Super Bowl XLV Fare

More daunting than choosing the best Super Bowl commercial, choosing what Super Bowl team to root on to victory, or choosing the best seat in the TV room for Super Bowl viewing, is choosing what to eat during half time of the Super Bowl.

This year Joan solved this quandary with a splendid spread.

Joan served Pepperoni Puffs for appetizers. These scrumptious delights served with warm pizza sauce were a perfect lead-in to the Black Eyed Peas halftime show.
Rolling Stone Review


Pepperoni Puffs
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup pepperoni, diced

Combine flour, baking powder, milk, egg and cheese; mix well. Stir in pepperoni; let stand for 15 minutes. Spoon into greased mini muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 350˚ for 25 to 35 minutes, until golden.

The next course was Baked Potato Soup.

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:
4 large baked potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) milk
2 tablespoons green onion, diced
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, plus 2 tablespoons for garnish
1 cup sour cream
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (for garnish)

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the pulp. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Stir in potato pulp, diced green onion and grated cheddar cheese. Cook on low heat until heated through, Then stir in the sour cream and heat through. Garnish with crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese.

Accompanying the soup was this sandwich.

Muffuletta


Ingredients:
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup Italian Dressing
3/4 cup each chopped drained black and stuffed green olives
1/2 cup chopped drained canned artichoke hearts
4 ribs celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 round Italian bread loaf (Sicilian round - 10 inch)
6 slices each Turkey Breast, Genoa salami, Honey Ham,
French Dip Flavored Roast Beef
4 Provolone Cheese slices

Mix mayo and dressing in medium bowl, stir in next 5 ingredients.

Cut bread horizontally in half. Hollow out slightly; discard removed bread or dave for another use.

Fill bottom half of bread with layers of half the olive mixture, meat and cheese; cover with remaining olive mixture and bread top. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Makes 8 servings.

For dessert Joan served a lemon cake and coffee.

Frittata

Fresh-Picked Frittata revisited.

With the temperature 8˚ outside Joan prepared this frittata for brunch.

A warm wedge of this breakfast favorite served with fresh orange slices held the chill outside the Bistro room at bay.

Manhattan Clam Chowder

With temperatures in the single digits and threatening to go below zero, Joan made this brothy version of its New England cousin. Full of chunky vegetables, this soup provided a great first course to Connie's chicken quesdiallas.

2 6-1/2 oz. cans chopped clams
16-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. carrots, finely chopped
1 t. salt
pepper to taste
1/4 t. dried thyme

Drain liquid from clams into a large measuring cup; set aside clams. Add enough water to clam liquid to equal 3 cups. Pour into a large saucepan; add remaining ingredients except clams. Cover and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat; mash vegetables slightly to thicken broth. add clams; heat through.

Serves 6.

Pork and Squash Chili

This week Danny Wegman featured pork and butternut squash as his sale items. Joan purchased both and made this deliciously different chili.

Preparation time 20 minutes. Takes 30 minutes to cook. Serves six.

Ingredients:

3/4 pound boneless pork, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil
2 14 1/2-ounce cans stewed tomatoes
8 ounces butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, about 1/2 cups
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup loose-pack frozen whole kernel corn
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon grated unsweetened chocolate
(this is the secret ingredient in Cincinnati Chili)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

Directions:

Cut the pork into 1/2-inch cubes. In a Dutch oven, cook and stir the pork, onion, and garlic in hot oil until meat is browned. Stir in undrained tomatoes, squash, kidney beans, black beans, corn, water, chili powder, chocolate, cumin, cinnamon, and oregano. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until squash and pork are tender, stirring occasionally.

To serve - ladle chili into bowls. Joan served the chili with corn bread.

Note: Try this to increase the flavor and enjoyment. After cooking put the chili in an air-tight container and let it refrigerate overnight allowing the ingredients to marinate. Remove it the next day and re-heat.

This recipe was developed by Don Holt, a long-time Cincinnati chili lover and cook.

Italian Meatball Soup

Italian Meatball Soup
Looking for an excuse to use her crock pot, Joan made this soup for dinner.

16-oz. pkg. frozen Italian -style meatballs
2 14-1/2 oz. cans beef broth
2 14-1/2 oz. cans diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 c. potato, peeled and diced
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/4 t. garlic pepper
16-oz. pkg. frozen mixed vegetables

In a slow cooker, mix frozen meatballs, broth, tomatoes, potato, onion and garlic powder. Cover and cook on low setting for 9 to 11 hours. Stir in frozen vegetables. Increase setting to high; cover and cook for one additional hour, or until vegetables are tender. Minutes before serving Joan added a handful of broken linguine.

After ladling the soup into a bowl, Joan sprinkled the soup with freshly shredded Parmesan cheese for added flavor.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Recipe can be found on page 62 of Gooseberry Patch Co. - 101 Easy Entertaining Recipes.

Christmas Eve Soup

Christmas Eve Soup
Since there was a considerable amount of ham left over from Christmas brunch, Joan made this hardy soup.

2 c. potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 c. carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/4 c. onion, chopped
2 c. water
1-1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 c. cooked ham, cubed
1/4 c. margarine
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. milk
8-oz. pkg. shredded Cheddar cheese

Combine vegetables, water, salt and pepper in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until vegetables are tender. Stir in ham; set aside. In a separate saucepan, melt margarine; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted; add to vegetable mixture and heat through.

Serves 8.

Recipe can be found in Gooseberry Patch Co. 101 Christmas Recipes.

Standing Rib Roast ala Paula Deen

Standing Rib Roast
Terry emailed us this morning with a cooking question. Terry and Terrilynn have decided to have a standing rib roast for Christmas and are inviting Don & Kathy over to enjoy it. Terry's question was how did we use to cook our roast? Terry remembers mother telling him that we would take the stove up to around 500˚ to start it. Terry also wondered what seasonings we used.

It has been sometime since we have served a standing rib roast and we could not recall exactly how we did it. Not wanting to ruin Terry's good piece of meat we were reluctant to offer advice. Then we recalled that a couple of years ago Aunt Dorothea has also asked us for our cooking method for a standing rib roast. At that time we shared with her Paula Deen's Foolproof Standing Rib Roast. She shared it with Cindy and it turned out well.

So here it is:

Ingredients
1 (5-pound) standing rib roast
1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows

Directions:
1. Allow the roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
2. Rub roast with House Seasoning. Place roast on a rack in a roasting pan with the rib side down and the fatty side up. Roast for 1 hour. Turn off oven and leave roast in oven; do not open oven door.
3. About 1 hour and 10 minutes minutes before serving time, turn oven to 375˚F and reheat the roast for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the roast from the oven and tent with foil. Allow the meat to rest for 25 to 30 minutes before craving.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Serves 8 to 10.

Recipe courtesy of Christmas with Paula Dean (p.120)