A football party is not the time to roll out your new recipe for escargot. Sports fans, even the gourmet kind, want food that’s quick and hearty — and requires very little focus to eat. Set the tone of your party with sporty football invites and get ready to prepare and serve food you can eat with your fingers or minimal utensils!
Since your guest’s attention is mainly on the game, spend your creative cooking energy on the best pot of chili or stew you can create. Serve dips, whether for pretzels and potato chips, or carrot sticks, green pepper strips and celery. (Crunchy foods are great for releasing the aggression of intense fans!) Try these recipes on for size. They’ll have the troops cheering for more!
7 football party crowd pleasing recipes
Hot Wings
Cook Time:1 hr 20 min
10 appetizer servings
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
40 to 50 chicken wings, third joint removed
Sauce, recipe follows
Nonstick cooking spray
Preparation
Combine flour, salt, pepper and red pepper in a plastic, sealable bag. Shake the wings 6 at a time until well coated. Shake off excess flour and place on a baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 425 degree F oven for 35 minutes.When chicken has cooked for 35 minutes, remove from oven and brush sauce generously over wings. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and turn wings. Brush with sauce and return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce.
Sauce:
1 bottle (18-ounces) World Harbors Afterglow Hot Zings Sauce & Marinade
1 jar (13-ounces) Nance’s Chicken Wing Sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup hot pepper sauce, optional
Combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until thickened, about 20 to 30 minutes. This amount of sauce is enough for 40 to 50 chicken wings.
30 Minute Chicken Chili
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 chipotle chile en adobo, coarsely chopped, with 1 tablespoon sauce
1 pound ground turkey
1 (12-ounce) Mexican lager-style beer
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice
1 (15 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Sliced scallions, cilantro sprigs, avocado, sour cream, grated Monterey jack cheese, and/or tortilla chips, for garnish, optional
Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the chipotle chile and sauce; cook 1 minute more. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 3 minutes. Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes–crushing them through your fingers into the skillet–along with their juices and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes.
Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice. Cook’s Note: A skillet’s larger surface area reduces sauces faster than simmering in a saucepan.
Chips and Veggies with Sundried Tomato Dip
Ingredients
3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 sack chips (recommended: Onion and Garlic Yukon Gold Chips, Terra Brand, or other Mediterranean flavored gourmet chip), available on snacks aisle of market
1 pound baby cut carrots
1 green bell pepper, cut in strips
4 stalks celery, cut into sticks
Preparation
Combine cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, herbs, milk, black pepper in food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl. Serve with chips and veggies.
Sirloin Green Chile Nachos
Ingredients
4 to 5 ounces corn tortilla chips
8 ounces shredded Monterey jack (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup canned roasted green chilies, or 2 roasted and peeled green chiles, diced
1 recipe Chile-Rubbed Sirloin, diced, recipe follows
3 ounces shredded 4 or 6 Italian blend cheese(about 1 cup)
Avocado Crema, recipe follows
Finely sliced lettuce and chopped onion, for garnish
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F or preheat the broiler, with the rack positioned about 7 inches from the top of the oven or the heat source.
Assemble the nachos: Arrange the chips on a 12 by 18-inch baking sheet or ovenproof platter. Top each chip with a layer of Monterey Jack, followed in order by the chiles, sirloin, and cheese blend.
Bake the nachos for 5 to 7 minutes, or broil, until the cheese is soft and bubbly.
Before serving, squeeze streaks of Avocado Crema and Chipotle Mayonnaise, to taste, over the nachos, if using, and garnish with lettuce and onions.
Chile-Rubbed Sirloin:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red chile
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
3/4 pound sirloin steak
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce (recommended: Kikkoman)
In a small bowl, combine the salt, chile, cumin, garlic, cinnamon, and pepper. Rub the steak all over with the mix. Set aside at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Heat a grill or the broiler until very hot. Rub the steak all over with the olive oil and soy sauce. Grill or broil the steak very close to the heat, about 3 minutes per side, until medium rare. Set aside for 10 minutes before slicing or dicing.
Yield: 1 steak
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Avocado Crema
1 ripe avocado, peeled and pit removed
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons lime juice (from about 1 1/2 limes)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
Puree all the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Funnel into a squeeze bottle. The mixture should be thin enough to streak easily. If not, add a few drips more lime juice or buttermilk. Plug the top of the nozzle with a toothpick and chill until read to use. The mixture will keep for 2 days refrigerated.
Yield: 1 1/3 cup, Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time: 5 minutes
Cherry Orange Snack Mix
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups rice cereal squares
12 oz. can salted mixed nuts
2 egg whites
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups dried cherries
Preparation
Combine cereal and mixed nuts in large bowl.
Beat egg whites, orange juice, sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl until very soft peaks form. Pour over cereal mixture and stir to mix well. Melt butter in 15×10 jelly roll pan. Spread cereal mixture in prepared pan.
Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring twice during baking. Stir in dried cherries and bake 10-15 minutes longer until mixture is lightly browned and crisp. Cool completely, break up into small chunks, if necessary, and store in airtight containers.
Big game Day Punch
Ingredients
2 quarts cranberry juice
1 pound clementines, not peeled, and cut into slices
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 quart lemon-lime soda (recommended: Sprite)
1 liter spiced rum (recommended: Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum)
Preparation
In a saucepan, bring the cranberry juice, clementines, cloves, and cinnamon sticks up to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside. This will infuse the tangerines and spices into the juice. Chill the infused juice completely.
In a punch bowl, whisk the chilled juice, soda, and rum together. Chill the punch completely before serving. Serve the punch in a pretty punch bowl and ladle into glasses filled with ice.
Classic Fudge Brownies
Ingredients
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into bits
3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
Pinch salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
Preparation
Butter and flour an (8-inch square) baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Directions
In a small heavy saucepan melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth, and let the mixture cool completely. Into a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs. While still beating, add the sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture at high speed for 3 minutes, or until thick and pale.
Add in the chocolate mixture and the vanilla, and then add in the flour mixture, stirring until the mixture is blended well. Stir in the walnuts. Pour the batter into the baking pan, smoothing the top. Bake the brownies in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan, and a cake tester, inserted in the center, comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan before cutting them into squares.
We hope you find these recipes to be a hit at your next football party. Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are courtesey of foodnetwork.com
