Superbowl season. That means it time for my very favorite football photo, circa 2016. Yes, that’s me, pink shoes and all. Following the obligatory photo, find some of my favorite recipes to make for your game day spread. So, size up your strategies, then get ready to run with the ball ’cause this year cooking for the Superbowl is going to be better than ever.
Superbowl Onion Rings
If you have a crowd who loves onion rings, you’ll find my favorite recipe in this post featuring Lusty Monk Mustard from Candler, NC just outside of Asheville.
The recipes in this post are sure to please any armchair quarterback and each of them features one of the Lusty Monk mustards as a key ingredient. Order Lusty Monk online from their website; or, in Charlotte, buy this delicious local mustard any day of the week at any of the Pasta & Provisions locations; at The Loyalist in Matthews and at Orrman’s Cheese Shop at 7th Street Market in uptown Charlotte, as well.
The post also includes a great mustardy bechamel I like to serve with butter poached carrots, but it has lots of applications. Try it on grilled chicken, sauteed tofu, breaded and fried fish fillets (make ’em following the same instructions as the onion rings) or serve the mustard bechamel also as a great hot dipping sauce for fries or chips.
Jalapeno Poppers on Your Superbowl Menu
It’s always fun to serve these little hot poppers. There are lots of recipes out there that make the process a complicated one, but this one is super simple and it’s a real crowd pleaser. Bonus in this recipe is that it also includes a recipe for homemade pimento cheese. Use it to stuff your poppers or serve it on its own with crackers, or celery sticks for dipping.
8-10 whole jalapenos
This is a basic stuffing for your jalapenos – make it your own with your favorite cheeses or make the homemade pimento cheese recipe that follows.
A cup of feta cheese or chevre, crumbled
1 (8oz) block cream cheese or ricotta
A cup or so of shredded Monterey Jack, Muenster cheese OR use a combo of 1 ½ cup pimento cheese and 1 cup of grated Parmesan
½ cup dry seasoned bread crumbs
Wear rubber gloves and slice jalapenos in half lengthwise, scraping out all of the seeds and ribs.
Place open side up on a baking sheet.
Combine the three cheeses. Stuff jalapenos with the cheese mix. Top with a sprinkling of bread crumbs. Bake in a 350 oven for 30-40 minutes
For homemade pimento cheese:
2 cups cheddar cheese or your favorite hard or aged cheese
½ cup your favorite mayo ( Dukes is my go-to…always)
½ cup chopped roasted red peppers ( out of a jar, or roast your own)
1 Tbsp. spicy pepper vinegar
pinch of salt
Combine all of the ingredients blending until smooth
Game Day Blue Cheese and Pecan Puffs
Back in the fall, I took a fun trip to the Abbeville, Greenwood area of South Carolina. While I was there, I visited a wonderful pecan farm in the little town of Ninety-Six, SC. I came back with all sorts of local SC pecans and made these wonderful little puffs with blue cheese, crushed pecans and a little minced cilantro to finish for a segment I did on Charlotte Today.
Lots of my friends served these all through the holidays, but I think they will make for great Superbowl snacking as well. Get the recipe and read more about the 96 Pecan Company in South Carolina, here.
In the same post, you’ll find a recipe for Chicken Sate ( skewered chicken on a stick) done in an Asian marinade and finished with a pecan dipping sauce. You can make wings the very same way.
If You Want To Just Wing It…
There seems to be a lot of talk about wings this year. You can fry wings or grill them. Or you can bake them like I do.
For me, baking allows you taste the sauce or marinade as well as the chicken. And of course I recommend that you start with local chicken.
If you need a blue print on how to start, you know I’ve got your back. Simply Scroll down to my recipe for Jezebel Wings in this Superbowl post from 2020. In the post you’ll find several other gridiron greats as well, like recipes for meatballs, crunchy cheese wafers and a tasty miso pesto, each made with a local NC product. Plus, in that same post there is a fun video, telling you more about each of these wonderful ways to eat local.
The wing recipe in this post features a great NC sauce made by a Winston Salem Company called the Ya’ll Sauce Company. As I shared in a recent interview on chicken wings for Unpretentious Palate in Charlotte this past week, you can make the recipe with any of your favorite bottled sauces.
Two More Tasty Ways to Sauce up Your Superbowl
Two others I would recommend are Cackalacky Sauces, from Pittsboro, NC, made from North Carolina Sweet Potatoes – you can read more about Cacklacky in this eat local round up .
And, I highly recommend a new line of sauces I discovered while I was at the NC State Fair in Raleigh NC last October. They are called TonTon and each one features authentic Japanese flavor. Get recipes and order TonTon online here.
Your Superbowl Spread
Finally, let’s talk about the table. Go all out here. but don’t limit yourself to the same old – same old serving dishes. Think outside the box and more about the gridiron. My “table cloth” here is a length of astroturf.
Toy footballs become the centerpiece in lieu of candles and flowers. And if you can find a pair of extra large new ( clean) cleats, you can line them with foil or fit a small bowl inside and use them as a fun was to serve your favorite dip. Toy football helmets make wonderful containers for chips or popcorn and pennants for your favorite teams to add some color and if you want to serve any of the bottled sauces featured here ( or ketchup or mustard and other game day condiments) fit a rocks glass into a Koozie for your favorite teams and put a spoon in each for serving.
I can’t wait to see what you create. When you post your Superbowl Spread photos on social media be sure to tag me – Heidi Billotto or Heidi Billotto Cooks on Facebook, @HeidiCooks on Twitter and @HeidiBillotto on instagram. Looking forward to all of your Gridiron Greats!