Hosting Sunday Football at your place tomorrow? Attending a party to watch the sacred game? Well, as we all know what makes the game that much better to watch is decent beer and great food. And the key to success when it comes to game-watching food? Bite foods/finger foods.

Here are some of my favorite findings that are as simple to make as they are to eat:

Oh and...GO HAWKS!

Fries with Lemon Salt & Rosemary

for the lemon salt:

zest of one lemon
4 tablespoons sea salt (I used 3)
sunflower oil (I used a mix of canola and vegetable oil)
1 3/4 lb. potatoes, peeled and julienned* (I used Yukon Gold, and I didn’t peel)

a few sprigs of rosemary

* The potatoes can be julienned in advance — about an hour or so — before they start turning slightly brown. A little brown is OK, but too much brown is probably not a good idea. Storing the potatoes in water will prevent browning, but you also must dry the potatoes very well before you start frying, which is kind of a pain.

1. Make the lemon salt: In a mortar and pestle, bash together the lemon zest and salt until salt is flavored, colored, and fine. Place in a dish. Use whatever you need right away or allow it to dry out for a couple of hours before storing it. (I made my lemon salt a day in advance and stored it in the mortar wrapped in plastic wrap.)

2. Heat 2 to 3 inches of oil in a sturdy, high-sided pan; bring to deep-frying temperature (350°F; to avoid oil catching fire, be sure to maintain its temperature at 350°F). Jamie’s tip: place a potato in the cold oil before you turn the burner on. When the potato rises to the top of the oil and begins to turn golden brown, the oil is ready. Remove the potato piece and start frying in small batches.

3. Pat the julienne strips dry with some paper towels to remove any excess starch. Making sure you’ve got a slotted spoon or spider (which is like a flat colander with a handle) and a big pile of paper towels to one side (I did not use paper towels, but instead transfered the finished fries to a large aluminum bowl, which allows for easy tossing), carefully place some of your potatoes into the pan of oil (don’t overcrowd it) for a couple of minutes (1 to 2) until golden brown and crisp. Cook potatoes in batches until they are all used up. Add the rosemary for the last 30 seconds. (Note: It’s hard to judge when the last 30 seconds will be, but the rosemary can be in the oil for as few as 10 seconds. I basically added the rosemary in at the last few seconds of each batch). Remove the potatoes and rosemary to the paper towels (or a large bowl) to soak up any excess oil; dust with your lemon salt. Serve immediately.

Sriracha-Glazed Chicken

Ingredients:

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 pounds chicken wings, cut in half at joint (wing tips removed), or drumsticks

Instructions:

In a glass baking dish, whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, Sriracha sauce, sugar, ginger, and sesame oil. Add chicken and toss to coat. Marinate 30 minutes, tossing halfway through.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Bake until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickens, 30 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through.

Vegan Caesar Lettuce Wraps

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
5-6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3-2/3 cups water
2 tablespoons tahini
2-3 teaspoons gluten-free tamari/soy sauce
1 1/4 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon agave/honey/sugar
3/4-1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 of an 8x8 sheet of sushi nori

Rinse + drain your chickpeas and soaked cashews and place in a high-speed blender with 5 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/3 cup water, tahini, 2 teaspoons tamari, garlic, agave or honey, 3/4 teaspoon mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
Blend until fully smooth, scraping the sides as needed. Add more water as needed to thin to desired consistency.
Crumble 3/4 of an 8x8 sheet of sushi nori and blend into the dressing.
Taste and adjust flavors as necessary adding more lemon, tamari, pepper, and/or the last 1/4 sheet of nori if desired.
Refrigerate for about 5 days. Dressing thickens as it sits. Thin out with water/lemon juice/olive oil as needed.

Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:

Peanut oil, for frying
4 lb. chicken wings (about 40), separated into 2 pieces, wing tips removed, rinsed
12 tbsp. margarine
1 cup hot sauce, preferably Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
1 ⅓ cups chunky blue cheese dressing
4 ribs celery, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 3″ sticks

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 200°. Pour oil to a depth of 2″ in a 6-qt. Dutch oven, and heat over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°. Dry wings thoroughly with paper towels, and working in batches, fry wings until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer wings to a wire rack set over a baking sheet, and place in oven to keep warm until all wings are fried.

2. Heat margarine in a 12″ deep-sided skillet over medium heat; stir in hot sauce until smooth. Add wings, and toss until completely coated. Serve wings in a large bowl with dressing and celery on the side.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Sauce, Bacon and Green Onion

Ingredients:

1 pound yams, sliced thin on a mandolin
1 tablespoon canola oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup hot milk
4 ounces gorgonzola, divided
3 green onions, sliced thin
4 slices bacon, cooked and roughly chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss yams with canola oil, ½ teaspoon salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Place two cooling racks on top of two cookie sheets. Spray with non-stick spray. Place yams on cooling rack in one even layer, making sure they aren’t touching. If they are too close together they will steam instead of crisp up. Bake for about 10 minutes until the chips start to curl up on the edges. Watch carefully as they burn easily. Turn the oven off and let them sit for 25-30 minutes.
While the yams are cooking, make the blue cheese sauce. In a small skillet, melt butter over a medium heat, whisk in flour. Cook one minute. Turn the heat off and very slowly whisk in milk, making sure there are no lumps. Bring to a simmer, and cook until thickened 1-2 minutes. Crumble in half of the blue cheese. Whisk until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Build chips. Place half of chips on serving platter. Drizzle with some of the blue cheese sauce. Place other half of chips on top, and drizzle with more blue cheese sauce. Sprinkle with bacon, green onions and remaining blue cheese.
Use remaining sauce to dip chips if desired.

Crispy Parmesean Edamame (Soy Beans)

Ingredients:

1 cup of thawed, shelled edamame (you can usually buy them shelled)
½ tbsp of crushed green peppercorn (or regular pepper to taste)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 heaped tbsp of Parmesan cheese (grated finely)

Instructions:

Spread out edamame on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper and drizzle over with olive oil to coat.
Sprinkle over peppercorn and salt and place into the oven, pre-heated to 200C.
Bake edamame for 15 minutes, checking every so often that they are not getting too browned.
Remove from oven and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Add Parmesan cheese and coat edamame well while hot.

Crispy Brussel Sprouts with a Garlic Aioli

For Brussel Sprouts:

20 Brussel Sprouts cut into wedges
Canola Oil
Salt & Pepper

For Aioli:
6 tbs mayonnaise
1/4 tsp garlic minced fine
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbs flat leaf parsley chopped fine

For Brussel Sprouts:

Place brussel sprouts on a baking sheet and drizzle with canola oil. Crack some fresh salt & pepper to taste. Mix around brussel sprouts on pan to ensure they all get nicely coated in the oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown on at least one side.

For Aioli:

Mix together mayonnaise, garlic, parsley and lemon juice. Serve in a ramekin.

Place ramekin of aioli on a plate and surround with brussel sprouts. If serving as an appetizer, put some toothpicks on the side for your guests. Enjoy!

Alsatian Flatbread with Pears & Gorgonzola

1 round pizza dough (Lahey Dough recipe below)
1 tablespoon butter (increase if you are using more pears)
1 pear, thinly sliced, (no need to peel; count on 1 pear per flatbread)
4 oz. gorgonzola
2 tablespoons heavy cream

1. Place your baking steel in the oven and preheat your oven to 550ºF. Allow Steel to heat for 45 minutes.

2. About 20 to 30 minutes before baking, remove pizza dough from fridge and place on a lightly floured work surface. Place a sheet of parchment paper onto your pizza peel.

3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add pears and sauté slowly until they are slightly soft and their edges begin to brown. Don’t worry about making sure both sides of the pears are lightly browned — they just need to be slightly soft, and you don’t want to break them during the sauté process.

4. Meanwhile, melt gorgonzola with cream over medium heat until mixture is smooth and creamy. Set aside.

5. Gently stretch your pizza round into a rectangle, roughly 11 inches by 6 inches. (Note: You can do this in the air using the backs of your hands to gently stretch out the dough; or you can do this on the surface of your board.) Place dough onto parchment paper-topped Steel. Spoon gorgonzola mixture into a thin layer over the top of the dough. (Note: This amount of cheese/cream will be enough for about 2 pizzas. Store remainder in fridge and re-melt as needed; or make another flatbread.) Arrange pears browned side facing up and edges slightly overlapping over the top of the cheese.

6. Shimmy your dough onto your Steel. Bake until your “flatbread” is blistered and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Make one long cut through the middle of the flatbread lengthwise. Cut crosswise on the bias into thinnish, hors d’oeuvre-size slices. Serve immediately.

Lahey Pizza Dough:

500 grams flour, preferably tipo 00, plus more for shaping dough
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1. Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a medium bowl. While stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually add 1.5 cups water; stir until well incorporated. Mix dough gently with your hands to bring it together and form into a rough ball. Transfer to a large clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature (about 72°) in a draft-free area until surface is covered with tiny bubbles and dough has more than doubled in size, about 18 hours (time will vary depending on the temperature in the room).

2. Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Gently shape into a rough rectangle. Divide into 3 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, gather 4 corners to center to create 4 folds. Turn seam side down and mold gently into a ball. Dust dough with flour; set aside on work surface or a floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining portions.

3. Let dough rest, covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, until soft and pliable, about 1 hour. Wrap each dough ball separately in plastic wrap and chill

Avocado Hummus

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans, drained
1 very riped avocado, sliced
3 tbsp tahini
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
3 whole garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Serve it up with pita chips or toast!

Directions:

Add all ingredients in a food processor, fitted with blade. Whirl away until smooth.
To serve, top hummus with fresh sliced avocados, chopped cilantro, drizzle of olive oil with toasted garlic and garbanzo beans.

Sunday Football Game Eats

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