I love to cook. I love to grill or smoke out. I host a party when the Pats get in so it is also my big day in the kitchen. Whether it’s shopping for ingredients or cooking I spend over 48 hours just on the food for the big game. I was thinking about my favorite Super Bowl foods and realized most of them are homemade. So what do you all do or like? I love the advice I get on SoSH and thought it might be nice to see what other people do and maybe possibly even share recipes or cooking methods.
This is a short list of everything I either make or have made for these parties:
Usually people start coming in an hour before the game and we start with an unholy amount of apps.
Apps:
3-Cheese Mac-and-cheese balls
Beer cheese and sausage balls
Homemade ranch dip
Home made beer cheese dip (sometimes I make two pots of this one spicy one not)
I also make a meat and cheese board. I like to go to central market and spend an 1-2 hours just looking at their incredible selections. I usually sink $100 just into this plate. Then I spend two days fighting myself from eating it alone in the dark when no one is watching. Central market is like combining Wegmans and Whole Foods.
My girlfriend is a fantastic cook but for this event usually is on dip duty:
Aside from the guacamole which is a simple recipe she likes to oven roast cloves of garlic to make humus and a creamy spinach and feta dip.
Last but most important: home made chicken wings. You don’t need a deep fryer to do it. You will need some tums though when you’re done. Typically make the wings in a frying pan in high heated oil. I brine my wings overnight - I like them extra crispy and although the brining makes it harder to get them crispy initially it keeps the meat juicy. YMMV on that one. Chicken is an unforgiving mistress and she will dry up really quickly. I am looking for a better wing recipe and cooking method.
Mains:
3-2-1 smoked ribs (4-6 racks of pork baby back ribs). For those not familiar with the 3-2-1 method it’s a tried and true way of smoking your ribs at 225 that gauantees both firmness at the end but that your rib meat is fall off the bone tender.
Brisket - smoked usually with a dry rub. Done a lot of southwestern or Coffee rubs lately. Talking shop here I prefer Oak, Pecan, or a fruit wood over mesquite for brisket.
Bone-in hog of some sort like pork butt. I’m only hosting 10-12 people this year so I’m doing a 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder. I will be using a combination of peach and pecan wood to smoke it this year. Hickory to me is like mesquite - just too much of an overwhelming flavor. Like the brisket I expect around 2 hours of smoking per pound of meat.
Burgers
Bratz/Hot-Dogs
Chili - when I do the burgers and bratz/dogs I’ll make a chili to go with it. When I make chili I make it with beer, ground beef, groundshort rib beef, and with bone in short ribs.
Store/Restaurant purchases:
Pizza
Nachos
Jalapeño poppers
Loaded waffle fries
Beer, Alcohol, lots of beer, soda.
I never make dessert and honestly would rather eat more meat than a sweet.
And my favorite entree: the salty tears of Pats haters when we win.
So, SoSH what do you like to eat for the Super Bowl? What do you make? Do we have any other people who are already beginning their food prep?
This is a short list of everything I either make or have made for these parties:
Usually people start coming in an hour before the game and we start with an unholy amount of apps.
Apps:
3-Cheese Mac-and-cheese balls
Beer cheese and sausage balls
Homemade ranch dip
Home made beer cheese dip (sometimes I make two pots of this one spicy one not)
I also make a meat and cheese board. I like to go to central market and spend an 1-2 hours just looking at their incredible selections. I usually sink $100 just into this plate. Then I spend two days fighting myself from eating it alone in the dark when no one is watching. Central market is like combining Wegmans and Whole Foods.
My girlfriend is a fantastic cook but for this event usually is on dip duty:
Aside from the guacamole which is a simple recipe she likes to oven roast cloves of garlic to make humus and a creamy spinach and feta dip.
Last but most important: home made chicken wings. You don’t need a deep fryer to do it. You will need some tums though when you’re done. Typically make the wings in a frying pan in high heated oil. I brine my wings overnight - I like them extra crispy and although the brining makes it harder to get them crispy initially it keeps the meat juicy. YMMV on that one. Chicken is an unforgiving mistress and she will dry up really quickly. I am looking for a better wing recipe and cooking method.
Mains:
3-2-1 smoked ribs (4-6 racks of pork baby back ribs). For those not familiar with the 3-2-1 method it’s a tried and true way of smoking your ribs at 225 that gauantees both firmness at the end but that your rib meat is fall off the bone tender.
Brisket - smoked usually with a dry rub. Done a lot of southwestern or Coffee rubs lately. Talking shop here I prefer Oak, Pecan, or a fruit wood over mesquite for brisket.
Bone-in hog of some sort like pork butt. I’m only hosting 10-12 people this year so I’m doing a 10 pound bone-in pork shoulder. I will be using a combination of peach and pecan wood to smoke it this year. Hickory to me is like mesquite - just too much of an overwhelming flavor. Like the brisket I expect around 2 hours of smoking per pound of meat.
Burgers
Bratz/Hot-Dogs
Chili - when I do the burgers and bratz/dogs I’ll make a chili to go with it. When I make chili I make it with beer, ground beef, groundshort rib beef, and with bone in short ribs.
Store/Restaurant purchases:
Pizza
Nachos
Jalapeño poppers
Loaded waffle fries
Beer, Alcohol, lots of beer, soda.
I never make dessert and honestly would rather eat more meat than a sweet.
And my favorite entree: the salty tears of Pats haters when we win.
So, SoSH what do you like to eat for the Super Bowl? What do you make? Do we have any other people who are already beginning their food prep?