Football Favorites

By Carl Weiss

Image courtesy of Flickr

Now that it's football season once again, I thought I would share some of my favorite recipes that are sure to please and feed a crowd. The secret to fabulous football fare is to have 3 courses, the appetizers that you will serve at the start of the game, the entree you will feed your friends at halftime, not to mention dessert for the fourth quarter.


The Kickoff

In a recent video series, I showed you how to make homemade salsa, which is a blender job. All you need is a chopped onion, a chopped green pepper, a large can of crushed tomatoes, a small can of diced tomatoes, a can of green chilies, a tablespoon of lime juice, a pinch of salt and a dash of hot sauce.  Put the ingredients into a blender and pulse until the onion and green pepper have been cut down to size.  Don't run the blender too long unless you want to wind up with soup.  The secret to great salsa is to keep the sauce slightly chunky and flavorful.  Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving. I recommend letting it sit over night.  (See the video below for precise instructions.)

With salsa, you can make a hot appetizer called, Hot Mexican Dip.  Start off with a layer of refried beans, topped by a layer of shredded cheese and a layer of salsa.  Create 2-3 layers, top with grated cheese and pop in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes until the mixture is bubbling and the cheese on top is browned slightly.  Serve this and the salsa with chips and beer and you are ready to hit the field.

Halftime

While chips and dip is great snack for the first half, at halftime you will want to provide your guests with something more substantial.  For that I offer several choices.  My latest is Pigs in the Blanket with a side of Boston Baked Beans with Beer.  Even the biscuit dough used to wrap the hot dogs is made with beer.  What could be better?

Another can't miss football favorite is my signature Beerfalo Wings recipe.  The secret to succulent on the inside, crispy on the outside chicken wings is to parboil them in beer for 10-minutes, then pop them into a 450 degree oven for 20-minutes a side to get them crispy.  Only after you cook them do you douse them with sauce, three of which are presented below.  (The video at left also shows you how to make Sweet Potato Fries that are a great side for wings and can be cooked in the oven alongside them.)

Bourbon Sauce
1/4 cup Bourbon
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Ginger
2 tbl Ketchup

In a medium saucepan, stir the bourbon, soy sauce, and ketchup over a medium flame.  Add the sugar, garlic powder and sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Toss the wings in this sauce after they are cooked.

Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/2 cup Butter or Margarine
1/2 cup Hot Sauce
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Stir and toss.  It doesn't get any easier than this, guys.

Parmesan Dijon Sauce

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Butter or Margarine
2 tbl Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Oregano
1 tbl Lemon or Lime Juice

This is a tangy wing sauce you may not have tried before.  Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the mustard, lemon or lime juice, salt, pepper and oregano.  Turn heat to low and slowly add the grated cheese, stirring until it has fully melted.  Remove from the stove and pour over the cooked wings. Toss the wings in mixture until thoroughly coated.  Serve.

Pigs in a Blanket Made with Beer Biscuits

Here is another crowd pleasing halftime favorite: Pigs in a Blanket.  Just as I showed you in the past how easy it is to make beer bread and beer crumpets (otherwise known as Brumpets), using beer to bake bread of any kind means you don't have to waste time letting the bread rise.  Just stir, shape and cook.  The bonus you get with beer biscuits is that they are a great way to wrap hot dogs and sausages.  (You can also wrap a cooked hamburger in this dough and pop it in the oven as well.)

Fourth and Goal

After gorging yourself on chicken wings, pigs in a blanket, Boston baked beans, and sweet potato fries, you want to avoid serving a heavy dessert during the fourth quarter.  Ideally, you are looking for something light and sweet.  That's why I recommend Trifle for dessert. If you like cake and pie, you will love trifle since it's a fusion of the two.

Start by cooking a cake.  Then purchase a can of pie filling and a tub of Cool Whip.  Into a large bowl crumble some of the cake and top with pie filling and and Cool Whip.  Then repeat the process until you have filled the bowl with at least three layers.  To serve, scoop the mixture into a bowl or parfait class and serve.  While the video below uses chocolate cake and cherry pie filling, you can use other variations, such as lemon cake with blueberry pie filling, coconut cake with pineapple pie filling or apple caramel cake with apple pie filling.  Best of all, this dessert is quick and easy to make and can be made the day before the game, provided you have room in the fridge.

If you have any other football favorites you would like to see me make on the show, email mancavemunchies@gmail.com  For other man cave recipes, go to http://mancavemunchies.com