Football Feast

I fell in love with football when I fell in love with my husband.  Well, really I fell in love with the idea of football. There was something so right about spending cool Sunday afternoons in the fall cheering on the Bills with friends and eating delicious food. Ok, let’s face it, I fell in love with the food associated with watching football. We have football on every Sunday in our house but I’ve never actually sat down and watched a game.  I’m usually too busy eating and/or talking to be bothered with the game. 

Today, I’ve compiled some of my favourite things to make on football Sunday.  Sometimes I’ll make one of these and sometimes I make all of them. Most of these recipes have come from friends and when I tried them for the first time I knew they’d be perfect for a Sunday afternoon game.

Buffalo Wing Dip

Chicken Wings (hot and sweet)
Homemade Pizza         
Shredded BBQ Chicken on a Bun

I apologize for the lack of specific measurements. It’s really not that important. Dump the stuff in until it tastes good.

Buffalo Wing Dip…thanks to Janice and Jamie for this one.  The first time I had this I ended up moving the dish from the table to my lap to make devouring it easier.

1 250g pkg cream cheese

Blue cheese dressing (I am not a fan of blue cheese but it’s perfect in this)
Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
Shredded cheese
Fritos Original (the Scoops worked best but they don’t make them anymore)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In some sort of shallow dish (I use a pie dish or smaller square dish…9 ½ by 11 would be too big…something half that size) spread the cream cheese. I usually microwave it just to make it easier to spread.

Pour on the blue cheese dressing to cover cream cheese in generous layer. Then, pour the wing sauce over top and use a spatula to spread it around. You probably won’t want to use as much of this…you’ll have to make it a few times to see how hot you like it. 

Top with some shredded cheese and bake until bubbling.  Serve with Fritos or any other chip or nacho you have around. Delicious!

Wings…thanks to my brother-in-law Nick for this. His actual recipe is a little more sophisticated but this one will do.

Wings (2 packages of split wings)

Salt and pepper
Cornmeal
Diana Sauce (Chicken and Rib)
Hot sauce (Franks or your own)
Honey
Butter
One lemon
One lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss wings in cornmeal that had been seasoned with salt and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes. Always check to see that they’re fully cooked.

In one bowl, combine half of the bottle Diana Sauce, hot sauce (amount depends on how hot you want the wings) and squeeze the juice from half of lime.  Toss half of the wings (still hot from the oven) in sauce and serve right away or put back in the oven until you’re ready to serve them.

In a second bowl, combine half a bottle of Diana Sauce, a generous squeeze of honey and the juice of half of a lemon.  Follow directions from above.

Homemade Pizza…made for me by Brian when I was pregnant. It was the most delicious pizza I had ever tasted!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1 can diced tomatoes                                      

1 can tomato paste                                        

Fresh Mozzarella (comes in a ball) sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
Orange or yellow pepper (cut into thin slices and in halves)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)                 

1 small onion (cut into slices like the pepper)
Flat bread (I’ve been using the PC flat bread)
Olive oil                                                               
Oregano
Brown sugar

Lightly brown the garlic in the olive oil in a sauce pan.  Add the can of tomatoes and tomato paste and boil gently until it is thick (just so the extra water from the tomatoes is boiled away).  Add 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar and some oregano. Simmer for another 20 minutes. Be sure to stir.  I can usually freeze about half of this for the next time. Set aside.

Heat more olive oil in a mediem pan and add peppers and onions, sautee until tender.

Spread generous amount of sauce onto flatbread and then spread the onions and peppers overtop. Top with the slice mozzarella, you’ll use about 9 slices.  Put directly on rack in oven and bake for around 15 minutes. Cheese should be bubbling.

Shredded BBQ Chicken on a Bun   A slow cooker gem.  Once you’ve tasted one, you’ll be hooked.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 jar Chicken and Rib Diana Sauce
2 celery stalks – diced
8-10 good white buns (please don’t ruin with wheat or Wonder buns)
butter

Boil the chicken breasts until they are cooked through. Then, cut them up into cubes and toss in the slow cooker. Add diced celery and Diana Sauce and stir.  Turn slow cooker onto low setting and cook for 6-8 hours.  When you’re ready to eat, take a whisk to the chicken and it should shred.

Cut buns in half, butter and place on some sort of griddle to lightly toast.  Pile on the shredded chicken and voila, you’re a hero.

Go Bills Go!