Projo Football Food and Spirits

The family wants to be traditional. The requests were wings and super nachos.

So I'm buying wings and drummettes today to marinate overnight two ways. The first is essentially a homemade barbecue sauce, the second is Teriyaki-style. (Most of us don't like hot wings, and I find Buffalo bitter.) Both recipes come from readers at RecipeZaar's Super Bowl Chicken Wings category:

Wing Dings
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup catsup
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 1/2 lbs chicken drummettes

Combine all ingredients except chicken in saucepan. Bring to boil, and simmer 5 minute Cool.

Place drummettes in bowl, or zippered plastic bag. Add cooled Sauce. Coat chicken evenly and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Place drummettes, skin side up, on FOIL-LINED rimmed baking sheet. Spoon leftover Sauce over them.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 400º, until done, basting with sauce occasionally.

Serves 4-6

Baked Teriyaki Style Chicken Wings
25-30 chicken wings
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup sherry wine

Combine all ingredients except the wings in a large pitcher. Mix well.

Place chicken wings in single layer in a 9" x 13" pan.

Pour the liquid mixture over the wings.

Marinate at least 2 hours, flipping wings once. Keep wings refrigerated while marinating.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Flip once during baking.

Note: I won't have space in my fridge tomorrow for a flat pan of wings -- these will go in a plastic bag with their marinade, like the first recipe.

One recipe calls for a 400 degree oven, the other is at 350. I may split the difference and bake them on different racks at 375 degrees. Since I don't know how the double quantity will affect cooking time, I'll start checking them after an hour and every 10 minutes after that, if more time is needed.

I'll let you know Monday how it went.

1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
2 bottles beer
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup canned green chile peppers, chopped
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground white pepper
4 cups white kidney beans (or canned beans, rinsed and drained)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a large pot over medium heat, combine onion, garlic and ground turkey. Sauté for eight to 10 minutes, or until turkey is browned. Add chili peppers, bay leaf, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and white pepper. Sauté for an additional five minutes.

Add the beer, half the beans and chicken broth to the pot. Take the remaining beans and purée them in a blender or food processor.

Add puréed beans to chili. Stir well and simmer for 40 minutes.

Add cheese and let melt for an additional 10 minutes.

Source: Molson Canadian

There’s another new cookbook out there, Fan Fare: A Playbook of Great Recipes for Tailgating or Watching the Game at Home (Harvard Common Press). It’s by Debbie Moose who interviewed fans all over the country to find out how they cook for sporting events.

Moose thinks fried chicken is the ultimate tailgate food. Here's a recipe from her book.

BETTER-THAN-THE-BUCKET FRIED CHICKEN

1 cut-up chicken, or 8 of your favorite chicken parts (thighs, legs or breasts)
1 quart buttermilk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
1 tablespoon paprika, optional
2 cups all-purpose flour
Oil or vegetable shortening for frying
Place the chicken parts in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them, making sure all the pieces are covered. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
When ready to cook, drain the chicken but do not rinse. Sprinkle lightly with salt and black pepper. If desired, combine the cayenne pepper and paprika, then sprinkle on the chicken pieces.
Place the flour in a large plastic bag. Add 3 or 4 pieces of chicken at a time, toss to coat, then shake off as much excess flour as possible when removing pieces from the bag.
In an electric frying pan or a heavy frying pan on the stove, pour in enough oil to come to a depth of about 2 inches, and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees.
Gently place the chicken pieces in the pan, in batches if necessary to avoid crowding the pieces. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the undersides of the pieces just begin to brown. Then, uncover and cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, until the undersides are completely brown. Turn, cover, and repeat the process for the second side. (Or, if you prefer, you can leave the pan uncovered for the entire process, using a splatter screen to keep down the mess.) Adjust the heat as needed to keep the oil temperature at 325 to 350 degrees. Be sure that no pink juices run when the chicken is pricked with a fork and that the internal temperature is 180 degrees when checked with an instant-read thermometer.
Place the chicken on wire racks set over plates or newspapers to drain. When well drained, place on platters and keep warm.

If cooking ahead for the tailgate, allow the chicken to cool completely, then wrap in heavy-duty aluminum foil and refrigerate. You can reheat it on the grill at the tailgate if you wish, or serve cold.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

This chicken enchilada recipe is from the Colorado Cache Cookbook, a gift from my husband's brother (and his wife) in Denver. I've used the cookbook so much I've got red wine stains on the pages, and there's no binding left.

The recipe works well if you have leftover chicken or turkey, as it requires 2 cups of cooked poultry. Also, my father especially liked it because its on his approved list of high-calcium foods -- with lots of cheese -- and a little spice.

My husband grew hot peppers in our garden this year, so I used them in place of a can of green chilis, but either will do. Also, you don't need to add onions if the salsa has enough for you, but I added a few with the raw pepper (just a small one) and sauted them in butter first. Other variations include using corn instead of flour tortillas, and cheddar instead of monterey jack cheese.

I make it for a Sunday football meal because you can put it in the oven ahead of time and eat in front of the flat-screen.

Chicken enchiladas
2 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey meat
1 (4-oz.) can chopped mild green chilies
1 (7-oz) can salsa
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 flour tortillas
2 cups grated monterey jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon butter if cooking raw peppers and onions

Slice chicken, or if hot, shread in food processor. Saute raw peppers and onion.
Warm salsa in a pan. Dip each tortilla into the warmed salsa pan to soften. Fill each tortilla with chicken, peppers and onion. Add 2 tablespoons of cheese on top of chicken mixture, roll and place in ungreased baking dish. Once all the tortillas are filled, top with salsa and remaining cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or at least until heated through.

Serve with cold sour cream and little chopped lettuce on top. I also make Spanish rice as a side dish -- and serve lots of water (or beer) to drink.

I'm making this for the season opener, since it's too hot to cook. I have some cold chicken, so I broke the recipe up to accommodate starting with either raw or cooked breasts, or the equivalent whole parboiled chickens.

Cold Curried Chicken Salad
3 whole chicken breasts, split (about 3 lb.), cooked, cut up

If you need to cook the chicken*:
2 carrots, pared and cut up
2 stalks celery, cut up
1 sm. onion, peeled and sliced
6 whole black peppers
Salt
1 bay leaf
3 c. boiling water

1/2 c. thinly sliced celery
2 c. diced unpared tart apple
1/2 c. coarsely chopped green pepper
2 tsp. grated onion
3/4 c. mayonnaise or cooked salad dressing
3 tbsp. light cream
1/2 to 1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp pepper, white if you have it
Finger rolls (optional)

In large bowl, combine cooked chicken, sliced celery, apple, green pepper and grated onion.

In small bowl, combine mayonnaise, cream, curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and white pepper. Mix well.

Add to chicken mixture. Toss lightly to combine. Refrigerate until serving time, at least 1 hour.

Spoon salad onto large platter. Garnish. Serve with finger rolls. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

*If you need to cook the chicken:

In 4 quart kettle, combine chicken breasts, carrot, cut up celery, sliced onion, black peppers, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, bay leaf and the boiling water.

Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer covered for about 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken from broth. Cool then refrigerate until well chilled. (Refrigerate broth for use another time.)

Remove and discard skin from chicken; cut meat from bones in large pieces. Proceed with cold chicken instructions.

(Can be eaten as a stew or as a dip for tortilla chips)

Mexicali Chicken Stew
One pound boneless chicken thighs, cut into one-inch cubes for stew, half
that size for dip
One package taco seasoning
Two cans stewed tomatoes with peppers and celery
One box frozen corn niblets
One box frozen green beans cut into small chunks
One tablespoon of oil

Use half the taco seasoning to coat the chicken chunks.
Brown the chicken in oil in a large skillet.
Stir in the stewed tomatoes, corn, green beans and remaining taco
seasoning.
Bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

From reporter Paul Parker.