REVIEWS: Superbowl Party Food

[MKSquared]

We had 16 people over for a Superbowl Party yesterday, and it went really well. Here are reviews for recipes I found through Cooking Light …

Layered Bean Dip (Sept. ‘01) This dip had the worst presentation possible -- it looked … gross. A few people tried it, but I didn’t see anyone go back for seconds. Tasting it, I can understand why. It just wasn’t great: really quite bland. Not a repeater.

Beef Empanadas (Sept. ‘01) Yum! I made the beef mixture a few days ahead and froze it. Yesterday, I assembled and baked the empanadas, and they turned out wonderfully. I’d definitely do these again, but I’d be sure to try the Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce that’s in the same issue. If you’re making these, know that the yield for the meat is much higher than what’s listed, so buy two packs of the wonton wrappers. The empanadas were completely devoured.

Sneezles’ Halftime Chili I used the recipe posted by sneezles on the “chili poll” post. I never use a recipe for chili, but I wanted to get away from “Girlie” chili. Between the three pounds of beef, a bottle of beer, and a ton of spices, I found away out of that rut! I fooled around with the spices by a dding cinnamon, cocoa, and chipotle powder and omitting everything green. Everyone loved it. I used my new Penzey’s medium-hot chili powder, but halved the 5 tbs … and it was still quite hot. Definitely a repeater when guys are coming to my place to drink! :D

Chocolate-Frangelico Fondue Okay, it’s not typical Superbowl fare, but lots of people really enjoyed it! I omitted the Frangelico and it was still decent; it has to be WONDERFUL with the liqueur in it. Served the fondue with bananas, apples, and angel food cake. I’d do this again; it was super easy and fairly impressive.

Thanks so much for everyone’s help!

[Barrie]

I made the Layered Bean Dip for a party a couple months ago and everyone LOVED it. Even my DF, who hates bean dip, couldn't stop eating it and asked me to make it again for dinner the next night so we could use up the leftover chips. I made burritos out of it too. I admit it's not the prettiest dish in the world, but we found it really tasty and it couldn't be easier to throw together.

I have also made the Halftime Chilli recipe (from epicurious) and didn't like it at all. I found the beer taste too pronounced (could it be because I don't like beer? ;) ).

I always find it interesting when people have completely opposite opinions on the same recipe and couldn't resist posting my $.02 about these two!

[Jogren]

Here's a review of what we served for our Superbowl Party:

Asiago Cheese Dip - HUGE hit! It disappeared in a couple of hours and I had everyone asking for the recipe.

Toffee Apple Dip - Ditto for this one! Everyone loved it and I've got some leftover dip for tonight (yum).

Thai Spinach Dip - This was good but not as big a hit as the others. I served it with mixed vegetables.

Tex-Mex Black Bean dip - This was good, but I should have served it warm instead of at room temperature.

Baked Potato Bar - This worked out well. I served it with chili, cheese and all the fixin's. The only bad thing is that I baked the potatoes in the oven for an hour but I guess that wasn't long enough. Most people had to microwave their potatoes.

Jello Shots - Very fun! Boy, were they STRONG! But they were a hit with the guys.

Mom's Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookies - They were popular, of course. Who doesn't love homebaked goodies from mom?

Good food, great friends and a good game :D

[Luv to Cook]

Nothing from CL-, but great nonetheless.


Spinach and Artichoke Puffs - Linda in MO posted these...gone in a flash.

Mexican Bean dip - The usual...beans, sour cream, guacomole, salsa and cheese. Served with tortilla chips.

Buffalo Wings - Grilled outside, then coated with hot sauce mixture. These were a huge hit.

Chili - Combo of beef chili from a class and a recipe from allrecipes.com. This was another hit. It used chorizo which gave it amazing flavor.

Potato Bread - From a superbowl class...potato and cheddar cheese gave this bread a soft, homey appeal.

Caesar salad - Yummy...made it up as I went...low-fat mayo, buttermilk, anchovy paste, garlic, parmesan, and olive oil.

Football cake - Wilton's football shaped cake (used a yellow cake recipe) with a yummy buttercream.

Triple chocolate brownie - All I can say is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. These were great and gone so fast.

Anita

[tperes]

I made Spinach Artichoke Cheese Dip from CL 2000 (Oct or Nov?). I have made this before and it was much better than this time around. But still yummy none-the-less.

Pork Loin -- I don't eat meat, but the DF does, as did all the other guys at the party.

Italian Creme Cake w/ Cream Chz. Icing -- I got this off of CL on-line. I couldn't find my cake pans, so I used a bundt pan, and it was so good. It weighed about 5 lbs., but it was gone in a flash. Quite tasty.

others brought mexican layered dip, brownies, cookies, cake. All tasty.
I am paying for it today! :D

[Melman]

I was asked to bring dessert for our Superbowl party. I made Ooey-Gooey Chocolate Brownies (found it in the annual cookbook from last year) and White-Chocolate Lemon Biscotti from Jan/Feb, 2002 issue. Both were tremendous hits!!! The guys seemed to particularly like the brownies and the women seemed to really enjoy the biscotti.

[karen w]

I had to bring desert as well, so what else should one bring for a super bowl sweet?? PIZZA! I used sugar cookie dough baked in a pizza pan, topped with a citrus flavored cream cheese, decorated with cut up strawberries, bananas, mango, kiwi, and blueberries, and then brushed with spiked melted apricot fruit spread(I used triple sec). I topped the whole thing with some drizzled chocolate and toasted almonds. It was a hit! I even "delivered" it in a pizza box I got from one of the local parlors along with the customary starlight breath mints in the box!