Slammin SuperBowl Sustenance

Throwing a super bowl party has been a tradition of mine for about 12 years now. As soon as I got my own place I used every excuse to throw a party. The place wasn’t big so the parties were pretty intimate which is really what you want anyway. I mean, everyone needs to have a comfy seat to watch the game right? Well, this year, I just wasn’t in the mood to do it. Not sure what it was, but our dear friends came to the rescue and decided we should hang together at their house that day. Well, I certainly wasn’t going to go over empty handed and just because I wasn’t in the mood to entertain certainly didn’t mean I wasn’t in the mood to cook! Between me and my gracious hosts we put out a spread that was INSANE! Thank goodness the neighborhood came! Below are a few recipes, some old, some new and certainly not to be enjoyed ONLY on game day!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This recipe was given to me by my sister’s friend from Vermont who is quite a cook. It makes a lot and is fine to make the day before and reheat. Remember though, it’s a hot dip. These types of dips get kind of lame after an hour or two sitting around. If you have a hot plate it would be fantastic to use for this. This is a pretty thick dip so use a chip/cracker that can “hold” it. There is nothing lamer than going in for a scoop and having your chip break all over the place. I usually do this in my giant 6qt sauté pan. Remember NO DOUBLE DIPPING!

3 T butter
½ C minced onions
1T + 1 t minced garlic
2T flour
1 ½ C heavy cream
3-10oz boxes of frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1-14 oz can artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
6 oz havarti or fontina cheese (Shredded or cubed small)
½ C grated parmesan
¼ t nutmeg
¼ t salt
¼ t white pepper
¼ t black pepper
½ t cayenne pepper

Melt butter in saucepan
Add onions and sauté until soft, do not brown
Add garlic, sauté 1 minute stirring
Sprinkle flour and stir and cook for 1 minute
Add ¾ C cream stir constantly until thick
Then add remaining ¾ c cream and stir until thick and smooth
Add rest of ingredients and stir until cheese is melted
Adjust seasoning and “heat” to your liking
Serve HOT with toasted crostini or tortilla chips

Tip: to drain spinach I have a tea towel that I ONLY use for spinach. (Its lightweight and dark green). Put all the spinach on the towel and twist the water right out of it. Remember to separate the spinach a bit so it’s not added to your recipe in one big ball.

Buffalo Calzone

OK so you know by now that my husband and I LOVE buffalo wings AND Calzone. This recipe (is it really even a recipe?) does not have MY “wings” in it but if I had the time I totally would put them in. I got the idea MANY years ago back in Boston and it was actually served at a Valentine’s Day party! The hostess used buffalo tenders from Mario’s in Lexington, MA. I loved that place but until that night didn’t know about them. Since then I only make this for Super Bowl although if you substituted the dough for some sub rolls filled it with chicken and spread the blue cheese on top…WHO DAT is right!

1 lb Pizza Dough
1 bag Tyson buffalo chicken tenders cooked according to package

Roll out dough, add wings, wrap up dough, spray top with Pam or EVOO and bake.
Oven temp should be about 425. I like to use my convection.
Bake on a foil lined sheet sprayed with Pam. If you have a seasoned baking stone use that.
Someone suggested adding Provolone cheese to it…

Serve with my Blue Cheese Dressing

Tip: I have been getting my pizza dough from Trader Joes lately in those plastic bags. To have the best crust you can with this prepackaged dough, cut it out of the bag and onto your floured pastry board or wherever you plan on rolling your dough out. Cover the dough with flour so it won’t stick, shape into a ball and let it rest for about 20-30 minutes if you have the time. The dough will stretch better and it raises better in the oven.

Potato Skins

This was a new venture for me and after finding many recipes I came across one on Allrecipes that looked good, easy and as healthy as one would get with tater skins. I don’t know why but these and twice baked potatoes seemed like a daunting experience for me. I also figured that if they were a disaster we had enough back up. I baked the potatoes the day before. Let them cool completely and then stuck them in the fridge. When scooping out the filling DON’T scoop it all out! You want there to be a nice layer of potato still formed around the skin, kind of like a boat. I am using the “insides” for baked potato soup, YUM! This is also another recipe that loses its luster when they get too cold although not sure if it will take that long to get them to disappear. These freeze well and I had 2 leftover and they reheated beautifully in the toaster oven the next day.

4 large baking potatoes, baked
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon Lawry’s seasoning
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (save pulp for another use). Place potatoes skins on a greased baking sheet. Combine oil, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, Lawry’s and pepper; brush over both sides of skins. Bake at 475 degrees F for 7 minutes; turn. Bake until crisp, about 7 minutes more. Sprinkle bacon and cheddar cheese inside skins. Bake 2 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and green onions. Serve immediately.

Streusel topped Apple Pie
click here for recipe

I LOVE this pie! I wanted to let you know I baked it for this day because it’s an all American pie for an all American event! We served it with some praline ice cream…WOW!

Mangia, Mangia!

Mangia, Mangia!
It has been a VERY long time since I had made my grandfathers sauce. In my family its sauce, not gravy and not marinara…just sauce. Being half Italian it has been a staple in my family for generations with this recipe brought from my great grandfather in Gaeta, Italy. It is simply a red tomato sauce. I was taught to cook it with meatballs and pork and sausage. If it was a special occasion my nana would make lasagna and if it was my birthday my mom would make Baked Ziti. I usually do a double recipe of the sauce and freeze it according to what I have in mind for future use (individual servings or entertaining). It takes ALL day to do this. Not so much hands on work but it simmers for hours and the longer it simmers the better it tastes. Since my sister is a vegetarian we have had to adapt the “sauce” over the years to taste OK but without the meat, its not the same, but for you vegetarians its as good as its gonna get!
The ideas are endless on what to do with red sauce. A few ideas…Eggplant parmigiana, Chicken parmigiana, Baked ziti, Lasagna, pizza sauce, or simply put it over pasta. I usually start early in the morning, with coffee in hand and serve it with a traditional pasta dinner in the evening. This can absolutely be made ahead of time and refrigerated and used within 2 days or frozen. I used my electric frying pan to cook the meatballs and my largest stockpot for the sauce, it gets pretty full with all the meat in there.
This past Sunday I decided to make the sauce at the request of some very dear friends. I did traditional Ziti with the sauce, pork, meatballs and sausages. There was garlic bread on hand, Caesar salad for some greenage and of course what’s an Italian meal without dessert…hence Tiramisu (with cooked egg). Again, I have adapted a couple of these recipes from Allrecipes.com. When guests arrive, make the pasta, put the bread in the oven, toss the salad and you are all set!
It all happened so fast I didn’t have time to take pictures of the finished results. A great incentive to make it again soon.
Nana I think I did you proud!
Susan

Sauce

• EVOO
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• Pork country style spareribs (depends on how much your family will eat)
• Sweet Italian sausage
• handful pine nuts
• 1 T chopped parsley
• 2-4 cloves crushed garlic
• Dash crushed hot pepper
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 can kitchen ready tomatoes (pureed) + 1.5 cans water
• 1 can tomato paste + 1 can water
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• Salt
• Pepper
1. Line bottom of pot with oil and heat over medium high.
2. Brown pork and sausage about 15 minutes.
3. Add onion, pepper, pine nuts, parsley, garlic, red pepper, cloves and sauté about 5 minutes on Med Low don’t burn onion and garlic.
4. Add tomatoes and water.
5. When meatballs are done frying add them to the sauce.
6. Simmer sauce on low 5 hours stirring occasionally and making sure bottom of pot isn’t burning.
7. Adjust seasoning

Meatballs
• 1lb lean hamburger meat
• 1 egg beaten
• ½ Cup Italian style breadcrumbs
• 1 clove of garlic crushed
• 1 T grated parmesan cheese
• 2 t parsley chopped fine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Water
• EVOO

1. Mix all ingredients except water.
2. Add water until you get a soft consistency but they still form meatballs.
3. Fry in oil on all sides. Drain
4. Add to sauce for several hours.
*Note—because there is water in the meat they will splatter when frying.

Here are a couple of pictures of the consistancy of the cream after the cheese has been added and the ladyfingers in the pan.




Tiramisu
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups mascarpone cheese
• 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream (the colder it is the faster it whips)
• 4 packages soft ladyfingers
• 1/3 cup coffee flavored liqueur
• Cocoa powder for dusting
• Chocolate curls (dark)

1. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
2. Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
3. Line the bottom and sides of a springform pan or glass square dish. Brush with coffee liqueur. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers, then dust with cocoa. Repeat ladyfingers, coffee liqueur and filling layers. Garnish with cocoa and chocolate curls. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
4. To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.

Caesar Salad Dressing
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 5 anchovy fillets in olive oil
• 5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a mini food processor and whirl until smooth. If it is too thick I think it out with hot water. Refrigerate until ready to use.