As many of you know I
am probably one of the biggest pro football fans on the planet. So this week is
the week of the 48th annual Championship Game of the National
Football League (I will not call it the “big game”) or The Super Bowl.
There I
said the taboo name for the game, we can now move on. Being a hardcore fan, to
me, this is the Christmas, New Year’s Eve, (name your favorite holiday) of my
year. 90% of it is the game, but I love the party portion of it as well. Seeing
that my Denver Broncos are in it this year it’s even more special to me (I like
the Broncos to win 27-20 so if you read this after the game you can laugh or be
impressed). Food and beer take the
center stage at almost every party, so why would you even contemplate drinking
the official shit beer of the Super Bowl and serve the officially sponsored
premade crap food for it? It’s a holiday, and it’s a party would you give
people crappy pizza and reheated wings from a chain for a dinner party? Hell
No. So why do it for the Super Bowl? So where do we go with the food you may
ask?? Make it yourself. Homemade is the way to go, and if you are inept in the kitchen
go to LOCAL restaurants, delis, or BBQ joints, to get your eats. I am going to
help you out with a couple of Ideas here for the party as a whole.
First thing I do is figure out the beer, big shocker I know.
All of the party type food for this event goes great with beer, and all types
of it. Since I am a big cheese ball, I like to get beers from the cities or states
of the teams in the game. So this current version is Denver and Seattle. Great
year to give this a try. There are a ton of breweries from these 2 cities. Here are a few that are readily available in
most areas. Denver/Colorado (Coors and Blue Moon are not craft beers so don’t
go there) has Oskar Blues, New Belgium, Great Divide to name a couple, Seattle/Washington
you have Pyramid, Elysian, Red Hook there are a ton more in these cities and
states. When your guests choose a beer they also are making a choice for the game
as well. Like I said cheesy but fun. If that’s too cheesy get some local brews
for the game or a couple growlers just none of that crap they are advertising during
the game. Now for the food.
Menu wise minus the
chips and dips and whatever snack foods that you pick there are a lot of
choices. In the cold weather nothing beats some good chili in my book. I am not
going to throw a recipe out there mostly because everyone has one, whether it’s a
traditional beef, or a turkey, or a vegetarian, they always work just have some
stuff to throw on it like cheese or sour cream and other fun stuff. Let’s focus
on another big part of this game’s food the sandwich. Time to go big or go
home! I like to do it different as well. There are about a thousand different
ways to go here. Like Peyton Manning I am calling an audible at the line.
Instead of a standard big cold cut sandwich try something like a Banh Mi or a
giant Cuban sandwich. If you don’t cook or don’t want to, get some pulled pork
or BBQ beef from a local BBQ joint, a loaf of good French bread some cheddar
and make a giant BBQ sandwich. As for the other two I mentioned let’s go over
construction.
The Banh Mi is a tasty and not so well known sandwich from
Vietnam. For this you will need to do a little prep. I like doing a grilled
chicken one but you can do it with pork or even with tofu or tempeh if you don’t
eat meat. Since I am carnivorous let’s do the chicken one. Once again we are
making this a big sandwich, so get a loaf of good French bread to start. You
are going to need a pound of boneless chicken thighs that need to be marinated
for a couple of hours or overnight. Recipe will be below. Now traditionally there
are pickled carrots and Daikon radish, but I construct a simple slaw of sorts
with carrots, red bell peppers, and some Napa cabbage. So the chicken is ready
to go, guess what we are firing up the grill. Outside. In February. Why fear
the cold and snow? Just because it’s not sunny and 75 doesn’t mean you need to
stop grilling. So to the construction of this masterpiece. This is all about
the layers. Cut the French bread so it’s opened up. This calls for a mayo but
put it on the side, some people hate it, some bathe in it, so leave it up to
them. First cut up the thighs and lay them down. Next a layer of sliced
cucumbers, then your slaw, then some fresh cilantro and some sliced Jalapeños
for some heat. Fold the bread up and cut it into chunks, however big or small
you want to.
Banh Mi Marinade Carrot
slaw
¼ cup soy sauce 1
carrot julienned
½ of a lime juiced 1
red pepper julienned
¼ cup cider vinegar 1
green onion
2 cloves of garlic 1
Cup of shredded cabbage
1 tablespoon of 5 spice blend 1 tablespoon of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste ¼
cup rice wine vinegar
Salt
and pepper to taste
Next we do the
classic Cuban with a craft beer twist. We need the oven for this one. Set it to
375. French bread is your base again. Cut the bread in half like we did before
so you can open it up. You will need roughly about a pound to a pound and a half
of a good ham sliced thin. Lay it out on the bread on BOTH sides then we are
going to put a layer of sliced pickles. Kosher deli style ones work best. Then
a good layer of Swiss cheese. Put the whole thing in the oven and bake it until
the cheese is melty. Normally this sandwich is pressed but since it’s a big
sandwich we’ll skip that part. Take it out and fold it together. Wait, you are
saying you forgot the mustard? Nope. Here’s the twist we are doing a whole
grain IPA mustard for it. You can put this in the sandwich after the toasting
or put it on the side if there are mustard haters around. Recipe is as follows:
IPA MUSTARD
1 jar of Whole grain
mustard
3 garlic cloves
roasted and chopped
¼ cup of Stone Ruination
or other Imperial/double IPA
So there are a few ideas for your Super Bowl party, have a
good time enjoy the game, the food, the commercials, and most importantly GO
BRONCOS!!!!!!
