See Us Eat: Super Bowl Party

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Super Bowl Party

For this year's Super Bowl we had some pretty good regional foods to choose from. Some of it was store-bought (for New York) and much of it was homemade (New England). Either way, there was way too much food, as usual.

Lobster Bisque
This was Alexis' first attempt at a bisque and, true to form, she just read a bunch of recipes, didn't follow any, and winged it. In the end it was a very delicious soup.

-2 1/2 lb lobster tails, chopped in 1 inch chunks with shell
-4 tb butter
-2 cans chicken stock
-2 bottles clam juice
-3 cups fish stock
-2 cups heavy cream
-4 egg yolks
-3 tb cornstarch
-1 ts cayenne
-3 tb tomato paste
-2 carrots, diced
-4 stalks celery, diced
-1 onion, diced
-chives, chopped for garnish
-4 sprigs thyme
-10 sprigs Italian parsley
-salt to taste

In a large pot sautee the lobster chunks in the butter until the shells are red, but the meat is not cooked through. Remove the lobster from the butter, remove the meat from the shell and set aside in a bowl to chill in the fridge. Return the shells to the pot with the butter, add the carrot, celery and onion and sautee in a butter for a few minutes. Add all of the liquid except the cream, the herbs, the cayenne and the tomato paste. Simmer for about 1/2 hour, until the veggies are all soft. Strain the broth through cheese cloth in a seive, smooshing the solids as much as possible. Strain twice. Return the strained liquid to the pot and add the cream, egg yolks and cornstarch, all whisked together. Simmer until slightly thickened. Take out the lobster meat and chop finely. Add to the soup. Garnish with chives and serve.

Dinner Rolls
This is Alexis' mom's recipe and these rolls were perfect for dipping in soup.

-1 pint milk
-1 egg, beaten
-1/2 cup butter
-1/3 cup sugar
-1 package yeast
-1/4 cup warm water
-1 and 1/2 ts salt
-1/2 ts baking soda
-1 ts baking powder
-flour (there is no predetermined amount, read recipe below)

Scald the milk and remove the film from the top. Add the butter and the sugar to the milk and stir to dissolve. When milk is cool to the touch, add the egg and stir to combine. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, wait 10 minutes, and add it to the mixture. Then add enough flour to make a thin batter. Let this rise on the counter, uncovered, for 2 hours. Add the salt, baking powder, the baking soda and enough flour to make a stiff dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth. Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth and store in the refridgerator for 24 hours before using. Pull off small pieces of dough, roll into balls and place in a greased muffin tin. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Take and Bake Pizza from Costco
This was kind of a cop-out, for sure. But it was so easy.

Beer Simmered Bratwurst with Caramelized Onions and Peppers
Simmer the sausages until done. Pop them into a toasted bun and slather with mustard and caramelized onions and peppers. All the fixings are pictured below.

Apple Pie
We used Fuji apples this time and they required no added sugar, and were ever so slightly tart. Yum.

-2 crust recipes (below)
-6 apples, peeled and cored
-1 ts cinnamon
-1/4 cup sugar
-squeeze of lemon

Toss the apples with the lemon and cinnamon and set aside while you pre-bake the crust. Bake bottom crust on 350, pressed into a pie pan for 10-15 minutes, until just beginning to color. Remove from oven and add the apple mixture. Roll out the other batch of dough and place over the top of the apples, pressing into the edges. Trim excess dough. Poke in several places with a knife or fork to allow for steam to escape. If you do not do this, your pie may explode in the oven. Bake on 35 for about 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Crust:
-1 cup plus 2 tb flour
-1 stick cold butter, diced

Mix flour and butter with your fingers until it resembles the texture of coarse cornmeal. Add water, 1 tb at a time, until you can form a cohesive ball of dough. Roll or press into a greased pie pan.

Cheddar Chive Scones
We love these. Probably more than most. But we only make them when we are having people over.

-3 cups flour
-1 tb baking powder
-1 tb sugar
-2 ts salt
-1/2 cup chives, finely chopped
-2 cups grated cheddar
-2 cups heavy cream

Combine the dry ingredients. Mix in the cheese and chives. Add the cream and stir until a dough forms. You may need to add a little more cream to get a dough to form. Put the dough on a floured surface and knead a several times, until the dough is smooth. Separate the dough into 2 parts and form each into a disc about 1 in thick. Cut each disc into 8 trianuglar pieces. Spread out the pieces on a large, greased cookie sheet and bake on 400 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

An assortment of yummy snacks.
Grapes (these were a huge hit with the toddlers), wasabi peas, pita chips, potato chips, crudites, almonds, artichoke dip from Costco and Alexis' super garlicky hummus.