Foodball: Beer Battered Jalapeños

Foodball: Beer Battered Jalapeños

If you don’t have access to this year’s bounty of Hatch chiles it doesn’t mean you have to do without something spicy this season. My garden is overgrowing with jalapeños and frying them up for a game time snack is a great way to have the spicy bite without having to go through all the hassle.

Foodball: Smoked Cheddar Jalapeño Crisps

Smoked Cheddar Jalapeño Crisps

This is a combination of two previous recipes I’ve posted for the Football Foodie, Smoky Habanero Jalapeño Popper Bread and Parmesan Crisps. Smoked cheddar and jalapeños go together like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, the perfect match of heat and savory. Crisps are something you can prepare ahead of time and without much effort, like working on a game plan against the Texans. Similes are a writer’s lazy tool, like Albert Haynesworth.

Foodball: Sweet Ancho Chile Roasted Cashews

Sweet Ancho Chile Roasted Cashews

Out of all the nut recipes I’ve posted over the years, this is one of my favorites. The smoked paprika giving extra depth to the mildly hot ancho chile, a little extra heat from the cayenne; big, fat crunchy raw sugar crystals on the crust; just the right amount of salt to the sweetness. You can also use this spice mixture on peanuts if you like, but the butteriness of the cashew really is the best play with the ancho and cayenne.

Super Bowl Recipe Month: Throwback Week - Classic Macaroni Salad

Classic Macaroni Salad

If you’re making barbecue, grilling or smoking anything for a Super Bowl or a playoff spread, few things compliment meats made over a fire like an old fashioned macaroni salad.  The mustard picks up the smoke, you get a nice bite of crunch from the celery, and the scallions and peppers help cut the creaminess of the pasta salad.

Most macaroni salads call for much more mayonnaise, but I have found a single cup is the right amount to soak into the macaroni noodle without everything turning to an overwhelming gooey mess. If you happen to keep celery seeds around for Bloody Marys, be sure to include them in your dressing. Brightens the whole salad.

Savory Mushroom Pithiviers: Football Foodie Thanksgiving

Two sorts of Thanksgiving diners, ones who believe in eating early and having leftovers again later in the day and those who don’t have their celebration until late afternoon or evening. The former means getting up at 5 am to start roasting a turkey, the latter means torturing yourself with cups of nuts as not to spoil the feast. It also means considering going through the early game of Houston-Detroit — and perhaps even Washington-Dallas, depending on your time zone — without having a snack.

Nonsense. You’re going to need game time snacks that can feed a crowd and also not spoil your appetite, and perhaps one that is relatively healthy. Ones that compliment the autumn table. Earthy tastes of mushrooms, herbs and wine, warm butternut squash and sage spiced with cayenne and chili.

Lemon-Chili Corn: Football Foodie Fall

If you grew up in a Midwest/Mid-Atlantic household like mine, the only way had corn on the cob growing up was husked, boiled in water in the kitchen while everything else was on the grill and then served with about three pounds of butter and salt. (We had one neighbor who put out a separate stick of butter on the table for people to spin their cobs in at the table.) It’s nonsense, corn on the cob shouldn’t be about laboriously husking cold ears, scrubbing with a brush and then using up six gallons of water when there is a perfectly good fire going outside. Corn on the cob is easy, tasty and doesn’t need a lot of fat to make it taste delicious.

Cointreau Grilled Pound Cake with Strawberry Sauce: Football Foodie Kickoff

There have only been a couple of desserts ever posted on the Football Foodie, Maker’s Mark Manhattan Mini Cupcakes and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies, not because we don’t like sweets (we do!), but because we so very rarely make them for football. However, after a week of grilling recipes, we’d be remiss not to include one of our favorite, easiest, fastest desserts you can toss over the fire, pound cake brushed with liqueur and topped with a fruit-liqueur sauce. Even if you’re tailgating, this is an easy dessert you can do before the game, just make the strawberry sauce the night before and chill before heading out.

Sweet Potato Pie Bites with Toasted Marshmallow Creme: 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes

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.

Vegetable Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce and Garlic Soy Sauce: 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes

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.

Roasted Rosemary Almonds

A few seeds and nuts go along way to filling out any Super Bowl spread, and these savory rosemary almonds are incredibly addicting. Not a fan of almonds? Many people use this same blend and method on cashews.

A few seeds and nuts go along way to filling out any Super Bowl spread, and these savory rosemary almonds are incredibly addicting. Not a fan of almonds? Many people use this same blend and method on cashews.

Smoky Habanero Jalapeno Popper Bread: 28 Days of Super Bowl Recipes Kickoff

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.

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.

Cancha – Andean non-popped popcorn

The problem with most popcorn is that it doesn’t taste like anything other than what you put on it, which means it usually tastes like a salted turnpike doused in Paula Deen’s tears. Long time readers of the Football Foodie know I love salt and butter as much as the next person, but sometimes you want to a crunchy snack to actually taste like what it is made of; in this case, something that tastes like toasted corn.

The Odd Chips of Europe: Football Foodie Abroad

Somewhere early in our trip to Europe I got this idea in my head that I wanted to know what sort of snacks I’d be munching on if I were an American ex-pat during football season.

Note that I said “American ex-pat” and not a “European NFL fan” because from what I saw during two game days in London and one in Prague, the only people who care about the NFL in Europe are ex-pats, despite what Roger Goodell tries to tell us in his push for a second game a season in London, even though this season’s game still isn’t sold out. Of course my experience is only anecdotal at best, but when we went to what was supposedly one of the biggest NFL bars London, it was only the Americans watching the NFL. Everyone else was busy with the Premier League, Italian soccer, Spanish soccer and yes, German Bundesliga. (Which is just a fun word to say. BUNDESLIGA! Those kids were really upset over Brennen losing.)

Chipotle Grilled Corn Salad

When tailgating and bringing food to parties, the refrigeration and cooling situation is always a bit dicey. At some point, you’ll need more room in the cooler for beer and as much as I love potato salads and macaroni salads, the last thing I want to leave out in the sun during a pre-game round of cornhole or pin-the-tail-on-Rex-Ryan is any sort of mayonnaise or cheese dressed food.

Sriracha Crackers

When players and pontificators talk about football, “pain” is usually one of the words most often used to describe the game. The pain of training, the pain of playing, the pain of recovery. Under normal circumstances, pain is the body’s warning system telling the brain that something is wrong. Don’t touch a hot stove, don’t kick your toe against a chair, don’t eat too many jelly doughnuts, don’t drink nine Mai Tais.  The resulting pain reminds the brain not to do those things again. But in football, pain is fetishized and celebrated to an almost unconscionable degree. Pushing through pain to in the pursuit of victory is what builds heroes on the playing field.

The same can be said for Sriracha sauce.

Sriracha Fried Pickles

Possibly one of the all-time greatest bar foods is fried pickles, a snack I hold above mozzarella sticks and fried zucchini.

So when The Gurgling Cod told me about how they preferred making pimento cheese with Rick’s Picks products a few months ago, I scouted their online store for local distributors to make sure I bought the proper prescribed pepper. Imagine my amazement when I saw they sold sriracha pickles. Could it be? A way to improve my beloved fried pickle? I could barely contain my excitement as I bought a jar at my local cheese shop. Spicy, cut thick enough to endure frying, locally sourced pickles? Okay, so I bought more than just one jar.

Baked Artichoke Bites

Right now, we’re in the middle 42-7 Pro Bowl blowout which surprisingly enough, makes today’s NHL All-Star defense-free 11-10 final seem competitive in retrospect.

Busy week this coming up for football and food planning. I’ll be posting recipes both here and over at SB Nation for all of your Super Bowl party needs, so keep an eye out for upcoming posts covering Blue Cheese Pierogies with Buffalo Sauce, Sriracha Fried Pickles, Oven-Baked Mini-Burritos, Coffee Glazed Chicken Legs, cocktails and more. So let’s get to it, we only have one week left to get our Super Bowl menu ready!

Rosemary, Chive and Cheese Biscuit Bites

I can’t lie, I’ve long imagined that if I were to ever open a local watering hole, these biscuit bites would be our bar nibbles instead of peanuts or pretzels because they go so well with beer and cocktails.

You may be worried that the small dough ball won’t make that many biscuit bites, but this recipe yields about five dozen of these savory little treats. If you’re having a large party, the recipe is easily doubled or even tripled. And if you are not a fan of cheddar, these are very similar to the Parmesan Crisps I posted a couple of years ago, but with sour cream instead of egg.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies

Just because it’s the Super Bowl doesn’t mean it should be all chips, wings and pizza. You’re going to need something sweet to counterbalance the savory.

Fortunately the salt from the pretzels prevents these cookies from being overly sugary tasting and they keep their crunch nicely in during baking, matching well with the softness of the dough.

Savory Palmiers

Listen, you may think this doesn’t look like a football snack food. That craving for bread your guests get after about their third beer? Yeah. These disappear in a heartbeat.

Stuffed Peppadews

This past weekend, fellow Steelers THUNDERDOME fantasy football league member Joshua Rivera was in town with his buddy for a Laker game and a long weekend visit, which means we got to play host for Saturday’s Steelers-Ravens rematch. Since I wanted to make sure they got the full LA experience and didn’t get stuck inside our place while the weather was so nice, we headed out to Big Wangs to meet up with some fellow black and gold fans. (Don’t worry, I cooked and had people over for Sunday’s games and the Golden Globes so they could get a feel for what our usual football party is like.) Great game, great people and way too many shots from Big Wang’s resident mayor, Smokey.

Roasted Dill Brussel Sprouts

Well, my long winded intro for this post was spun-off into its own entry, Yes, you should have an opinion on the upcoming lockout, so go read that post then come back here for a surprisingly healthy Football Foodie post about brussel sprouts.

So assuming you went back and read that particular post, understand that being an informed consumer is just like having healthy snacks. It’s not that hard and frankly, you’re going to enjoy it more than you think you’re going to.

Potato Rosemary Pizzettes

So in the spirit of hoping the Jets and the Patriots completely beat the crap out of each other on Sunday, I’ve come up a list of Henny Youngman-style insults in case either team (read:Patriots) needs some inspiration while improving their own trash talk.

Cheddar Herb Potato Chips

If there is already one story line I’m already sick of in the 2010-2011 season playoffs, it’s that the 7-9 regular season record — yet NFC West champs — Seattle Seahawks don’t deserve to be in the postseason, much less upsetting the Saints in the Wild Card. It has been suggested in many quarters that perhaps the NFL should look to Canadian Football League playoffs and their system of “crossing-over” teams with winning records from the East to the West divisions for a balanced and fair postseason, or more accurately, usually a team from the West ends up in the East. Or perhaps the teams should be re-seeded in the postseason.

Doug Farrar for Yahoo! Sports:

Sicilian Christmas Pizza, Sfincione

While the sting over yesterday’s loss to Jets should have been softened by the Steelers being only the second team to be ensured a playoff spot, (the first team being the New England Patriots, who received quite a scare from the Rodger-less Packers last night), all it did was remind me how little football is left and how precious our remaining time with the NFL is right now. The last two weeks of the regular season — which between a Thursday night game against the Panthers, the holidays, the Winter Classic and finishing on the road in Cleveland — will fly by in flash, and then it’s the playoffs.  So depending on when the next loss happens, we as fans may not be cheering for months, or even years depending on how the 2011 lockout shakes out. Enjoy every win like it’s the last you’re going to see for a long, long while. (Now the official motto of the NFC West.)

Potato Leek and Tomato Cheese Rustic Tarts

Unlike a lot of people, I like Thursday Night Football. Sure, it stinks if you’re on the East Coast or live somewhere in the middle of the country and football goes up against your favorite shows, (we’ll leave the ‘Community’ vs ‘Big Bang Theory’ debate for another day), or if you’re on the West Coast and football starts at 5:20pm while you’re still at the office. The trade off is that if your team plays on Thursday, you’re under a lot less pressure to watch football on Sunday and this is the time of year when Sundays start to become very, very valuable.

Homemade Pumpkin Sage Crackers & The Existential Crisis

I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but truth of the matter is the only way to avoid destruction is not to play the game.

Now to crackers.

Usually, I post a whole string of photos on how to make these recipes, fill it with some half-funny jokes and vague references to fat players.

Considering the long walk I took above, well.  Just look at the photo set here and read the below directions. You’ll figure it out. These are really awesome crackers and I’d be lying to say I haven’t eaten an entire other batch of them while typing this post.

Buffalo Chicken Wontons and Cream Cheese Wontons

So on that note, WONTONS! I love fried wontons for Living Room-Gating — yes I am going to keep using those words all season until it catches on — with a bunch of people. Easy, quick, and they feed a ton of people. It took five big eaters to go through a tray this size during the All-Star Game this past summer.

New Orleans Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya vs Indianapolis Sugar Cream Pie

For Indianapolis, I’ve made the regional favorite, sugar cream pie.  At first glance, the recipe made me break out in hives.  Out the hundreds of sugar cream pie recipes I looked at, all of them called for a pre-made frozen pie shell.  Sacre bleu!  The filling is made out of heavy whipping creme, sugar, flour, whole (!!!) milk, butter and a touch of nutmeg and/or cinnamon.  Only a few of the recipes I saw even called for the very racy ingredient of vanilla.

Mixed Fruit and Blueberry Salsas

I’m planning on enjoying these last few days of the Steelers championship.  All of my complaints about what went wrong with the 2009 squad are going to be tempered by the joy that last year’s Super Bowl win gave me for just a little bit longer.  I’m going to make annoying comments about how great the Steelers are around other websites, on Twitter (annoying rival fans along the way), wear my Steelers purse around town, dress my Spaniel in her little Steelers collar, and listen to “Steeler Ladies” as if it won the Grammy for song of the year instead of Beyonce’s version.  And it is my hope that all of my other Steeler-loving friends do the same.

Because in less than a week, it will be someone else’s turn to crow.

Wasabi Peas

The quiet before the storm.  Less then eight days left to come up with a plan for the Super Bowl.

If you are a Saints fan, you’re checking room rates, ticket brokers and staring at maps looking for ways to shave time off the 13 hour drive from New Orleans to Miami.

If you are a Colts fan, you’re debating purchasing the game day package from Costco that includes game tickets, plane tickets, hotel room, and a pre-game bar.

Everyone else?  Well, we’re still figuring out what type of food to serve next Sunday.

Citrus Marinated Warm Olives

Sure, I am undercutting my entire argument because I am writing my opinion about Super Bowl coverage in a post about recipes you can use for a Super Bowl party (two things that certainly have no effect on the outcome of the actual game), but I would like to think that in my own little corner of the sports blogging world, it is more about having fun and being an engaged fan in a way that plays to my strengths.  If I wrote about all the dishes I had to do after each game, no one would ever read my site.  By telling your readers the story is boring before you get to the meat of the topic, what chance do you have of anyone reading through to the end?

Anything — sports, sex, music, cooking, writing, flying a kite, rambling on and on –  is immediately less interesting when you make it sound like a grind.  Maybe as writers and readers, we wouldn’t be so bored if the stories weren’t already framed in such a negative light.

You know what are not negative?  Olives!  Beautiful, glorious olives!

Fried Chickpeas (Ceci Fritos)

When you first throw your chickpeas in the oil, you will think the world is ending.  Move quickly and cover.  A few chickpeas will pop and go flying.  Neither you, the oil, or the chickpea have done anything wrong.  These things happen.

Mac & Cheese Bites with Sage and Scallions

Internet, you have failed me.  Searches for “melted cheese head”, “melting Packer cheesehead”, or “melting morons wearing foam food for a hat” came up with bupkus.  I refuse to believe that no one has ever melted a cheesehead.

Let’s take a step back here.

Am I really talking about melting a Packer cheese head? After five losses in a row, am I really that confident?  Am I predicting a win over the Packers?  Does this mean I am hopeful the Steelers can turn their season around and finish above .500?  Do I believe they can finish 9-7?  Yes, I am and yes, I do.

Pear and Blue Cheese Squares

YES, IT IS YOU PANSY.  The players haven’t stopped playing, so where the cuss do you think you get off!   Three seasons of the Football Foodie, so these recipes better be second nature to you now, especially this week’s two easy snacks.

Homemade Pierogies

The Steelers having this week’s Monday Night Football stage gave me all day to make the most powerful lucky dish known to Western Pennsylvania (outside of Dan Bylsma’s lucky burrito); pierogies.  Pierogies may be one of the few dishes to be featured on both bar and church fundraiser menus alike around Pittsburgh.  There are dozens of filling options.  Different secrets on how to make the pasta part just right. Some people fry them.  Some people boil them.  Some boil and then sauté their pierogies.  (My preferred method making pierogies.) Served with sour cream or farmer’s cheese.  There are few things more Pittsburgh than pierogies.  Did I have a Polish or Russian Nana? No.  Did I still have pierogies for dinner at least every other week growing up?  Absolutely.

Why are pierogies a great football food?  Hearty and carb-y enough to soak up extra beer in your stomach.  If they’re fried they are just as good – if not better -  than any other bar food, i.e. a snack you can grab and stuff in your mouth without having to look away from the television.  They even look like little footballs if you squint hard enough.

Blue Cheese Potatoes

For some reason people want to see Jessica Simpson in the stands cheering on Tony Romo. Others want as many shots as possible of Brady Quinn sitting on the bench.  (By my count, the networks have only cut to him once or twice all season.)  And some sick puppies don’t believe they rerun the footage of Joe Theisman breaking his leg enough.

Fans of the Friday Football Foodie apparently want more cheese. Both of these recipes are so easy that if you need second batches during your party, you will have more than enough time at the half to get these going and check your fantasy score

Tostada Cups

Pretty much whatever you have handy that you would love to have on a tostada.  It’s still early in the season so you have plenty of time for experimenting with new formations.