Superbowl 2011 Party Review & Recipies

Our Superbowl 2011 party was a success.  I love to entertain, cook new recipes and have friends over for drinks so it is nice to couple that with an event.  I usually cook way too much food so with my last two parties I have been trying to narrow down the recipes and when I can create a theme or make foods that go together.  We had about 12 guests and below is my menu along with the recipes I made and what I learned.

• Chili
• Corn bread (as corn dogs and as bread)
• Potato skins made two ways (standard with bacon and cheddar and Pittsburgh style with fried Kielbasa, Swiss cheese and caramelized onions)
• Asparagus Tomato salad
• 5 Dips (white dip and Ruffles, tomato basil dip with Triscuits, Salsa & Guacamole with tortilla chips, spinach artichoke dip)
• Spicy Pretzels
• Dry Roasted Peanuts
• Beer, Beer Margaritas and a 50/50 shot

Everyone had a good time and loved the food.  IMO there were winners and losers and I'm not talking football, I'm talking food.

WINNERS:

• Chili in theory is a good football food, unfortunately this football day it was about 75-80 degrees outside.  I also changed up my standard recipe in hopes of making it better but I didn't care for it as much so I will need to work out the changes.  Below I listed my normal recipe, try that before you embark on your own changes.  Normally I use stewed tomatoes and chopped tomatoes but I didn't want large hunks of tomatos in it so I used a large can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes, since I was out of tomato sauce I substituted a can of tomato paste along with a cup of water.  These two in combination made my chili too tomato-ee and a bit bland.  I like it spicy.  Going forward if I change it up with the crushed tomatoes I will bump up all the spices.
• Cornbread:  Cornbread cooked as cornbread.  Much better than the mini muffins especially with a crowd.
• Potato skins:  Always a winner, new Pittsburgh version were also tasty.  Just be sure to do the second baking earlier in the day and top them 1 hour before the guest arrive so you are ready to pop them in the oven with no effort.  I bought a 5 lb. bag of potatoes because the individual one's were too big.  Unfortunately the bagged potato's were pretty small but it worked out well I just made 20 potatoes vs 10, which made two large cookie sheets full.
• Asparagus & Tomato salad:  This is one of my favorites and although it doesn't make a large bowl it was enough.
• Guacamole:  The best part of this dip was that my friend made it for me.  It was on my menu but time slipped away from me and once I had my first drink I no longer wanted to make it.
• Packaged Onion dip seasoning:  I made two packaged items a White Onion dip and a Tomato basil dip.  The onion dip would have been enough.  I'm trying to get away from packaged foods but it is also nice to have a couple of easy items vs. doing it all from scratch.  All you did to these was add sour cream and mayo.  Easy and quick.
• Spicy Pretzels:  It is nice to have easy snacks like pretzels and peanuts.
• Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts
• Beer Margaritas:  I didn’t think this would be as good as it was but everyone loved it and it gives me a new summer drink. The combination may sound strange but it is tasty. I couldn’t taste the beer or the tequila. Recipe came from Sandra Lee.
• 50/50 bar shot:  or you may know it as a Creamcycle.  Either way this is a yummy shot.

Losers:

• Mini Muffin Corn Dogs:  I took a 9x13 cornbread recipe I had and decided to bake it in mini muffin cups and stick a 1/3 of a fried hot dog in the center and then bake.  This cornbread recipe has too many goobers to do this.  People loved them but some fell apart and don't take them out of the tin before they cool.  With the leftover mix I baked it in an 11x8 inch rectangle pan and this was much better.  It's a great cornbread.
• Packaged Tomato Basil dip:  I served this dip with the Rosemary Triscuits and I was not a fan.  The dip was OK but it was thicker than I would have made it and the Rosemary Triscuits were just terrible.  I was surprised how much I didn't like them.  I'll stick to the plain ones going forward.  This was also just one too many dips especially since it wasn't homemade.
• Jarred Salsa:  This didn't get touched.  I think the location of your food is key and this was on the coffee table vs on the kitchen island.  Because of it's location the only person who could eat it without getting in the way of the TV would have had to be sitting on the couch.

Needs work:

• Spinach Artichoke dip:  Although really good it wasn't what I was expecting.  If you have ever had a good Spinach Artichoke dip in a restaurant you will know what I mean.  This one although good did not have that taste.  It was a green (from pureeing it), garlicky dip topped with cheese.  Since it was pureed it was very smooth, not enough texture like you get in the restaurant.  I would make it again but I will rename it Green Garlic Dip.  My search goes on for the perfect Spinach Artichoke Dip recipe.

RED RIBBON CHILI
1-2 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped small
1 red bell pepper, chopped small
2 med-lg. jalapeno, seeded and chopped small
3 lg. cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 (4 oz.) can Ortega green chilies, drained
2 cans (14.5 oz.) kidney beans, drained
1 can (14.5 oz.) black beans, drained
2 cans (14.5 oz.) chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz.) stewed tomatoes, cut up small, undrained
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 T. chili powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. oregano
½ t. cumin
¼ t. red cayenne pepper
⅛ t. black pepper
2 dashes hot pepper sauce

In a large pot, cook ground beef sprinkled with pepper and garlic salt. Before beef is done, add onions and bell peppers, saute. Drain if you didn’t purchase lean meat. Add remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 1 ½ hours or cook in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

SANTA FE CORN BREAD
2 (8.5 oz.) Jiffy corn bread mix
1 t. salt
1 C. green onions (bulb and stalks), chopped
3 T. fresh jalapeno pepper, diced
1/2-1 C. red bell pepper, diced
1 can corn, drained (1 C.)
1 C. light dairy sour cream
1 C. light or non fat cottage cheese
¾ C. butter, melted
4 eggs
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a large bowl, combine corn bread mixes, salt, green onions, jalapeno, sour cream, cottage cheese, butter, eggs, corn, cheddar cheese and 2/3 of bacon crumbles. Mix well. Spread batter in greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle remaining bacon over the top. Bake in a 375˚F oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Toothpick inserted in center should come out clean. Let cool 10 minutes then cut into squares. Serve hot. Makes 18 servings.

Variations:

• Original recipe had the following: 1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen corn with red and green peppers, thawed and drained, fresh or pickled jalapeno’s (I like fresh) and 1 pkg. Hormel real bacon crumbles. I couldn’t find the corn with the bell peppers and I also think there was too much corn.
• Instead of jalapeno’s used diced green chilies and can corn vs. frozen.

POTATO SKINS
10 small baking potatoes, scrubbed, pierced
¼ C. olive oil
2 t. garlic salt
1 t. chili powder
5 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 C. cheddar cheese, shredded
For topping/dipping: Sour cream or Ranch dressing and Chives

Heat oven to 350˚F. Rub potatoes with oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and prick with fork. Bake potatoes for 1 hour and you can easily pierce with a fork. Let cool 15 minutes. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop pulp from the inside of potato and reserve, leaving only a thin layer (about ¼ inch) thick skins. Cut potato halves in half again. Place skin side down on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, spread with finger; sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and chili powder. Bake try at 450 vs 350 skins 10-15 minutes until hot and edges are crisp. Remove from oven; sprinkle with bacon then cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve immediately with sour cream.

Leftovers: Reserved Pulp: Use for mashed potatoes, potato pancakes or potato soup another day. If you also have leftover Bad Boy Chili dip, mix it along with the pulp, 1 T. butter and 2 T. sour cream for a mashed potato side dish.

Variation: Pittsburgh: Sauteed onions, kielbasa, Swiss cheese.

ASPARAGUS AND TOMATOES
1 bunch asparagus, cut in thirds
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
Dressing:
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. olive oil
1 T. honey
½ T. Dijoneese mustard (or 1 t.)
Salt to taste
¼ t. pepper

Whisk ingredients. Blanch 1 bunch asparagus in 1 inch boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and cut into thirds. Add 1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved or whole. Toss with dressing.

Note: A pound of asparagus is about 34 spears.

SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP

10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed, drained
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
13.75 oz. can artichoke heart quarters in water (8.5 oz. hearts), drained (not marinated)
½ C. mayonnaise
½ C. Parmesan, grated
2 cloves garlic, smashed
¼ t. salt
½ t. pepper
¼ C. mozzarella, shredded

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Thaw spinach. Drain and squeeze out all excess water. In a food processor combine everything except Mozzarella. Process. Butter a glass baking dish by melting a slice in the microwave. Fill with dip. Top with Mozzarella. Bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

SPICY RANCH PRETZELS
1 lb. Rold Gold classic tiny twists pretzels
1 C. canola oil
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Original dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 t. cayenne pepper

Add everything to a large plastic container with a tight fitting lid. Toss to blend and toss every hour for 6 hours. This is to ensure that the spices and oil get evenly distributed.

Note: By the next day the pretzels will no longer be greasy. They are spicy but not too spicy but if you don’t like it hot, reduce the cayenne. I found that Rold Gold Pretzels are the best. Some brands don’t soak up the spices, giving them less flavor in the end.

Storage: Store in an airtight container. I have had them for two weeks and they were just as fresh as the day I made them. But I promise you they usually don’t last that long before they are eaten.  If you make these as often as I do, designate a container because it will pit/scratch the container.

BEER MARGARITAS

½ C. frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
½ C. tequila
2 (12 oz.) bottles bud light, chilled
-coarse salt
-1 lime, cut in wedges

Mix limemade and tequila in a medium pitcher. Chill in fridge. When ready to serve top off with beer and stir. Rub glass rim with lime wedge and dip in salt. Makes 4 drinks.

50/50 BAR
1 shot Pinnacle Whipped Vodka
1 shot OJ
splash Sprite

Add to a shaker filled with ice. Strain and serve.