super snacks for your super bowl party

Do I know from Super Bowl? No, I do not. The best thing about the Super Bowl as far as I'm concerned is that it's a great opportunity to invite friends over, drink some beers (or sip fine wines—after all, we are in California), and cook. It's like the Thanksgiving of junk food. That's all good. Although I will watch Madonna, just to judge her.

Yes, the game will be on. But the big attraction Chez Kaneko is the spread—and I don't mean the point spread. 

On the menu:

Popcorn tossed with truffle salt, grated pecorino cheese, and ground black pepper
Yep, it's just that simple: Sprinkle some freshly popped popcorn with this stuff for a highly addictive snack. Trust me, the bowl will be empty before the second quarter starts.

Sweet-and-spicy Korean fried chicken 
From The New Comfort Food by James Oseland. Image by Landon Nordeman.

Supereasy. Make sure you have plenty of napkins and that the kids don't eat it on the couch. 

For the sauce:
4 tablespoons minced garlic  
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Korean chile paste
1½ tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey

Mix it up in a food processor. Multiply as needed—this recipe may be for 16 chicken wings, but this will not be nearly enough! You'll want to eat a ton of these things.

For the chicken: Heat frying oil; dredge chicken wings in a mix of ⅔ cup flour, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and ⅔ cup water; fry until golden; drain; fry again! Toss in the sauce.

Arugula salad with pecan pesto, lemon, and Parmesan
Not in a book. But not hard to figure out. Make your version of pesto with fresh basil and pecans. Dress the salad with plenty of lemon, Parmesan, and the pesto. 

Grilled lamb burgers with mint jelly
From The Art of Preserving by Lisa Atwood, Rebecca Courcheshne, and Rick Field. Image by France Ruffenach.

These looked so good I decided to serve them even though I'm not going to take the Make Mint Jelly From Scratch Challenge™ this time—I'll just buy it in the jar (sorry, cookbook editors!). I'm sure it will be fine. Better than fine! It's supposed to be around 65°F this weekend, so grilling outside is no problem.

2 pounds ground lamb
¼ cup minced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ cup Greek-style plain yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 hamburger buns
1 cup mint jelly (You can find the mint jelly recipe on page 53 of The Art of Preserving, or just cheat and buy a jar of it.)

In a bowl combine the lamb, onion, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the mint, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix well and form into 6 patties. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. In a small bowl, mix the yogurt, lemon juice, and the rest of the mint. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to cook them up.

Prepare your grill for direct grilling over high heat and oil the grill rack. Then grill the burgers, turning once, until medium-rare and pink when cut in the middle. Grill the buns, cut side down, for about 5 minutes (until they turn that magical golden color). Place a grilled bun on the plate and spread with the mint jelly and then the yogurt sauce. Top with the lamb burger, and then the bun top.

S'mores brownies 
From Home Baked Comfort by Kim Laidlaw. Image by Eric Wolfinger.

Kim Laidlaw's book rocks. So does this recipe.

1 cup unsalted butter
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1⅓  cups cake flour
3 tablespoon natural cocoa powder
6 graham crackers, crushed
12 jumbo marshmallows

Preheat a rack in the middle of the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. In a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate mixture, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugars. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.

Sift the flour and cocoa over the chocolate mixture and, using a rubber spatula, stir in until just blended. Stir in the graham crackers. Pour into the prepared dish and spread evenly, and top with the marshmallows. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost completely clean, about 30–35 minutes. Let cool in the dish on a wire rack, then cut into big, gooey squares.

And that's it, my friends! Eat up and go Yankees!

UPDATE: How'd this 5-course football fest go over?

Since the New York team won (I’m from the East Coast), I'm now a fair-weather football fan. And I thought Madonna was pretty good for a 53-year-old mom, no matter what she had to do to get into that shape. You try doing that routine (in those heels) and not getting out of breath!

The hands-down favorite dish of the night was the kick-butt chicken wings. That sauce would probably work on fried cardboard! Frying them was a pain, though—there was a lot of splattering and batter sticking to the pan. I think that was due to my impatience in not letting the oil get hot enough and crowding the pan. Nevertheless, the result was spectacular. (Next time, to prevent marital strife—the husband does not like cleaning up spattered oil!—I might roast the wings, sans the batter, until crisp and then coat them in the sauce. They'd still be terrific.)

The lamb burgers were good, especially when slathered with the yogurt sauce. But one kid made a meal of the mint jelly. She thought it was mint Jell-O. Ecch!

The s'more brownies were awesome, and the kids loved helping make them using the whole bag of marshmallows, which got all browned and yummy when they baked on the gooey brownies. And did you know that brownies and red wine are a surprisingly great combo? We were musing on that fact when the Patriots missed that important catch and I finally sat down to watch the game. 

Oh, and the diet starts today.