The Falcons-tini - Super Bowl LI

It's that time of year and we're all getting ready for Game Day.  As always, TSD is ready with great dishes (Check out the Posh Super Bowl Menu) and team-themed libations, such as The Patriot-tini and the Falcons-tini!  Whichever team your cheering for, enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 part preferred vodka

2 parts sparkling cran-raspberry juice

ice

Optional glass decorations:

black icing

red icing

white sprinkles

black or maraschino cherry

1. Prepare glass rim by lining half the rim in black icing and the other half in red icing.
2. Pour white sprinkles onto a flat plate, and roll the rim of the martini glass in sprinkles where the icing is lined to adhere the sprinkles to the glass.
3. In a martini shaker, add vodka and ice, and shake vigorously (you can add the cran-rasperry juice if it's been open for awhile to let the carbonation settle, but I prefer the carbonation)
   
4. Pour vodka into martini glass, add sparkling cran-raspberry juice and stir with a spoon.
5. Finish off with dropping cherry in the bottom...Enjoy!

Please Drink Responsibly..!

Posh Super Bowl Menu (Super Bowl LI - 2017: by TSD)

I admit that even I tend to go for the popular, albeit common, party foods when it comes to my Super Bowl Spreads.  For Super Bowl 50, I had one unique recipe, 'MACHOS' Jalapeno Stuffed Boneless Buffalo Wings, and then opted for the usual football- themed food that we have all come to love and expect from our Super Bowl hosts/ hostesses. But for Super Bowl LI, I wanted to go for something a little different.  This posh Super Bowl menu will not only be unique twists on some of our favorites for the big game, but also adds a flair that will separate your party from all others.  Don't forget to check out TSD's team-themed Super Bowl-tinis, the Patriot-tini and the Falcons-tini to complete the party!

On the Menu

Maple Bacon Popcorn 

Cochon en la Oreiller 

Fries Couture 

Braised Short Rib Sliders

Chicken Satay Martinis

Click here for my Maple Bacon Popcorn recipe.

Cochon en la Oreiller 

Pigs in a Blanket..? Please! We're way too high class for that! So let's call these babies by their French translation of Pigs in a Pillow and up the ingredients!
Ingredients - makes 20-24 appetizers:
olive oil cooking spray
4 Andouille sausage links
2 sheets pastry puff, defrosted, room temperature
2 tbsp light olive oil
Optional Accompaniments:
Spicy brown mustard
Chipotle mustard
BBQ sauce

1. Preheat oven 425 degrees F.
2. Prepare baking sheet (I lay down tin foil for wasier clean up), spray with cooking oil
3. Cut pastry puff into approximately 14-16 squares per dough sheet
4. Slice sausages into 1" thick pieces
5. Wrap each sausage piece in a puff pastry square like a pouch, leaving a small opening at the top and pinch the top corners around the sausage. Repeat with all pastry puff squares and sausage cuts.
6. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until pastry puff "puffs out" like pillows and become a golden brown and sausages peak out and are sizzling.
7. Remove from oven and serve. 

Couture Fries 
Ingredients - 6-8 servings:
1 pkg frozen potato fries
8 oz Angus sirloin steak (boneless) 
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2-3 strips bacon, cooked
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar
splashes of chardonnay wine
3/4 cup gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced (optional)

1. In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, add butter, onions, brown sugar and a splash of chardonnay wine and mix well.
2. Cook until onions darken and caramelize, adding splashes of chardonnay wine as needed to deglaze the pan.
3. Once onions caramelize, remove from heat and set aside. 
4. In a skillet, add oil over medium heat.
5. Trim steak as needed and cut into small pieces (almost shredded).
6. Cook in skillet until no longer pink and mix in teriyaki sauce and garlic powder. 
7. Remove steak from skillet and set aside.
8. Cook fries in oven per package instruction.
9. While fries cook, make Spicy Aioli (per the below).
10. Remove fries from oven and transfer to a shallow, oven proof baking dish (I personally used a pie dish) keep oven on, at 400 degrees F.
11. Drizzle fries with Spicy Aioli sauce, then sprinkle the caramelized onions evenly over the fries.
    
12. Then evenly layer cooked steak and crumble bacon over the fries.
13. Last, add a layer of the shredded cheese.
14. Place fries back into the oven and cook for approximately 8 minutes or until cheese melts.

Spicy Aioli
Ingredients - 8-10 servings:
4 tbsp. thousand island dressing
2 tbsp. olive oil mayonnaise
1 tbsp. mayonnaise, hot & spicy
splashes of chardonnay wine

1. Mix thousand island dressing and the two kinds of mayonnaise together.
2. Add splashes of chardonnay to get a desired consistency, which should be like a thin salad dressing (thinner than most aiolis to make drizzling on fries easier).

Braised Short Rib Sliders
I personally like these sliders plain without additional accompaniments because the braised meat is already rich and flavorful, but for guests at your party it's nice to serve this with additional condiments and I found these options to be the most popular but any slider condiments will work well.  Click here for my delicious Braised Beef Short Ribs recipe.
Ingredients:
8-10 slider buns
2-3 short braised beef short rib meat, shredded
Optional Condiments:
sliced pickles
sliced onions
cherry tomatoes, halved
BBQ Sauce

1. Place approximately 1/4-1/2 cup of shredded braised beef short rib meat into each slider. 
2. Serve with condiment options.

Chicken Satay Martinis

These are a perfect substitute to the boring old buffalo wings and/ or chicken nuggets during the game. Serve them in martini glasses for that je nais se qua.
Ingredients - 4-6 servings:

2 chicken boneless breasts, cut into tender-size pieces
1 cup zero fat, plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tbsp. sweet & spicy chili sauce
2 tbsp. garlic paste
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 pieces pickled ginger, minced
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup  spicy Thai peanut sauce

1. In a Tupperware container, mix all the ingredients together, except for the Thai peanut sauce and chicken, and blend until it is a marinade consistency (add more water if needed).
2. Add in chicken tenders and make sure each piece is coated in the marinade.
3. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight.
4. Prepare grill on low-medium heat.
5. Grill chicken tenders until outside is grill charred and internal temperature is 165 degrees F at thickest parts. (If the marinade begins to burn too easily on the grill, you can finish the chicken in the oven at 350 degrees F.)
6. Divide spicy Thai peanut sauce into martini glasses and lay 2-4 chicken tenders on the side of the glass and serve.

Maple Bacon Popcorn

I can report that I've been to some of the most cosmopolitan movie theater houses in the nation, and by far this recipe for maple bacon popcorn surpasses any seasonings and flavored butter popcorn bar out there!  If you enjoy mixing salty snacks with sweet treats, this snack is sure to satisfy your taste buds on all levels, not to mention it has BACON! Perfect for Romantic Movie Nights, Poker Parties and I enjoy this with my Posh Super Bowl Menu. 

Ingredients:

Bag of preferred microwaveable popcorn 

2-3 slices of bacon

2-3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
Salt to taste

1. Cook slices of bacon, reserve 2-3 tbsp. of the bacon grease.
2. Microwave bag of popcorn per bag instructions/ microwave settings.
3. Transfer popped popcorn to bowl.
4. Crumble bacon strips into popcorn bowl (add salt as desired), toss popcorn to mix in bacon at all levels.
5. Mix reserved bacon grease with maple syrup (in a coffee mug), and using a spoon drizzle the mixture all over the popcorn.
6. Toss popcorn one more time to evenly distribute the mixture and serve.