Score a taste touchdown with three winning recipes
The big question for some of us on Super Bowl Sunday isn't who will win or which pricey TV commercial scores big with viewers. We want to know what there is to eat — and there better not be any fumbles.
Here are three food strategies to help you land that proverbial touchdown while family and friends chow down. And each of these winning plays can be executed mostly in advance so you can sit and enjoy the game, too.
Plan a snack attack. Sure, you can go out and pick up bags of chips and jars of dips, salsas or spreads. It's a popular choice: 32 percent of Americans picked this as their favorite Super Bowl snack last year in a Harris Interactive poll conducted for Supervalu. Yet there is something hackneyed about a menu culled from the supermarket aisles. Why not make your own snacks? “They're bright, crisp and fresh,” says Cynthia Nims, author of “Salty Snacks.” “You can vary recipes at home so that you can have many dozens of snacks that you can't find in the snack aisle.”
Keep it clean (and healthy). “Clean” has become one of the year's buzzwords in cookbook publishing as authors offer dishes that not only taste good but are good for you. “No matter how you eat, eat clean,” is the slogan of “The Clean Plates Cookbook,” by Jared Koch with Jill Silverman Hough. That includes “great snacks that are nutrient-dense,” wrote Koch in an e-mail. “Because of those nutrients, your body will be satiated and actually crave fewer extra calories. That's a win-win.”
Go deep-South. New Orleans is home to this year's Super Bowl, and no matter how heated the contest gets on the field or in the stands, most people would agree the food culture of the Crescent City can't be beat. Here's a recipe from chef Phillip Lopez of Root for chicken wings — second in Super Bowl popularity, according to that Harris poll — with a hot, new Korean twist. The recipe name — “KFC” Korean fried chicken wings — is a sassy send-up of Colonel Sanders' famed product.
“Don't let the simplicity of this recipe fool you, these nuts are simultaneously salty, rich, crunchy and deliciously complex, thanks to the rosemary,” writes Jared Koch in “The Clean Plates Cookbook.”<b>3 cups raw pecan halves2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemaryfine sea salt (to taste) </b>Arrange pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees until brown and fragrant, about 12 minutes.Transfer while still warm to a bowl; add extra-virgin olive oil, chopped fresh rosemary and fine sea salt to taste, tossing to coat.Return pecans to baking sheet to cool.
Melt the pepper jelly over low heat in a saucepan; sweet Thai chili sauce can sub in.<b>2 stalks lemongrass5 cloves garlic, whole1 cup soy sauce1 piece (3 inches long) ginger, slicedJuice of 1 lime½ cup salt18 jumbo chicken wings, tips removed, cut into 2 sections2 cups nonglutinous rice flourPeanut oil for deep frying¾ cup (6 ounces) jarred pepper jelly, melted or sweet Thai chili sauce1 tablespoon each: toasted sesame seeds, chopped chives </b>Heat a large stockpot of water to a boil over high heat.Add lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, lime juice and salt. Cook, 5-8 minutes. Turn down to a simmer.Add chicken wings; blanch, 3 minutes only. (This will release some fat from the skin and make the skin tighter for frying.)Remove with slotted spoon; shock in ice water. Dry; tamp dry with paper towels.Toss the wings in rice flour to coat well. Submerge wings, in batches, in hot oil at 350 degrees; fry until fully cooked inside, about 7 minutes. (Alternatively, place wings on a baking sheet and roast in a 375 degree oven, rotating the pan halfway through, 15-20 minutes.)Place hot wings in a bowl; add melted pepper jelly or chili sauce. Stir to coat wings.Arrange wings on serving platter; sprinkle with the sesame seeds and chives.Adapted from a recipe by chef Phillip Lopez published in “New Orleans Chef’s Table” by Lorin Gaudin.
