Wouldn’t be a Superbowl post if I didn’t kick things off by sharing one of my favorite photos! So before we huddle up with all the recipes -lets don the appropriate attire!
Oh my, I do love what I do! Have fun this weekend, I’m here to help! So no need to stress about what to cook for the big game. Read on and you’ll see, its going to be super simple.
There are so many Superbowl recipes to love this time of year. If you haven’t already planned your menu, you have lots to choose from; and you still have plenty of time. Many traditional recipes involve chips and classic dips. Nothing wrong with tortillas and a warm Rotelle cheese dip, but you know me, I like to keep it local.
To that end, join me today as we revisit several of the ways to eat and drink local, I have shared in previous posts. And, some quick and easy recipes, you will love. We’ll use them as key ingredients for a spectacular Superbowl spread. Shop local Saturday morning farmers markets for produce and proteins, alike.
Start your Superbowl Plans with Local Sweet Potatoes and Ham
Use local sweet potatoes to make several great appetizers for your favorite armchair quarterbacks. High Scoring recipes include my Gluten Free Sweet Potato Toasties and my fun and fabulous Sweet Potato Tots.
Goodnight Brothers thin sliced ham is also delicious on ham biscuits or on a Superbowl-centric cheese and charcuterie platter. As you get set to serve, go with the theme. Instead of using a wooden board to display your charcuterie, think out of the box. Go to a hardware store or home supply store and buy a piece of astroturf. Take white duct tape and mark off yard lines. Then arrange your meats and cheeses all across the field.
Don’t forget to put a football shaped bowl of these fabulous South Carolina Cheese Biscuits to the side of your field of meats and cheeses!
Mimi’s Cheese Biscuits
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sifted all-purpose flour
Your choice of local cheese – also at room temperature. You’ll need one cup of finely grated cheese.
Salt to taste
Pro Tip – Cheese is easier to grate or shred when it is cold. But, it works better in this recipe when it is at room temperature. Go ahead and grate the whole wedge of cheese. Set aside what you’ll need for the recipe. Then, you can freeze leftovers for future use and it won’t ever get moldy or go bad.
Use your hands to mix the shredded cheese and softened butter. Add sifted flour to the mix a little at a time. You want to be sure you are getting the cheese and butter mixed well with the flour. Add a dash of salt as you blend it up. Or do as Barbara does and don’t add the salt until they come out of the oven and are hot; sprinkle coarse grain sea salt on top of the biscuits instead of adding the salt into the mix. If you want your biscuits to have more of a kick, add some cayenne pepper as you mix the cheese and butter.
Shaping the Cheese Biscuit Dough
Once you have everything mixed in, make a ball of the dough, and massage it in your hand to form a 1 1/2 to 2 inch-thick cylinder. Wrap the cylinders in wax paper or plastic wrap to store them in the freezer or refrigerator to firm up a bit. The beauty here is this dough will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months, so make a big batch and you’ll have the dough “ready made” to use later on when you need a quick batch of cheese biscuits. After 15-30 mins in the fridge or the freezer, unwrap the cheese cylinder and cut into slices. Place the slices on a parchment paper lined backing sheet and bake for 9 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.
Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking sheet and then on a wire rack before storing in a tin or serving. Make a lot of these – they will go as fast as a defensive blitz on the field!
You’ll always Score Big with Meatballs
It almost goes without saying that meatballs are always a big hit at any gathering and your Superbowl spread is no different. You can serve them in a chafing dish or crockpot bathed in sauce or with a sauce on the side for dipping. Or, line them up on a hoagie roll for a heartier bite for guests to enjoy.
I have lots of variations on the meatball theme here including my delicious Cheerwine Meatballs and a fun variation you can wrap in pasta!
For more local to love, open your pantry and make the following gridiron great recipes simply by opening a bottle or a jar.
Ya’ll Sauces from Winston-Salem NC
I first told you about this wonderful trio of sauces late last summer. That’s when I met Josh Mcgee, sauce boss and head honcho at this Winston-Salem based company.
I introduced him to you in a Facebook live video from the Charlotte Regional Farmers’ Market where Josh was showcasing his trio of Southern Sauces.
Currently these sauces are not available in Charlotte, but we are working on it. Meantime, you can order them from the Ya’ll Sauce website. Check out the Ya’ll sauce website for retail locations in the Triad and in the Triangle. For this weekend’s Superbowl spread, if these recipes inspire you and you are in Charlotte – give me a shout and I’ll see if I can help you out.
Sharing the Local Love
I also shared the story of Ya’ll Sauces in a couple of my Eat Local posts and segments last year, In case you missed it – the video from Charlotte Today, follows. You’ll find a similar version of another Eat and Drink Local line up that showcased Ya’ll Sauces and lots of other local shared on WRAL in Raleigh here.
Also mentioned in the video, a wondeful pesto recipe made with Miso Masters Miso.
Simply use 2-3 Tbsp of Miso Masters Miso mellow white miso ( available at Whole Foods in Charlotte) in place of the cheese in my classic pesto recipe, at the end of this Cooking with Local Lamb and Goat post. This dairy free miso pesto makes a wonderful dipping sauce for grilled artichokes and another wonderful addition to your Superbowl spread!
Ribs, Wings and more
Now lets get to the meat of the matter. Who doesn’t love wings, ribs or a meaty slider as a part of a Superbowl game day spread. Pair that with this fabulous trio of North Carolina-made Southern sauces and you have a winning combination.
We’ll start with baby back ribs, slathered in the rich warm tomato and bourbon based Henry Bain Sauce. Serve ribs on the bone hot off the grill, or shred the meat and make tasty little pork sliders.
Henry Bain Barbecue Babybacks
For the pre-game ParBoil: Start with 2 cups of tomato juice, 4 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of your favorite local bourbon in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil. Add 4 lbs of North Carolina babyback ribs. Cover; bring the pot back to a boil and then reduce to simmer; and allowing the ribs to simmer in the broth for 30-40 mins.
For the grilling and basting:
Remove ribs from the simmering liquid. Place in a roasting pan. Brush the ribs generally with the contents of one jar of Ya’ll Sauces Henry Bain sauce and place under a preheated broiler or forgo the pan and place the rib racks, bone side down on a medium -hot grill. Cook 4-5 minutes on each side, basting again with sauce as soon as you turn the ribs.
Variation on the theme is to shred the parboiled pork, toss it in the Ya’ll Sauces Henry Bain sauce and pile it high on slider buns – delish!
Ya’ll Sauces Jezebel Wings
15 local chicken wings, cut into drumettes and flaps, tips discarded
For the marinade:
3 Tbsp. NC Sorghum Syrup Molasses
½ cup lime juice
1 Tbsp. Asian fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Baking and Dipping Your Jezebel Wings
2 bottles Ya’ll Sauce company Jezebel sauce
For the wings: Season wings with salt and pepper and toss with all the marinade ingredients. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours of overnight.
Remove the wings from the marinade and place on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Top each wing with a generous coating of the Ya’ll Sauce Jezebel Sauce.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until sauce has browned slightly.
Serve hot or at room temperature with a bowl of warmed Jezebel sauce for dipping.
Leftover wings? It might sound like an oxymoron but there is a possibility you’ll have leftovers. Why not transform these delicious marinated and glazed chicken wings into a great little chicken salad. Toss the chicken in enough of Ya’ll Sauces Come Back sauce to bind and serve on lettuce leaves as a wrap or make chicken salad sammies for your football loving crowd to enjoy!
Open A Jar of Halfway2Homemade
What follows are two of the easiest recipes ever, because, honest and true, all you have to do is Open A Jar.
Hearty soups and creoles are always popular Superbowl fare. Open a jar of Halfway2Homemade’s creole sauce, warm to temperature, add fresh seafood of your choice and some crusty French bread and you, my friend, are done.
In the Charlotte area, you’ll find many of the Halfway2Homemade soups in the local section of your favorite Harris Teeter, Earthfare or Publix grocery stores.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t add in that this creole sauce also make a great base for a pretty mean Bloody or Virgin Mary, just sayin’ …
Make Mine Mushroomy
If you want to do more and make one of these homemade soups more your own, you can. I suggest you start with one of my personal favorite Halfway2Homemade products – the Mushroom Soup. I used it to make Mushroom Sauce to put over Superbowl steaks or burgers and pasta, too!
Halfway2Homemade Mushroom Sauce
It really is this easy! Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Add in 2 Tablespoons of flour and stir cook with a flat pan whisk until the mixture is smooth and lightly browned.
Stir in 1/2 jar of Halfway2Homemade mushroom soup; and incorporate the liquid into the butter and flour roux. Then, scoop out a spoon or two of additional mushrooms from the jar.
Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add in a tablespoon of your favorite tomato paste or 1-2 Tablespoons of tomato powder from the Savory Spice Shop. Stir to blend and you’re done!
Serve over your favorite grilled meat or poultry or toss with pasta, sprinkle with minced thyme and parsley and watch your guests eat it up.
But wait there’s more…
Vegetable Kingdom also makes an award winning green tomato chow chow and this killer ketchup, too! You’ll want both to be staples in your pantry.
Make your Superbowl Party Parla Pasta Perfect
Parla Pasta may be one of the easiest additions to your Superbowl spread because you can always keep it close at hand in your freezer. Parla Pasta is available in the freezer section of Harris Teeter, Lowes, Publix and Fresh Markets in Charlotte and across the state. This made- from-scratch local product makes dinner and tasty appetizers as easy as opening a box.
For a quick and easy night before or evening after the Superbowl supper, serve Pasta Parla Manicotti or your favorite Parla Ravioli, topped with the Halfway2Homemade mushroom sauce recipe I shared earlier. You are gonna love it and everything on your plate will be GotTobeNC local!
Then on game day, fry up several boxes of Parla Pasta ravioli. No defrosting needed, these tender cheese stuffed puffs of dough can go right from freezer to fryer.
Fried Parla Pasta Ravioli
Here’s aa great quick and easy appetizer, that is a crowd pleaser for sure. I’ve shared it with you once before, but its worth mentioning again. Entertain the taste buds of your hungry Superbowl fans with a batch of crispy fried Parla Pasta Ravioli!
Heat about an inch of oil in a hot sauce pan. When the oil is hot, carefully drop in any of Parla’s frozen ravioli and fry till golden brown on both sides. Remove the crispy cheesy filled packets from the hot oil.
Drain on several thicknesses of paper towels. Then, dust with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and watch the crowd go wild!
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