Super Bowl party recipes


Well, January is over and done with, with all the vagaries of the weather and what went with them. And, you do realize that Stock Show time in San Antonio is upon us and how many years have they had rain, icy weather, etc.? Yep, it isn’t over by a long shot.
My brother lives in North Texas and laughs at me when I say it’s 28ºF or 29ºF where I live when he gets 35º as a high that same day! I keep telling him that I’m glad I live way further south than he does! It is Saturday morning and I have to go into town early as we are prepping for a fundraiser this weekend with one of the groups from church. It is as foggy as it can be out there, will have to be really careful as I have to be there by 7:30! The fog was not nearly as bad as I had been led to believe it would be and I had no problem getting to town. We got 350 lbs of potatoes washed, 50 lbs of onions peeled, cut into quarters and diced with a food processor. Then, my sister and I mixed up six gallons of dressing for the coleslaw we will be making!
If you are getting your paper on the 31st, according to what I have been reading tonight is the night to watch the moon. In the first place, it is a full moon; and while my calendar calls it a “cold moon”, it is also know as a “blue moon”, because it is the second full moon this month. A couple of things that I’ve read this past week state that there will also be a lunar eclipse, but I’m not sure that will be visible to us, but it will still be worth watching. Also, a note I just discovered when I connected with my email is that it is a “Super blue ‘blood’ moon” and will not be seen again for 30 years! This means, according to what I read the other day there will be a reddish tinge to the moon. Have fun watching it; I will probably be going in and out of my house to see it.
This coming weekend will be “Super Bowl Sunday” with all the attending hoopla that goes with it. Now, for more information about the Super Bowl, you will have to check out your local paper or the TV, because if there is one thing I am not, it is a sports writer! In fact, I saw the number of this year’s Bowl and now can’t remember what it is, I think it is LC, but am not sure.
If you have a party on that Sunday, here are some main dishes to serve. Most of these serve a crowd or can be increased to serve a crowd and all you need with them is some corn bread, fresh tortillas, a dessert and lots of tea or coffee or some other ‘adult’ beverage. Have a wonderful weekend!
It seems to me as if now is a good time for soups and stews, so get out the crock pot and the cookbook that goes with it and try some new recipes. My daughter told me a while ago that she made pork chops in her crock pot this past week and they were delicious. She sliced some onions into the pot, added a layer of pork chops, poured barbecue sauce on them, added another layer of pork chops, more barbecue sauce over that layer, then another layer of chops and barbecue sauce. She then turned the pot on low and cooked this for 4 to 5 hours. She said they were fork tender and tasted wonderful. Sounds good to me! I have done this same thing, using a Boston Butt pork roast and when it was done, serving it as pulled pork. Very tasty and very little work for you.
Here are a few recipes that I like to cook in a crock-pot.
Beef Stew
2 to 3 pounds boneless stew meat (or buy chuck or other cut of meat on sale and cut into cubes yourself)
Salt, pepper, flour
1 sliced onion
4 or 5 carrots, cut into chunks or use baby carrots
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Cooking oil
2 cups water or broth
Season meat with salt and pepper, dredge in flour. Heat oil in skillet, add meat in small amounts until brown, removing and adding meat as it browns, adding a little more oil if necessary. Remove from skillet and set aside. Place onions in crock-pot, add carrots and potatoes, place browned meat on top of vegetables, add water, cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours. Thicken gravy if necessary. Serve with hot cornbread for a wonderful meal. All you need to add is a salad, if desired.
Cornbread
1½ cups corn meal
½ cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup melted shortening or cooking oil
1 egg
1½ cups milk
Preheat oven to 375ºF.Mix together dry ingredients. Mix together oil, egg and milk and stir into dry ingredients. Pour into oiled, preheated cast iron skillet* or 9-inch square pan and bake until golden brown. Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet or pan in oven while you are mixing the cornbread).
Carne Guisada
2 to 3 pounds boneless stew meat, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces OR 2 pounds round steak (venison works great) cut into small chunks or strips
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (16-oz) tomatoes
1½ teaspoon ground cumin
Oil
Brown the meat in a small amount of oil. Pour into crock-pot. Add the onions, peppers, garlic and tomatoes, mashing or chopping the tomatoes so they are not whole. Add the cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook 4 to 6 hours on low until the meat is very tender. Serve in flour tortillas that have been heated. Garnish with picante sauce or pico de gallo.
Tortilla Soup
4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and quartered (can use a large can of tomatoes cut smaller)
1 small onion
½ medium green bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Place above ingredients in blender container or food processor bowl and process until finely chopped. Remove from container and place in large saucepan.
Add to ingredients in saucepan:
1 cup diced cooked chicken
5 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons cilantro
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes. Serve in mugs or styro cups into which you have crumbled several tortilla chips. Top each serving with a spoonful of sour cream, if desired. Once this is cooked, it can be kept hot in a crock-pot and served.
I had totally forgotten how good the following cake was! A lady in Moore gave me the recipe many years ago, and I recently took it to a “Loaded Baked Potato” luncheon. Our “Friends of the Library” sponsored it as a fundraiser, and members provided the desserts.
Mississippi Mud Cake
1 cup butter
½ cup cocoa
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly whisked together
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups chopped pecans
4 cups miniature marshmallows
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Combine butter and cocoa in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat, pour into a large mixing bowl and add sugar and eggs, beating at medium speed with your mixer until well blended. (I used my whisk to do this instead of the mixer). Add flour, salt and vanilla and beat until blended. Stir in pecans. Pour batter into lightly greased 9×13 baking pan and bake for 35 minutes. (The last 5 minutes or so, while cake is baking, make frosting and keep warm). Remove cake from oven and immediately sprinkle marshmallows over cake. Pour frosting over marshmallows on cake. Cool in pan on a wire rack, cut into squares to serve. (if you chill the cake, it will slice more neatly).