Super Bowl 48 Snack-o-rama

I can remember watching the Super Bowl with my parents - dad, mostly - and betting 25 cents since I was five years old. I was only be interested in my bet and the Oscar Meyer weinermobile commercials, but in addition to the commercials and coins, I now almost understand the game, can appreciate the adorableness of the Manning brothers and most importantly, enjoy and prepare delicious game day food with my family.

Tonight, we had a super flavorful spread with old favorites and new, luxurious recipes. As usual, our minds and eyes were bigger than our bellies and we didn't even bother to complete the full menu after the first quarter but it was all delicious.

Jordan and I each contributed a slider. Jordan made his Mamaw's meatballs and sandwiched them on garlic butter toasted sweet Kings Hawaiian rolls with colby cheese squares. These meatballs - which are made with a top-secret recipe that has not yet been declassified for the blog - are hearty but with a sweet, onion sauce.Unlike a traditional meatball sub made with marinara, these sliders are sweet and tender that just make you wanting more. He used to make these into giant, entree-sized meatballs that we'd eat with sides like mashed potatoes or carrots. But we've found they make the perfect sandwich and are incredibly freezer-friendly.

I love wings and in recent months have had an insatiable hunger for bleu cheese and my buffalo'd chicken panini was a great take on the bar classic of wings and dressing. This was a quick dish that would be great for any game day or weeknight dinner and could be made with leftover chicken (a single $5 rotisserie chicken can provide a number of meal options if you plan your week carefully). Also, you can take this dish to several levels of diy. Originally, I would buy a refrigerated bread dough (like Pillsbury's French crusty loaf), cut it into eight chunks and roll them into flat rectangles, I would then grill them on my Cuisinart grill/griddle which results in a great, crusty, crunchy panini. However, to save time and to tone down the spiciness of the buffalo sauce, I opted for Kings Hawaiian mini sub rolls. This sandwich brings the best flavors of buffalo wings but it a whole lot less messy - and you don't have to eat a dozen to be satisfied. Recipe below!

Dad made crowd pleasing mini pigs in a blanket - no Southern party is complete without lil' smokies or crescent dough - and improvised turkey and Italian cheese pinwheels (more crescent dough); a delicious layered salad - another timeless Southern potluck dish (recipe below)- and for a healthy respite, some crudite and a creamy riff on guacamole. 

He also surprised us with a decadent lobster mac 'n' cheese. We're all mac lovers and none of us frequently eats lobster (we are six to nine hours from an ocean) so this was a real treat. Dad said it best, by saying "it's no longer macaroni and cheese." It was undeniably delicious but didn't resemble the childhood favorite, but was do deeply infused with crustacean it had become a new dish entirely. We've enjoyed it and checked it off of our food bucket lists. 

Lobstah Mac in the small dish; Mom demanded her own crustacean-free dish, too

And Jordan finished off our smorgasbord with his super easy and even more delicious dessert that I simply call " Oreo fluff." Fluff is a layered whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookie dessert with only 3-4 ingredients but tastes as good as any homemade cake or pie. This is a great dish to have your kids help with, to make in bulk for potlucks or in ramekins for individual servings. Every time we take it to church, our fellow parishioners all but lick the bowl! Recipe below!

Maybe next year we'll try the Mario Batali strategy - making two themed dishes per team and alternating them during each quarter, then he serves a dessert he prepared based upon his guess of which team would win. This spaces out the snacks and adds a little more order to the food fest - but then again, it's not a Super Bowl party without copious quantities of classic "unaffiliated" tailgating food. Whatever the plan - we'll report to you here at Endlessly Delicious Life.

Preliminary conclusion (11:34 left in the 4th quarter): Check out the trio of recipes below - and I promise that they're more dynamic than tonight's game. Well, actually, they are runaway successes too. Obviously, I put my quarter on Seattle.

Buffalo'd Chicken Panini

Ingredients: 

2 c cooked shredded chicken (I boiled mine in salted water for 45 minutes)
1/2 c mild to medium buffalo sauce (add melted butter as needed to tone down, I added around 2 T)
4 buns or rolls (or grilled dough method from above)
1/4 small red onion, sliced
1/3 c bleu cheese crumbles

Method:

Heat buffalo sauce (and butter, if added) on low until hot. Stir in chicken, heat until hot.

Spoon chicken mixture onto buns, layer red onions and sprinkle with cheese.

Press on a hot grill until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with extra ranch or bleu cheese dressing if desired.

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"Seven" Layer Salad - (technically, the toppings - cheeses/bacon - count as one item)

Ingredients*: *in "layer" quantities - they depend upon your bowl size

shredded iceberg lettuce
peeled, sliced cucumber
thinly sliced sweet onion (ex: Vidalia)
chopped boiled ham (or ham lunchmeat)
frozen baby peas
mayonnaise
grated Parmesan cheese
crumbled bacon
shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

Simple - layer the items (lettuce first) in your dish. Use a clear, deep bowl for a beautiful presentation.

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Oreo Fluff

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 packs of chocolate wafer cookies (you can use double stuff, vanilla or chocolate cream), crumbled
32 oz. whipped cream, thawed
approx. 1/2 c milk
chocolate syrup (optional)

Method:

Cove the bottom of your dish with a layer of crumbled cookies - the thicker your cookie layer the more cake-like consistency you'll have. Carefully pour just enough milk on the cookies to dampen them slightly. For chocolate lovers - add a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top. Next, layer whipped cream. Repeat to finish with cookie crumbles on top. Chill at least a few hours. The longer you leave it in the fridge the softer it becomes - it just gets better!

Emerging Cullowhee Restaurant Scene

This summer and fall has seen a rejuvenation of the Cullowhee restaurant scene with at least four new eating establishments opening in recent months.

This new life has been injected into the area largely due to the passage of liquor-by-the-drink legislation which allows for beer and wine to be sold  and for alcoholic drinks (including mixed liquor drinks) to be sold in restaurants and bars in a formerly dry part of the county. Being a college town, this is a boon for local business owners who can now expand their offerings to include alcohol and for restaurants to rake in the cash of college students (and probably their harried professors) with drink menus.

I had intended to make this post a positive triple review of three new local eateries: Sazon, Tuck's Tap & Grille and Cullowings. However, after trying all three (two of which I tried on multiple occasions), only one stands out as being a great deal, a beautiful restaurant, a unique find and offering numerous delicious dishes - Sazon.

Cullowings, as you can infer, is a sports bar-style wing joint. They offer burgers and sandwiches, but their premature claim to fame is their wide selection of beers and wing varieties. I've tried four of the wing flavors and they were all decent. Of the four I tried, I'd highly recommend their Polynesian flavor which offers a subtle pineapple-y sweetness with the smokiness of teriyaki sauce. However, this restaurant isn't particularly cheap (I go for wing nights that boast a less-than-50-cent wing) or fast (after 15 minutes of waiting, several of my wings were still pink) and I have no desire to ogle a foot-long beer menu or spend time with raucous frat boys watching a series of sporting events. But in a pinch, it's pretty good take out so I can drink my own cheap beer at home with only one boy and one tv.

Tuck's Tap & Grille has the same bar-feel as C-wings but with what I'm sure they consider to be more "elevated" dinner options. Like many casual dining restaurants, I would argue that Tuck's needs to find it's niche. A menu boasting salads, cold and hot sandwiches, pizzas, calzones, Stromboli and comfort food specials like meatloaf and lasagna desperately needs pared down - there are few Renaissance restaurants, more often they're Jacks of all trades and masters of none. Since our spectacular splurge at Ruth's Chris, I've been wanting chunks of bleu cheese all the time. I debated over Tuck's variety of sandwiches but couldn't resist their bacon and bleu burger that's "made from black angus beef." I will say the brioche bun was great with it's signature buttery sweetness, but apparently I ordered gray angus (that can't be what they mean by aged...can it?).  The group I went with said they were satisfied with their food, but I won't be the one suggesting we ever return.

Sazon is located in "old Cullowhee" which is highly contested as in dire need of renovation, improvement and new life. Many businesses have moved out, buildings have fallen into disrepair  and there are other easier and faster ways into campus. The space Sazon occupies has been a Mexican restaurant since...well, forever. In the '80s El Gato's was my pregnant mother's restaurant of choice. Throughout the past 25+ years, it's undergone many changes in name and ownership but has remained triumphantly a source of Mexican cuisine. I can't remember going to any of these restaurants and always thought that strip (with The HairPort, Red Skull Tattoos and now a package store) looked like a dive. However, I was pleasantly surprised the first time I entered Sazon.

It is brightly painted with beautiful Khalo-esque paintings with a Mexican folk art flair (including the most beautiful traditional calaverta and the picture below). The chairs are beautifully upholstered and the spacious tables leave lots of room for the ample portions of traditional Mexican fare. Being the mooch that I am and the people I dine with who allow me to eat off of their plates, I've been able to try a variety of dishes including vegetarian burritos, chile rellenos, salsa verde taquitos and more. All of the food is undeniably fresh - from the salsa with a pinch verdant chopped cilantro (normally my least favorite herb) to the creamy pinto beans - everything has the taste effort, precision and flair. And they pass my true test of quality Mexican restaurants - they have perfectly balanced, refreshing horchata. Horchata is a traditional drink in Latin America (and Spain) made of rice milk, vanilla and cinnamon; its one of the many aguas frescas you may see at Latin markets or restaurants in large glass vats. There are horrible powdered mixes and pre-packaged attempts at horchata but it's best made fresh (think fresh-squeezed orange juice vs. Sunny Delight). The horchata at Sazon is what I remember from trips to tiendas with my best friend in college. I have considered ordering horchata to-go from here for the nights we make Latin food on our own.

I highly recommend visiting this restaurant that offers refined plates of the semi-familiar but is much less Westernized than some other local restaurants or national chains. For $10 you can get a filling and flavorful meal that is presented beautifully in an equally elegant space.

But even beyond these three options, if you're in the area, explore our local restaurant scene - food service within campus buildings notwithstanding, there is only one chain restaurant in Cullowhee, everything else is locally owned and operated. So take a trip up to campus to visit the library or Mountain Heritage Museum or hit up the Cullowhee farmer's market on Wednesday evenings (5 p.m. behind The Mad Batter) to work up an appetite before trying the best eats around.