Sure, we can all admit that football is the primary
focus of Super Bowl Sunday. But there are actually some of us who
don’t know — or care about — the difference between a
tight end and a touchdown. Even for those of us who actually understand the
basic rules of the game, this big sports event is just as much about
friends gathering around a big-screen TV, critiquing megabuck commercials
and eating, as it is about football.
Super Bowl parties are centered on two things: TV and
food. It’s often an excuse to pig out on your favorite snack food
while watching the pigskin tossed around. Serving the basics, such as bowls
of chips, chicken wings and pizza, is perfectly acceptable, but you can
also be more imaginative and prepare dishes to represent the participating
teams.
This year, why not impress your guests and serve
cheese steak sandwiches in honor of the Philadelphia Eagles and clam
chowder and fried clams for the New England Patriots?
You don’t even have to go to that much trouble.
You could also serve foods in the colors of the Super Bowl teams. How about
serving green foods, like guacamole dip (in honor of Philadelphia), served
with red pepper strips and blue and white tortilla chips (in honor of the
opponent)?
This year, Super Bowl weekend also coincides with
Mardi Gras, and several local watering holes, like Sammy’s Sports
Bar, are serving up Cajun-inspired dishes on their menus to serve to
patrons watching the game. So you could include gumbo, jambalaya, or
crawfish pie on your Super Bowl spread.
Many football fans have their favorite game foods, but
the king of all ballgame snacks may be chicken wings. So here are a couple
of championship chicken-wing recipes, and a few delicious finger-food
alternatives for good measure:
Tim Hay’s Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
1 pound margarine, melted
1/2 oz bottle Tabasco sauce
3 cups Frank’s Red Hot
Two ounces of salt-free Cajun spice
Half cup of jalapeno juice
One 5-pound bag of frozen chicken wings or drumetts
Directions: Fry the wings
in oil. Then mix ingredients together, pour over wings and simmer until
thoroughly heated. Serve with blue cheese and Ranch dressing and celery
sticks. Serves 25. (Recipe courtesy of Tim Hay
of Sammy’s in Springfield.)
Grilled Spicy Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
20 chicken wings
2 limes, rind grated and limes juiced
1 teaspoon hot chili pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons tequila
Directions: Mix all the
ingredients together and bake or grill the wings until ready. (Recipe courtesy of www.thatsthespirit.com.)
Barbecued Black Bean Dip
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
One half teaspoon canola oil
2 cups cooked black beans
4 tablespoons tomato paste
One fourth cup Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mustard
One fourth teaspoon salt
Directions: Heat the oil
in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until they
begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Combine all ingredients in a food
processor and process until you have a smooth dip. Serve with corn chips or
celery sticks. Serves 6. (Recipe courtesy of
Spectrum Foods/Food Fantasies.)
Creamy Avocado Green Chili Dip
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
one fourth cup loosely
packed fresh cilantro
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies
one half
cup low-fat sour cream
one half teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 large
ripe, avocado, halved
Directions: With the food
processor running, drop the garlic cloves and cilantro into the feed tube
and process until finely chopped. Add the green chilies, sour cream, and
salt and scrape the avocado flesh into a bowl. Process until blended into a
smooth, creamy dip. Serve lightly chilled or at room temperature for
fullest flavor. (Recipe courtesy of
www.globalgourmet.com.)
Pistachio Game Day Munchies Mix
Ingredients:
One fourth cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
Dash bottled hot pepper sauce
1 cup each: Bite-size shredded wheat biscuits,
bite-size toasted corn cereal, sesame chips (or bite-size toasted rice
cereal), and small pretzel twists
1 cup natural California pistachios, chopped
Directions: Heat together
butter, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and bottled hot pepper sauce until
butter melts. Combine remaining ingredients in a 13 by 9 by 2 inch pan.
Drizzle butter mixture over cereal mixture and toss lightly. Bake uncovered
at 300°F for 1 hour or until crisp and lightly toasted. Stir every 15
minutes. Makes 4 cups. (Recipe courtesy of the California Pistachio Commission.)
Calling all chocolate lovers
The Greenview Civic Association will host its 10th
annual Chocolate Sunday contest and auction from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13,
at the Community Building on the square.
Entries are being accepted in five categories —
fancy desserts, cookies, candy, cakes, and pies — and must be
submitted by 1 p.m. the day of the event.
The event will include cash prizes, chocolate bingo,
and chocolate trivia. For more information, call 217-968-5323, 968-7043 or
968-1408.
Super Bowl food facts
Super Bowl
Sunday ranks as the second food consumption event of the year, second only
to Thanksgiving.
The Super
Bowl is the top at-home party event of the year, surpassing New
Year’s Eve. Â
An estimated
14,500 tons of chips, 4,000 tons of popcorn and more than 8.5 million
pounds of tortilla chips are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday.
Fans spend
more than $50 million on food during the four days of Super Bowl weekend.
Sources: NFL.com, Hallmark Cards Inc., and
playfootball.com.
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2005.
