Superbowl - 2010

We did not have a wild and crazy superbowl sunday here at our house.  My husband is a huge...no wait huge is an understatement...my husband is crazy Steelers fan!  So since the Steelers were not in the Superbowl we decided to have a laid back day and night and invited my parents over for some snacks and dinner.  I am wondering who made Superbowl Sunday the designated day of junk food?  I don't know who did that...but we follow that rule!  Junk food Sunday....that is what they should call it!  We had dips, chips, cheese and two kinds of wings.  My daughters tasted the most bad for you food...food they had never had before in their two short years.  "More cheese balls mommy, more cheese balls mommy!", the said with dyed orange fingers and mouths!  Ugh...did I create monsters?  Anyway I have included some of the items I had on our appetizer menu and dinner menu for you.

GUACAMOLE 

*There is just something about a batch of freshly made guacamole that no can resist!  Here is a hint...after you make the guacamole place a pit from the avacado in the center of the bowl and mix in the guacamole around it.  The pit and the fresh lime juice that is in the dip will help the guacamole stay green instead of going brown.

• 5 ripe avacados
• 1/4 cup grape tomatoes chopped
• 2 TB. white onion chopped small
• 1 TB. fresh chopped cilantro
• jalapeno - chopped fine and added per taste
• juice of one fresh lime
• 1 TB. tabasco
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Slice the avacados in half.  Use a knife to remove the pit.  Using a large spoon remove the "meat" from the avacados and place in a large bowl.
2. Using a potatoe masher, fork or mortar and pestle mash the avacados until they look like lumpy mashed potatoes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mash until well mixed and smooth.
4. Place in bowl with pit of avacado, cover and place in fridge.
5. Remove from fridge and serve immediately.

FRESH SALSA 

* There are so many different recipes for home-made salsa.  A lot of people use canned chopped tomatoes....and the salsa turns out just ok in my opinion.  But..if you really want to "wow" a crowd...or just "wow" your family buy all fresh ingredients, use a nice knife and chop away!  My salsa recipe only uses fresh ingredients.  It takes a bit of time to chop everything up, but it is so worth it!

• 3 cups chopped grape tomatoes
• 1/2 white onion chopped
• 2 green onions chopped
• jalapeno chopped fine to taste ( I usually put in about 1/2 of a jalapeno)
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 TB. apple cider vinegar
• 1 TB. olive oil
• 2 TB. water
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Mix well.
3. Serve immediately or place in fridge and serve within a few hours or days.

FRIED BUFFALO WINGS

* "Make them crispy"!  That is the one request that my husband made when I told him I would be making chicken wings for Superbowl Sunday.  He said that there is nothing worse than biting into a chicken wing and it being soggy and fatty and not crispy.  I am not a chicken wing person.  Don't get me wrong I will eat them, but I am not a chicken wing offecianado!  So...my main goal when creating this recipe was to keep the chicken wings crispy!  I did this coating them with flour and pan frying them in a little vegie oil. They turned out great!  Even my finicky chicken winged husband agreed!

• 20 wings and or drummies
• 2 cups hot wing sauce (we prefer Franks)
• 3 cups flour
• 2 TB. paprika
• 1/2 cup vegie oil

1. Place wings and or drummies in a large plastic ziplock bag.  Add 1 cup off wing sauce to the bag and close it up.  Mix up wings so that all the wings have a coating of hot wing sauce on them.  Place wings in fridge and let marinate for  2 to 4 hours.
2. Remove wings from fridge.  Place 3 cups of flour in a seperate ziplock bag.  Using tongs remove the wings one at a time and place in the bag with the flour.  Close the bag.  Shake bag around so that the wings are coated with the flour.
3. In the meatime place 1/4 cup of vegie oil in a large frying pan.  Get the oil really hot.  Remove the chicken wings and working in batches place in fry pan and fry on all sides until golden brown and crispy - about 2 minutes per side.  Remove wings from pan and set aside on a paper towl lined plate.  Add the reamining 1/4 cup vegie oil and repeat with second batch of wings.
4. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place wings in a single layer on baking sheet.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 2 minutes.  Brush hot sauce on one side of each wing.  Turn oven on broil and broil that side until crispy - about 3 minutes.  Flip wings onto the other side, brush with wing sauce and broil that side until crispy.
6. Remove from oven and place wings on a large platter.
7. Serve immediately with  carrots and celery and my Blue Cheese Dressing (see recipe below)

BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

* This is the best blue cheese dressing ever!  Every person I have given this recipe to someone...they make it..then swear to me that they will never, every buy a bottle of blue cheese dressing ever again.  It truly is pretty awesome!

• 2/3 cup buttermmilk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 6 oz. crumbled blue cheese
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Stir the buttermilk, sour cream, and garlic in a medium bowl and blend. Mix in 2/3 of the blue cheese. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover the dressing and let sit for at least 2 hours. This dressing actually tastes better the next day after all the ingredients have combined. I would suggest making the dressing a day in advanced.



ASIAN WINGS 

* Not everyone is a hot wing kind of person.  That does not mean that they do not enjoy eating "wings", they just don't enjoy the hot and spicy kind.  It is this reason I also included some Asian style wings on my Superbowl Sunday menu.

• 20 wings and or drummies
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 TB. teriyaki
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1. Place all ingredients in a large ziplock baggie.  Mix well.  Place in fridge and marinate ffor 2 to 4 hours.
2. Remove from fridge and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with baking spray.  Place wings on single layer on sheet.
3. Place in pre-heat oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 25 minutes.
4. Serve immediately.

PULLED PORK  

* I went to college in South Carolina.  If there is one thing I learned while I was there it was that there is a difference in pulled pork depending on what region the south you are in.  In South Carolina the pulled pork is vinegar based.  In other regions of the south it is tomato sauce based.  I came up with a recipe that uses both.  I slow cook the pork with some apple cider vinegar and applesauce.  I then make a tomato based bbq sauce on the side.  My husband and I like to just ladle the sauce over the pork on our sandwhich instead of adding all the sauce to the entire batch of pulled pork.  We believe when we eat it this way we can taste the pork flavor a bit more instead of the bbq sauce taking over.

For Meat:

• 5 lb. pork shoulder
• 4 onions sliced
• 1 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 jalapeno finely chopped
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• salt & pepper to taste

For BBQ Sauce:

• 3 pieces of center cut bacon
• 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. onion poweder
• 1/4 tsp. dried mustard
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 TB. honey
• 2 TB. tomato paste
• 1/2 cup Jack Daniels
• 2 TB. worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 cup tomato canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 jalapeno finely chopped
• salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes to taste
• rosemary, thyme to taste

For Meat:

1. Place pork shoulder in a large slow cooker.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Slow cook for about 6 hours or until pork easily shreds with fork.
4. If there is an abundance of juice you can ladle out some until there is about 1 cup of juice remaining.
5. Remove pork and place on a large cutting board.  Shred pork iwith two forks into nice bite sized pieces. 
6. Place shredded pork back in slow cooker and mix well into the remaining juice.

For BBQ Sauce:

1. Add bacon sliced to heavy bottomed sauce pan.  Cook for about  2 minutes on each side so that bacon is slightly brown, but not crispy.
2. Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Cook on medium low uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Turn heat down to low, place lid on pan and continue cooking for 20 more minutes.  Every so often stirring.
5. Remove the bacon from the pot throw away.
6. With hand blender puree the sauce until it reaches a smooth consistency.  If really thick you can add about 1 TB. water and blend well.

To Serve:

Place heaping portion of shredded pork on a large sandwich bun.  Ladle some BBQ sauce over the top and place top of bun over meat and sauce.   Serve with my Broccolli Cole Slaw and serve immediately.

BROCOLLI COLE SLAW 

• 2 packages prepared brocolli slaw mix
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. mayo
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 2 1/2 TB. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 TB. white or red vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• pepper
• 1/2 TB. poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp. celery seeds
• 1 TB. finely chopped red onion

1. Place cole slaw, cranberries and almonds in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. In a bowl whisk together the rest of the ingredients. 
3. Pour dressing over slaw mix and mix well.
4. Place in fridge for at least 1 hour.
5. Put in serving bowl and serve.