My Superbowl Suggestions

I probably watch football once a year, during the Superbowl of course.  And to be honest I don't really care about the game.  What I care about is eating chicken wings, seeing my friends, and how amazing Jennifer Hudson was when she sang the US anthem in 2009.  These appetizer suggestions come from the holiday entertaining season.  I made all 3 for Steve's annual Christmas open house and they were a hit.  And a hit to me means no leftovers!  In retrospect making all 3 together on a weekday evening was a bad idea.  I made everything a head of time the night before after working all day and then going to a seasonal job and didn't go to bed until 2am ... ouch, poor me.  But I definitely would make these all again for Superbowl Sunday ... not this year though because I have a friend's 30th birthday the night before and I expect to be good and hungover.

When you want more meat than a wing!

• Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls - Another one from the The Meatball Shop cookbook.  This was actually the first ball I attempted from the book.  My friend who gave it to me raved about these chicken wing inspired balls.  She made them a few weeks prior and couldn't say enough about them so how could I not make them.  The recipe is very easy and the Frank's RedHot drew me because, folks, I too, put that sh*t on everything!  mmmmmmmm.  It might be because of this that I recommend tossing the balls in a little Frank's before serving.  I found the first couple balls lacking in Frank's goodness.  We used ranch dressing for dipping the balls and celery on the side.

The perfect combination of meat, cheese
and vegetable.

• Stuffed Jalapenos - I made these little guys twice in December.  The recipe calls for chorizo sausage and couldn't find any at the grocery store so I bought spicy polish sausage.  I found the polish sausage a bit difficult to chop up but it tasted so good with jalapenos and cream cheese.  The second time I made them I used spiced up ground pork.  They tasted good but next time I'm going to use an easier to chop up sausage.  The most challenging and time consuming part of the recipe is preparing the peppers.  Make sure you have a really good paring knife it will make much easier to get the veins and seeds out.  These peppers aren't too spicy is you get all the seeds out and give them a good wash after. But I like spice so if I were making for a group that I knew liked spice then I might leave a seed or two.  If you have disposable gloves and are sensitive to heat then I recommend wearing them.  The second time I made these I doubled the recipe.  When I went to bed at 2 am, I felt like I had mildly burned my hands ... oops.  Also when I cooked these the recipe just says to cook for 15 minutes.  I cooked for 15 and then let them broil for a couple of minutes to get the cheese to brown nicely.  I actually think they came out looking a lot like the picture below!!

I forgot to take a picture of the dates but you should just go
buy this cookbook anyway.

• Stuffed Dates - This was a last minute addition to my appetizer list.  Both stuffed delights come from the Cook This, Not That - 350 Calorie Meals book.  This series is often featured in Women's Health Magazine.  I LOVE this cookbook!  Everything I have every made has been satisfying and full of flavour.  It is small and mighty just like these stuffed dates.  I know we all agree that bacon makes everything better and when I saw the picture of these cheesy-filled-wrapped in-bacon bites I was drooling like Homer Simpson and adding items to my grocery list.  I don't what to say about these other than they are the perfect combination of salty and sweet.  I made 32 dates an the recipe call for 8 ... that may have been why I was up until 2 am.

Happy Superbowl Sunday everyone and GO, whichever team prefer, GO!!!!

RECIPES

Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 tbsp (1/2) unsalted butter

1/3 cup Frank's RedHot Sauce + plus extra for tossing after cooked

1 lb ground chicken

1 lrg  egg

1/2 stalk celery

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 450F.  Drizzle the vegetable oil into a 9x13-inch baking dish and use your hands to evenly coat the entire surface.  Set aside.
2. Combine the butter and hot sauce in a small sauce pan, and cook over low heat, whisking until the butter is melted and fully incorporated.  Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the hot sauce mixture, ground chicken, egg, celery, bread crumbs, and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.
4. Roll the mixture into round 3/4-inch balls, making sure to pack the meat firmly.  Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid.  The meatballs should be touching one another.
5. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through.
6. Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes in the baking dish before serving.

Stuffed Jalapenos

4 oz fresh Mexican style chorizo, casing removed

1 cup cremini or button mushrooms, diced

1/2 onion minced

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup whipped cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste

12 Jalapenos peppers

1. Preheat the oven to 400F
2. Cook the chorizo in a skillet over medium heat, using a wooden spoon to break up any clumps that form.  Once cooked through, remove and drain off all but a thin layer of fat.  Add the mushrooms and onions to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are lightly browned.  Stir back in the chorizo
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the chorizo mixture, cheese, cream cheese, and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Halve the jalapenos vertically.  Use a paring knife to cut and scrape out as much of the white membrane and seeds in each pepper as possible
5. Stuff each pepper half with a spoonful of the cheese-chorizo mixture.  Line up the stuffed peppers on a baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, until peppers soften and the cheese browns and bubbles.

                                      

Stuffed Dates

8 Medjool dates

8 almonds

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

4 strips bacon, cut in half

black pepper to taste

1. Preheat the over to 425F.  Using a sharp paring knife, make a slit across the length of a date so that the pocket in the fruit is exposed. Remove the small pit inside the date and replace with an almond.  Spoon about 1/2 tbsp of blue cheese into the pocket, so that it's tight stuffed but not overflowing with cheese.  Place the date at the bottom of a bacon strip half and roll up as tightly as possible.  Secure with a toothpick.  Repeat for the remaining 7 dates.
2. Place the dates on a nonstick baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, until the bacon has rendered and is brown and crispy.  Top each with a bit of black pepper and serve.