For some of us Sunday marks the most wonderful day of the year!* Super Bowl Sunday! Sadly, I don’t have a dog in this fight as a certain team that I foolishly committed myself to failed to make the playoffs yet again.
So, that means my loyalty can be bought, fellow Kossacks. A good friend of mine is a Pats fan and I don’t know to join her in rooting for them or not. Watching history, 19-0, weekly asswhoopins is pretty special, but it is hard not to root for the underdog. This could be a Joe Namath moment. But I don’t particularly like Eli Manning (and I have an unreasonable hatred for his brother’s team), and I don’t particularly like New York sports fans, so I don’t know what to do.
One of the wonderful things about Super Bowl Sunday is that everyone gets together to yell unreasonably at the TV, watch commercials, and eat good food. The food may be my favorite part – especially football food. For me that means Chili – and I’ll share some Chili thoughts and Football links below the fold.
I like Chili. I mean, it makes my soul happy. So of course, I’ve made a big pot for the game. Here’s my thoughts on Chili:
The most basic chili is really simple. If you don’t fancy yourself a cook, try this:
- Get 2-lbs or so good ground beef. And by "good" I mean "unbelievably fatty." 73% lean works. I’m from the south, where our cooking has proven: fat makes it good.
- Brown up the beef with half an onion and maybe some garlic. Drain some grease.
- Add a couple cans of kidney beans.
- Dump in some tomato sauce. 2-3 cups.
- Add some Picante sauce or salsa. A small jar or more if you like (This saves a lot of chopping veggies, peppers, tomatoes, etc). Hot or mild depending on taste.
- Add Chili powder. My fave is Carroll Shelby’s Chili Kit.
- Let the sucker simmer for a while or 45 mins.
The great thing about chili is you don’t need a recipe, throw in whatever you like! And it is hard to screw up if you keep tasting it!
What I am doing for the Super Bowl:
With the basic recipe above, I sauté the onion in butter along with: Red and Yellow Bell Pepper, A couple red Jalapenos (hot!)** A crapload of garlic, Some large green chili pepper I found at the store and some cut okra. Come to think of it Sqush or maybe Eggplant would be fun to try
So, let all that soften, then add BOOZE! I tried tequila today; Makers Mark also works. The booze burns off, and is soaked up by your veggies before you dump it in with everything else.
I like spicy chili so I aded some Cayenne and – my fave hot sauce – Frank’s Red Hot (which is not so hot it doesn’t have flavor).
Now this is important: DON’T ADD WATER! One could add beef broth, what I like to do is add beer. Used a Belgian Ale today. Yummy! (And alcohol offsets some of the bite of the peppers) Just add til it looks right.
The key to chili is to add stuff, taste it, put in what you think is good, taste some more. Then you can’t go wrong.
Another variation I’ve done is:
Cinnamon Sugar Chili
Add a darkish larger. Maybe ¾ of a pint depending on the consistency you like. Something with body but isn’t too bitter (the bitterness will come through). Maybe Chocolate Stout.
Then, add brown sugar. Half a cup, maybe more? Add some and taste. Also add some cinnamon. Hell, maybe a bit of unsweetened chocolate. This will be a really yummy chili that has a sweetness to it, especially initially. Assuming you add enough pepper, there will be a really really nice blend of sweet and hot and meaty. Yummy!
Ok, here’s a super simple, really creative thing that folks at your party will love:
Chili pizza
This would work best with Cincinnati Style Chili, which is soupy but very meaty, not hot, peppery, kinda sweet, no beans. Greek food, actually. You can buy cans of Gold Star or Skyline at a lot of macro grocery chains.
- Buy a pizza crust. Boboli works as it is kinda doughy.
- Liberally squirt regular yellow mustard over crust, then ½ of a chopped onion or so.
- Dump the can of Cincinnati Style Chili onto the crust
- Top with Sharp Cheddar cheese
- Bake according to instructions, like 9 mins at 450
Top with oyster crackers and dash with Tabasco if you like. It’s sooooooo good!
As for the Game itself
Some Analysis
Injury Report
The Most Ridiculous Super Bowl XLII Prop Bets
A reason to hate the Patriots, if you need one
Celebrity Picks: KO and BillO agree!?
Predictions: At least one of these people is a fraud
A typical Giants Fan
I would like to see a good game, but New York is banged up at receiver and thin in the secondary. Giants fans find solace in that they almost beat the Pats in week 17 – but my thought is the Giants played as well as they possibly could play and still lost!
Thus, I say Patriots 42, Giants 20.
Don’t forget to check out Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl tomorrow! Hours of puppy play! If it was any cuter, it would give me seizures. The program supports petfinder.com which helps shelter animals find a loving home!
So, use this space to share your favorite Chili recipes (or any kind of football food) and Super Bowl discussion! I need to learn to make a good veggie chili. Oh, and remember, my loyalty can be bought.