I could care less about football but I do love a reason to cook up a storm until halftime.
Here's what's on the menu for Super Bowl LI:
I don't have a Vitamix, so this "queso" is woefully grittier than the photos from the original recipe. I altered this by adding a chipotle pepper. I also used an acorn squash because it was what I had on hand.. It made the whole thing kinda sweet and spicy, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. This tastes nothing like cheese, but it sure looks like it.
I didn't get a good photo before I served it but it was an unexpected hit of the night!
Cheddar bacon ranch ball (Tasting Table)
I got to stop by Tasting Table to visit my friend Vance a couple weeks ago and this masterpiece was sitting on the counter. I tried it and felt like I had to make it today. Instead of buying a packet of ranch dressing, I made my own mix and used tarragon instead of chives. I'm going divide this in half, cover one ball with bacon and the other with smoked peanuts (for my vegetarian friends).
This sauce came from a vegan imitation of a Torchy's Taco recipe. Pasilla chilis are great because they have a deep roasty flavor without being too spicy. I added double the garlic and added double the amount of vegetable broth in place of water. It's not a very exciting sauce by itself but with nachos and brighter flavors, it really stands out.
So I get annoyed with anything asks for "chili powder" because it's one of those meta-mixes of things you probably already have in your pantry. In this case: chili, onion, garlic and paprika.. I throw in a bit of each until it tastes good. However, I made a tiny mistake dumping a little too much cayenne pepper after I ran out of ancho. "Not to worry, not to worry", she says, worrying.
What could I add that toned down the spice but didn't throw off the flavor of the whole seasoning mix? The answer is nutritional yeast! Now I have a cheesy taco seasoning.
God, I love messing things up so I can rescue them later.
Beefy Queso (Cook's Science)
This is the smoothest cheese recipe I've ever encountered. With the help of sodium citrate, cheese, beef tallow and water are whisked together and blasted with an immersion blender. What I took away were the proportions: 300g of any cheese, with 150g any liquid and 12g of sodium citrate will work. I tried another version with beer and vegetable broth and it was killer!
Jury is still out on this one because I'm waiting to bake it for the party. I hope it's good.
Even if I get shortcut pie pastry from the store, I'm still dragging my feet about baking. I pre-made these last night and have them waiting in the freezer for a brush of egg and sprinkle of sesame seed. I spiked the hamburger mix with shallot, garlic and nuoc mam cham before sautéing.
These were amazing! I have to remember to make this more often and with different fillings.
What a surprisingly great flavor. Milk mellows out the seemingly salty anchovy and green olives in this spread. It's kind of a milky tapanade. I'm into it.
I only stuck myself twice while prepping these cactus paddles. I'm almost robotic when I'm taking off the needles after handling 30 of them for a pop up last year. I liked this recipe from Williams Sonoma but I found a cool bottle of pipian (pepita sauce) at Food Bazaar. I whisked a tablespoon of pipian with vegetable broth and folded in the cooked nopales. They're still a little tangy, so I'm going to add some mustard before serving.
I keep notes on all the recipes I test in my Flipboard Magazine Randwiches: Tested & Approved.
What are you cooking up for the Super Bowl? Tell me on Twitter @Randwiches.