cheese from the Parlor Market in Jackson, Mississippi, so when the estimable Gurgling Cod again declared November to be Pimento Cheese Awareness Month, I couldn’t wait to take another stab at the dish after last year’s middling attempt, What Happens When A Yankee Makes Pimento Cheese, in support of this peculiar cause.

Let me tell you, after this recipe, we’re all pimento cheese converts around here. With crostini and celery during college football. On toasted white bread in mini-sandwiches served as a snack between Sunday morning football brunch and Sunday night football dinner. We loved it. Our guests loved it. Our neighbors loved it. It totally changed how we all thought about pimento cheese and is already on the menu for this weekend to put on burgers, like how Ally over at Copacetic in Carolina likes to serve her pimento cheese while tailgating all over SEC country.

Smoky Bacon Chipotle Pimento Cheese will probably go down as the easiest and yet most satisfying of all the Football Foodie recipes all season. The smoky cheddar comes alive in the cream cheese and mayonnaise, the heat of the chipotle tempered by the sweet and salty bacon. Delight in a dish.

You will need:

8 ounces (1/2 pound) smoked cheddar, grated
8 ounces (1/2 pound) bacon
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces mayonnaise, preferably Dukes
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
1-2 scallions, chopped, optional (highly encouraged)
Salt and pepper if desired

The original recipe from Parlor Market called for twice as much mayonnaise, but I found you get a nicer, thicker pimento cheese using a smaller amount. If you want a thinner pimento cheese though, go for it and double the amount of mayo in your batch.

Southerners almost universally call Duke’s Mayonnaise in their pimento cheese recipes. They are right to do so, as it is a much better mayo (even above making your own). As I recently discovered, if you order from Duke’s directly, the shipping is free. $20 for 12 8-ounce bottles still works out to be cheaper than if I was buying mayonnaise at the store, so don’t feel like you’re splurging on an exotic ingredient if you need to order Duke’s because you live outside of their normal territory.

Chop and gently cook bacon until crispy. Drain and cool.

While the bacon is cooking, grate the cheese and combine with the softened cream cheese and mayonnaise.

Once the bacon has cooled, fold in the bacon and then chopped chipotle peppers to taste.

Add salt or pepper if desired.

Top with the chopped scallions and serve with crostini, vegetables or even as a filling in a sandwich on toasted bread. Or on burgers.

Or just eaten with a spoon while you stress-eat through making your picks in a confidence pool. (Chicago only -3.5 against the Chargers? Danger written all over that game.)

Adapted from the Parlor Market, via The Cooking Bride ]]> http://sarahsprague.com/2011/11/16/smoky-chipotle-bacon-pimento-cheese-football-foodie-quick-hit/feed/ 5 http://sarahsprague.com/2011/11/09/italian-sausage-parmesan-on-garlic-toasted-rolls-two-ways-football-foodie-quick-hit/ http://sarahsprague.com/2011/11/09/italian-sausage-parmesan-on-garlic-toasted-rolls-two-ways-football-foodie-quick-hit/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:15:59 +0000 sarah sprague http://sarahsprague.com/?p=2532611674

This week’s San Diego Chargers verses Oakland Raiders match-up marks the return of one of the most controversial of NFL events, Thursday Night Football.

By now, we’ve heard all the same complaints over the past five years. Not enough people get the NFL Network, [...]]]>

This week’s San Diego Chargers verses Oakland Raiders match-up marks the return of one of the most controversial of NFL events, Thursday Night Football.

By now, we’ve heard all the same complaints over the past five years. Not enough people get the NFL Network, the 5pm Pacific Time kick-off stinks for fans on the West Coast, Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders wear ties that can be seen from Neptune. All legitimate gripes.

There is reason to hope for an improved 2011 TNF broadcast though. Bob Papa has been replaced by Brad Nessler and Mike Maylock takes over on color, freeing us from the on-air blundering of Matt Millen and Joe Theismann. Papa always seemed to get lost under the color over the past couple of seasons, Millen and Theismann were, well, Millen and Theismann. (Always thought Cris Collinsworth and Bryant Gumble were actually the best TNF pairing, and sometimes I wonder where that particular Collinsworth went when I watch Sunday Night Football now.)

Thursday night football also means a few extra challenges for the fans. There will be fantasy football blunders in almost every league and selections missed in pick’em pools. And since it’s a weeknight, game time snacks need to easy and fast.

Italian Sausage Parmesan Sandwiches on Toasted Garlic Bread, Two Ways

There are two ways I like to make this sandwich. The first easy way takes only about 30-40 minutes, and the second method takes just a little longer while adding some vegetables for taste and crunch. It’s also an easy way to stretch five sausages into six or seven sandwiches.

The key to these sandwiches is using a good Italian sausage, because whatever sausage you use is going to flavor the sauce and give it much more depth on the garlic toasted bun. Why season the bun? Because the garlic and butter are going to meld with the melted cheese and give you just a little bit more of heaven.

You will need:

1 pound Italian Sausage, preferably spicy
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 14-16 ounces of your favorite marinara sauce, either from the jar or homemade
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1-2 ounces of parmesan reggiano cheese, sliced with a vegetable peeler
1/4 – 1/2 cup butter, softened
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Once the meat has been browned and cooked most of the way through, place in a small baking dish with the marinara sauce and bake for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese has completely melted and started to toast on the top.

While the sausages are in the oven, mix the garlic and butter together and spread evenly over the buns.

Take the finished sausages out of the oven and throw the garlic buns under the broiler for a few minutes until lightly toasted.

Look delicious cheese and meats!

Serve.

Again, the second method of this sandwich is a great way to stretch a few sausages into more sandwiches. It also helps you pretend you ate something healthier, since it has vegetables in it.

Joking aside though, I like this version just a little bit more just because the slight crunch of the peppers works well with the bread and the meat.

1 pound Italian Sausage, preferably spicy
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 14-16 ounces of your favorite marinara sauce, either from the jar or homemade
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1-2 ounces of parmesan reggiano cheese, sliced with a vegetable peeler
1/4 – 1/2 cup butter, softened
2-3 cloves garlic

If making the second method, you will need to add

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, diced

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage in 1 tablespoon of olive oil along side the chopped peppers and onions.

Once the sausages are just about browned, slice and continue to cook for even browning on the meat. The onions and peppers should soften slightly, but not become mushy.

Mix the meat and vegetables in a small baking dish with the marinara sauce and bake for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese has completely melted and started to toast on the top.

While the sausages are in the oven, mix the garlic and butter together and spread evenly over the buns.
Take the finished sausages out of the oven and throw the garlic buns under the broiler for a few minutes until lightly toasted.

Serve.

It used to frustrate me to no end that fellow league members would totally blow it once the Thursday matches returned, but now I count on those whiffs to move further up in fantasy standings. So if you’re leading the pack in the Football Foodie Pick’em Leagues, be forewarned; this is when the rest of the pack is going to catch up with you if you’re not careful.

Last weekend, we headed out to the Pumpkin-Palooza beer fest here in Los Angeles. While I’m not a huge lover of pumpkin and hops, it seemed like a good way to test drive about a dozen fall beers without a huge commitment [...]]]>

Last weekend, we headed out to the Pumpkin-Palooza beer fest here in Los Angeles. While I’m not a huge lover of pumpkin and hops, it seemed like a good way to test drive about a dozen fall beers without a huge commitment to buying a bunch of booze you may not like once you got home. Dogfish Head Punkin’ was the most drinkable, Boston Beer’s malty Double Pumpkin was surprisingly rich and aromatic without being overpowering, and the Bruery’s Barrel Aged Autumn Maple continues to shine year after year. I personally fell in love with the New Belgium/Elysian collaboration Kick, a sour cranberry and pumpkin ale aged in oak barrels, the tart cranberry playing foil to the smokey wood and spices found in many fall beers. Lovely.

At Pumpkin-Palooza, they also had pumpkin snacks, one of which was a pumpkin quesadilla with feta and cilantro. Sadly, even with all of our beer drinking, the pumpkin quesadilla was the biggest disappointment of the afternoon. No heat, no barely a whisper of cilantro and mostly dry pumpkin between two tortillas. Since I’d made butternut squash quesadillas before, I immediately wanted to give these pumpkin quesadillas a whirl the next night for the Eagles-Cowboys game.

Glad I did, because this is my new favorite quesadilla. The meatiness of chopped pumpkin, the hint of heat from the jalapenos and chiles, sweet onion, and smokiness of the cumin with just a small crumble of mild cheese was a revelation on a cool fall evening. It didn’t feel heavy or greasy like a typical cheese-and-meat quesadilla, but you also didn’t feel like you were being cheated into eating something lighter. I can see this snack going into heavy rotation as we head into the holidays, especially as we start getting even more weeknight college football games and Thursday night football returns to the NFL.

You will need:

1 small sugar pumpkin, about 2-2.5 pounds
1 package of 10 flour tortillas
1/2 a medium onion
8-10 ounces of queso fresco, or other mild cheese such queso quesadilla or jack
1-2 jalapenos, to taste
1-2 4 oz cans of diced roasted chiles, to taste
2-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt (to taste)
1/2-1 teaspoon ground pepper (to taste)
2 limes, 1/2 of one for cooking, the remaining cut into wedges for serving

I used queso fresco because it melts without becoming stringy and greasy (and also because I needed to use up some cheese in the fridge). You could also use queso quesadilla or a mild jack cheese.

Cut the pumpkin in half. Remove the seeds and slice in quarters. Cut off the the skin with a sharp knife as if you were removing the rind from a melon. Softer skinned pumpkins can be cleaned with a vegetable peeler. Roughly dice.

Remove the seeds from the jalapenos and finely dice. Drain chiles and chop the onions.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat.
Saute onions until they start to become soft and translucent.

Add the chopped pumpkin with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and cover.

Cook the pumpkin until softened, stirring occasionally. Should take about 5-7 minutes to tenderize the pumpkin.

Leaving the lid on helps the pumpkin absorb both the steam from the onions and the cooking oil. If looks like the pan is getting too dry and the vegetables are sticking, add a touch more oil and some water.

Once softened, remove the cover and add the diced jalapeno, chiles, cumin, ground pepper and a pinch more salt. Cook a couple more minutes until the peppers starts to soften.

Taste for seasoning and stir in the juice of 1/2 of a lime, and remove from heat.

Lightly oil a skillet or flat-top grill plan and heat the pan over a medium flame.

Working quesadilla at a time, put a tortilla in the pan.

Crumble a small amount of the cheese on the tortilla, then add an even layer of the pumpkin mixture, then a small amount more of cheese. Be sure to leave about an inch from the edge of the tortilla, as they will shrink when heated.

Once the cheese has started to melt and the bottom of the tortilla is starting to toast, add another tortilla on the top and press down gently so it sticks to the melting cheese, then flip to toast the top tortilla.

Once cooked through, remove from the skillet.

Keep warm on an ovenproof plate or cookie sheet in a 250º oven while making the rest of the quesadillas.

Cut into wedges.

Serve with lime, salsa and Mexican crema or sour cream

Ravens week. Last year the Steelers lost the first game to the Ravens. The second time Pittsburgh played them, the Steelers won. In the playoffs, the Steelers won. First game against Baltimore this year, the Steelers lost.

What do the wins all have in common? I made Sriracha Fried Pickles and Spicy Peanut Butter Honey Fried Chicken Tenders for the games the Steelers won. Obviously in the name of statistical research, I will be making them again this weekend.

LSU-Bama for the college inclined, but that’s a game we’re going to have to catch on the DVR later in the week because it’s Penguins-Kings for us tomorrow night.

Prague, 9/25/11

Going to sit here and relate for a little bit.

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As a sports fan, you sometimes run into this weird politeness you usually only encounter when talking about politics with extended relatives. You don’t express your true beliefs, you couch your words carefully as not to come off as arrogant or rude, and you [...]]]>

As a sports fan, you sometimes run into this weird politeness you usually only encounter when talking about politics with extended relatives. You don’t express your true beliefs, you couch your words carefully as not to come off as arrogant or rude, and you certainly don’t make proclamations. You often find yourself not lying about your beliefs, but also not being completely honest either. You will feign weakness when you truly feel strong.

Rivalry weeks when the outcome is unsure for either side of the field.

I bring this up because last week during the run-up to the Steelers-Patriots game, I had several conversations with friends who happen to also be New England fans. (Good friends are accepting despite each others’ failings in team allegiances.) During each one of those conversations, every party involved pulled the old, “Oh, I don’t feel good about this game. [X] has been under-performing, your [Y] looks much stronger this year.”

I feigned humility. I did it on this very site, pretending to feel only a modicum of hope on Thursday and worrying about Bruce Arians on Friday. Maybe I was worried about a jinx saying I felt good about the game or worse, stupid if I came out and said I thought the Steelers would win against the Patriots.

Is it pouring salt into the wound to say I thought the team was going to win only after they won?

No.

I bring this up because it’s Steelers-Ravens week and I am truly terrified, and because now the Patriots have every reason to blow the Steelers out if they face each other in the playoffs. So if you hear me say over the next few days, “I’m really worried about this game,” know that I really mean it.

Seared Queso Blanco

Mozzarella sticks are problematic.

While great in a bar, mozzarella sticks are a ton more work when you’re at home. First, you have to make sure you get a good mozzarella that will hold up to frying. Then you have to bread them. Then fry them with a ton of oil, or worse, try to bake them in the oven where they inevitably melt into goo. Then they pretty much only taste like whatever marinara or ranch you pair them with for snacking. A lot of work for very little reward. Which is why my favorite fried cheesy snack to make at home is queso blanco.

Queso blanco is a type of farmers cheese with a very, very moisture content that unlike most cheeses, does not melt or string when heated. It becomes soft on the inside while developing a nice crusty shell on the outside without any sort coating on it whatsoever. When you bite into seared queso blanco, it squeaks like a fresh cheese curd and rewards you with a buttery creaminess found in only some the best mild cheeses.

Plus, it only takes about five minutes to make.

When buying queso blanco, make sure you are buying, well, queso blanco. Often in here in the US you will find the term queso fresco mistakenly used in place of queso blanco — including by such institutions as Bon Appetit, who should really know better — when they really are quite different cheeses. Queso fresco, while also being a cheese that does not fully melt, has a higher moisture content and instead of getting nice crust when heated, becomes a soft puddle of cheese in the pan.

Queso fresco easily crumbles while queso blanco is a very firm cheese, as seen in the picture below, so if you’re not entirely sure your cheese monger has the correct label in the case, ask for a sample to feel for water content and firmness.

This is not to queso fresco is a bad cheese. No, I love it. Have a recipe that uses it and chiles planned for later in the season. It just doesn’t work here. The only other cheese that can be used instead of queso blanco for this task is queso para freir, a cheese often associated with Puerto Rican cooking and in my experience, really hard to find.

You will need:

1/2 pound  queso blanco
Vegetable oil, optional

1 pound is pictured here since I bought enough for snacks a couple of different nights during the World Series. But go ahead, make a whole pound of fried cheese at once. I’m not going to stop you.

Why is vegetable oil optional? If you’re searing the cheese in a non-stick pan, you really don’t need it. Since I heat this cheese in my cast iron skillet, I use about half a tablespoon of oil.

Cut the queso blanco into squares.

Heat the pan to medium-high and sear the queso blanco for a minute or so on each side.

Turn as each side browns. Don’t worry if you don’t quite get all the edges, it’s hard to do.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve with your favorite taqueria type salsa for dipping. The mildly salty cheese holds up well against spicy chipotle and chili salsas, while providing a nice balance to the heat.

Divine.

Studley’s jumped out to a whopping seven-point lead in the CFB Football Foodie Pick’em Pool, while Skippy Reed continues to hold on to her one point lead over Pretty Girls and Waffles in the NFL Football Foodie Pick’em Pool. Competition is so tight in the NFL pool, it’s only a couple of points difference between first and tenth place, so that lead could break any which way over the next few weeks.