- Reporter Kellie Hwang shares her garlic fries recipe to honor the San Francisco 49ers
- Reporter Jennifer McClellan, a Green Bay Packers fan, shows how to make fried cheese curds
- The char salami sandwich is comfort food for dining critic Dominic Armato, a Chicago Bears fan
- Cardinal cookies and prickly pear margarita recipes will please Arizona Cardinals fans
Unless you’re a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles or New England Patriots, the Super Bowl is more of a social than a sporting event.
If you’re like most Americans, we’re betting your plans include watching the Big Game with friends, gorging on unhealthy foods and taking breaks during the game instead of the commercials.
This year, wehonor our favorite football teams with Super Bowl-worthy dishes that reminds us of the food we grew up eating. And because it's what we do, we're sharing our stories and recipes with you.
Just because our teams finished well short of the Super Bowl doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate them on Super Bowl Sunday.That goes for the home team, too.The dessert and drink recipes are a nod to our editor’s belovedArizona Cardinals.
Kellie Hwang: San Francisco 49ers
One thing I’ll always remember about attending San Francisco Giants games as a kidis the unmistakable aroma of garlic fries wafting through the stadium. The scent was so intoxicatingit was like watching a "Looney Tunes" cartoon —vapors luringhungry fans over to the food stand. The dish has become nostalgic for me, and makes me think of San Francisco every time I eat them.
Garlic fries were invented by Dan Gordon while he was going through a brewing engineering program in Germany. He and Dean Biersch opened the first location of Gordon Biersch Brewing Companyin 1988 in Palo Alto, Calif. They first served garlic fries to Giants fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1994, and when they opened their San Francisco brewpub, garlic fries really started to gain momentum.
Gilroy Garlic Fries are now sold at AT&T Park, home of the Giants,throughout the stadium. The tasty fries can also be found at Levi Stadium in San Jose, where the San Francisco 49ers play.There are many copycat versions of the tasty snack that have sprung up on menus everywhere.
The recipe for garlic fries is unbelievably simple, making them the perfect addition to your Super Bowl menu. For at-home cooks, it gets even easier with a bag of frozen fries. But you might want to make some extra because they are addicting.Just be sure to offer some breath mints for your guests afterward.
You’ve been warned.
Hwang covers the bar/nightlifescene and beer/co*cktail trends for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach heratkellie.hwang@arizonarepublic.comor 602-444-8690.
Garlic Fries
From Kellie Hwang
Serves: 10.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 bag (32 ounces)frozen french fries, classic cut
- 6 tablespoons light olive oil
- 3 tablespoons garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon parsley, fined minced
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
PREPARATION:
Cook the french fries according to package directions.For a healthier version, bake the fries. If you want to go all out, deep-fry or pan-fry the potatoes. Make sure the fries are cooked until crispy and a golden-brown color. I used Ore-Ida brand, and baked the friesat 425 degrees for 25minutes.
While the fries are in the oven, mix the olive oil, garlic and parsley together in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the fries in the garlic mixture, coating them evenly.
Love garlic? Feel free to add more. I always find myself scooping up the garlic bits with the fries, and wishing I had more.
Jennifer McClellan: Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are not my favorite football team because I was born in Wisconsin (I wasn’t). The Packers are my favorite because the team and its fans are my kind of people.
They embrace history. They are loyal and tenacious. And, by God, they love cheese.
I grew up in Phoenix, raised in a family of Wisconsin farmers who hadfound their way out to the desert. In short, I was raised by Cheeseheads.
While I learned to love the game as I grew, I loved football food from the start.
For Wisconsiners, that means beer brats, summer sausage and, my favorite, cheese curds. It was only later in life I discovered that cheese curds aren’t something everybody eats.
As far as how we consume the squeaky delicacies, usually as they are. Butthey’re even better fried.
There is a caveat to frying them for a Super Bowl party, though. They require considerable effort to get right. And, if you attempt to fry them at home, your house will end up smelling like frying oil right before your party.
I’d recommend the following recipe only to the truly devoted and daring of hosts. For you few, here are a few tips to make the final product flawless:
- If at all possible, use curds from Wisconsin. It’ll cost you in shipping, since the perishable product will have to be sent two-day or overnight, but there’s really no equal.
- If you can’t use curds from Wisconsin, a good substitute is Arizona Farms Natural Cheddar Cheese Curds. They’re made in Tempe by former Wisconsin cheesemakers. I found them at Costco and you can order them at arizonacheese.com.
- After you dredge the curds in batter, freeze them for at least 30 minutes before you fry them. This will go a long way in preventing the cheese from leaking out.
- Don’t try to bake them. They’re called fried cheese curds for a reason.
- If your cheese curds are very different in size, break them into similar sizes to help them fry uniformly.
To everyone else, I’d say eat the curds plain or see if there’s a Culver’s near you.
McClellan covers the dining scene and food trends for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach her atjennifer.mcclellan@arizonarepublic.comor 602-444-8546.
Fried Cheese Curds
From Jennifer McClellan
Serves: 10-12.
INGREDIENTS:
For the cheese curds:
- 2 pounds cheese curds
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, optional
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 1½ cups lager-style beer
- 1½ quarts vegetable oil, for frying
For the dipping sauce:
- 16 ounces ranch dressing
- 12 ounces bacon, cooked and minced
- ½ container fresh chives, chopped
PREPARATION:
Prepare a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a large, shallow container such as a baking pan with high sides, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk and beer.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones until you get a batter that’s similar in thickness to a pancake batter. (You may not use all the wet ingredients. If your batter is too thick, thin it out by adding buttermilk onetablespoon at a time.)
Dip the curds into the batter and then put them on the parchment-lined tray. Put the tray in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before frying the curds.
While the curds are freezing, make the dip by mixing the ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
In a Dutch oven or flat-bottomed pan, heat oil to 400 degrees. Fry curds in small batches for about one minute or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
Dominic Armato: Chicago Bears
Chicago may be the doormat of the NFC North right now, but hey, at least we have good football food.
Thankfully, Phoenix is chock-full of Chicago-style hot dog stands. But I’ve yet to see one of my favorite regional specialties make an appearance in Arizona: The char salami sandwich.
Not only is this meaty little nugget of Chicago culinary esoterica barely known outside the Windy City, even many native Chicagoans aren’t familiar with its smoky charms. Pioneered by Poochie’s, a neighborhood dog and burger joint in Skokie, Ill., the sandwich hasbeen adopted by a handful of other restaurants mostly clustered on the northwest edge of the city.
This is my take on Poochie’s char salami, gently adapted for home kitchens. It’s easy to prepare, great for feeding a crowd, stuffed with juicy, sizzling meat and made with fire. Chicago won't be winning the Super Bowl this year, but this will make them the odds-on favorite to win the snack table.
A note on salami:
- Poochie’s uses Vienna Beef soft salami, which is available on Amazon.com or can be special ordered from Butcher Block Meats in Chandler, but any soft kosher salami will do.
- A lightly seasoned beef summer sausage isn’t quite the same, but it grills up similarly well and will do just fine in a pinch.
- Hard salami is too tough and shouldn't be used.
Armato is the restaurant critic forThe Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.Reach him atdominic.armato@arizonarepublic.comor 602-444-8533.
Char Salami Sandwich
FromDominic Armato
Serves: 8-10.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large yellow onions
- Salt and pepper
- 2 poundsVienna Beef soft salami or other soft beef salami
- Yellow mustard
- 2 long, crusty French rolls or baguettes
- Bottled giardiniera or sport peppers (optional)
PREPARATION:
To prepare the griddled onions, peel and halve the onions, then slice into thick rings.
In a large, wide pan, heat the butter over medium-high until it melts and foams. Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the edges turn a rich golden color and a brown fond has formed on the bottom of the pan, about 5-6 minutes. Add ¼ cup of water and stir, scraping the pan, until the water has mostly evaporated. Turn the heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the onions turn translucent and soften slightly, but still retain some bite, about 5-10 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.
Slice the salami lengthwise into long slabs about ⅓-inch thick. Using the tip of a knife, nick the edge of the slabs every 1-2 inchesto prevent them from curling on the grill. Grill the salami slabs over a hot fire (or cook them under a broiler) until they are sizzling and well-charred, removing them before they dry out. If desired, briefly toast the rolls or baguettes on the grill.
To assemble, halve the breadand fill with the charred salami, griddled onions, yellow mustard and giardiniera or sport peppers. Slice into individual pieces and serve.
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RECIPES FOR THE HOMETEAM
Cardinals Cookies
Adapted from Food Network
Serves: 15.
INGREDIENTS:
- 16 ounces vanilla candy coating (such as Candiquik Melt & Make)
- 1 family-size package Oreo cookies
- Red candy sugar or red sprinkles
PREPARATION:
Cover one or two sheet pans with parchment paper.
Follow package directions to melt candy coating. Dip cookies halfway into the candy and set on parchment paper to cool. Add sugar or sprinkles to the candy coating while it’s still warm. Allow cookies to set for at least an hour before serving. These can be made a day ahead.
Prickly Pear Margarita
Adapted from Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa
Serves: 1.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tablespoon prickly pear syrup
- 2 ounces blanco tequila
- 1 ounce lime juice
- ¾ounces agave syrup
- Lime orjalapeño slice, for garnish
PREPARATION:
Place ingredients in a co*cktail shaker filled with ice and shake for 6seconds. Serve in a margarita glass with a salted rim. Garnish with a lime or jalapeño slice.
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