There is a simple way to make food fit for a Super Bowl party: Take any appetizer you like, and then add bacon. Do you enjoy guacamole? Add bacon. Pigs in blankets? Pigs in bacon blankets are better. And if you happen to have dates lying around that have been stuffed with thin pieces of Parmesan cheese, by all means wrap them with bacon.
As much as we hate to add to the tiresome and reflexive national fetish for bacon — and we do hate to add to it, believe me — we will make this one exception for the Super Bowl. All your rowdy friends are coming over to watch. They’re going to want bacon. After all, football isn’t played with a cow skin. So the challenge is to come up with snacks that will distract you, if not from the game itself, at least from the commercials.
It’s easy to scoff at Elvis Presley’s reported favorite sandwich: peanut butter, mashed bananas and bacon on white bread, fried in butter like grilled cheese. But admit it: It sounds kind of great, doesn’t it? As it turns out, it tastes as great as it sounds.
2 slices white bread
2 tablespoons peanut butter
½ banana
1 slice bacon, cooked
½ tablespoon butter
Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread. Mash banana and spread on the other slice. Break bacon in half, put on one slice of the bread and form a sandwich. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry sandwich in butter until golden brown on both sides. Yields one sandwich.
Poppers are stuffed jalapenos, but these have a couple of twists. They’re baked in the oven, which allows the flavor of the jalapeno and cheese to shine through. The other twist, of course, is that they are wrapped in bacon.
16 large jalapeno peppers
8 ounces cream cheese or other cheese, see note
16 sprigs fresh cilantro
8 slices artisanal bacon, cut in half crosswise
Note: You could also use cheddar, jack, pepper jack, Manchego or smoked mozzarella
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you have a wire rack, place it on top of a baking sheet.
2. To stuff a whole jalapeno: Cut the top (stem end) off each pepper. Scrape out the seeds with a jalapeno coring tool, the blade of a vegetable peeler or a thin knife. Place the cheese and cilantro in the jalapeno. Replace the top.
3. To stuff a jalapeno by cutting it in half: Cut each jalapeno in half lengthwise through the stem, and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Place the cheese and cilantro in half and place the other half on top.
4. Wrap each reassembled jalapeno crosswise with a piece of bacon, securing the end with a toothpick. Arrange the jalapenos on the baking sheet. Bake until the bacon is browned and crisp and the jalapeno feels soft when squeezed, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then serve at once. Yields 16 servings. Recipe from “Man-Made Meals,” by Steven Raichle
Sauerkraut is an ideal Super Bowl side dish — pairing well with hot dogs and hamburgers — but this version is far more elegant than most. To begin with, you rinse off most of the acidity that gives sauerkraut its distinctive assertiveness. Then you simmer it in mirepoix, plus some white wine tempered with chicken stock. Even tasters who do not like sauerkraut were raving about it.
4 ounces thickly sliced slab bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ cup coarsely chopped onion
½ cup peeled, coarsely chopped carrots
½ cup coarsely chopped celery
2 pounds best-quality sauerkraut, rinsed well and drained
15 juniper berries, see note
2 bay leaves
1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups dry white wine
½ cup chicken stock
Note: Juniper berries can be found in the spice aisle of well-stocked grocery stores.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crisp the bacon over medium-high heat in a 3-quart ovenproof saucepan, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion, carrots and celery to the saucepan and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the sauerkraut, juniper berries, bay leaves, salt and pepper; stir to thoroughly combine all of the ingredients.
2. Pour in the wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lay a round of parchment paper over the sauerkraut, cover the pan with its lid and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid (but leave the parchment paper) and bake 20 minutes longer. Yields four servings. Recipe from “Second Helpings From Union Square Cafe,” by Danny Meyer and Michael Romano
Everybody likes cheese, everybody likes bacon and almost everybody likes grits, so it is certain to be popular at a football party. It’s a casserole, so it is easy to make and convenient to take with you.
5 cups water
1 ½ cups uncooked regular grits
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter
8 ounces Velveeta or similar product, cubed
1 cup milk
5 large eggs, beaten
10 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, and whisk in the grits; reduce heat, and stir in salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until grits are creamy and tender. Stir in the butter and Velveeta until melted.
2. Combine the milk and eggs; stir in a small amount of hot grits. Stir the milk mixture into the remaining grits, stirring constantly until well-blended. Stir in the bacon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Yields 10 to 12 servings.