Week 17 :(

I can't even.

Here's the meal:

Ta-Da! Big surprise. I grilled brats.* They would have been beer brats, but Rob and I are on the wagon and I didn't want to have a 6-pack sitting around for the rest of the month. Instead, a parboiled them in beef broth, which was both surprisingly good and useful. The leftover broth showed up in chili later in the week.

Apparently, Minnesota is known for their wild rice? At least, that's what it says on Wikipedia, so I found a wild rice salad from Martha Stewart. It's awesome! I'm going to keep this one in the rotation. Of course, I had to make a couple of changes but nothing major. Switched out currants and substituted some very old raisins, plus I used lime juice instead of lemon because that's all I had on hand. Other than that - this recipe is really easy, really yummy, and it makes a ton, so I had it for lunch for a couple of days.

I almost forgot - the broccoli is just steamed with melted Merkt's cheese on it. That, too, may be done. It's not lucky.



*I may never grill brats again. I think the Packers lose every time I do.

Week 16: MN v. NY

Because we were leaving for the Dominican Republic on Monday, our Sunday Night Dinner last week had to...

• Be very, very easy.
• Generate essentially 0 dirty dishes.

My brother Tom had the perfect suggestion without even knowing the requirements: The Juicy Lucy!

Apparently, inside-out cheeseburgers are a big deal in Minnesota.

I know it looks messy, but it seriously couldn't be any easier - especially since the side dish as frozen veggies and a Manhattan.*  And it was not freezing out, so I was able to use the grill. The recipe came from All Recipes again, but honestly, every recipe looked pretty much the same down to the processed American cheese product. Call me a snob, but I'm not using that shit. That maybe why so much of the cheese spread throughout the burger rather than congealing in a healthy lump in the center. I'm pretty okay with that. 

*Maybe it was a Manhattan, maybe not. Rob is in charge of cocktails. 

Weeks 12 - Oy.

No apology. This is going to take long enough.

Week 12: New England @ Denver

Baked Denver Omelet with Maple-Roasted Bacon

I forget why I had to make breakfast rather than dinner. Maybe we were going to a party? It's been so long I don't remember. Anyway, Colleen B. suggested I make a Denver omelet with maple bacon - a brilliant idea, especially considering I didn't have any others. I found a baked Denver omelet recipe on All Recipes that was incredibly simple (not that omelets are exactly tricky, but whatever) and a maple bacon on from the Food Network. By the way, I generally boycott the Barefoot Contessa because she seems like a snot, but unfortunately she has really good recipes. 

Week 13: Indianapolis @ Pittsburgh

Sauerkraut Pierogi with Corn and a Dragonfly IPA (God Bless Beer)

Meh. Just meh. I would like to point out that I made the pierogi dough from scratch (again, an All Recipes recipe)  which makes me very, very dumb. And it makes Rob very, very brave because he ate them. 

My hats off to Amy K. who makes pierogi all the time. From now on, I'm just going to eat them. 

Week 14: New England @ Houston

NY Strip with Cuban Mojo and Papas Asadas (Yeah - I know. Not very New Englandy, is it?)

When I looked at the schedule and saw the Sunday night game was New York at Miami, I was so excited that I didn't even ask FB friends for suggestions. I mean, really. Miami? Finally a new team. New choices. NO BBQ!!!

So I looked up Cuban foods and decided to try a mojo sauce. There are a ton of good recipes, but I chose this one from Taste of Cuba so I could use the lime juice I already had on hand. For I side, I tried this ridiculously easy and incredibly tasty recipe for papas asadas from My Big Fat Cuban Family. So good. So ridiculously good. I don't even care that I got the teams wrong.

Week 15 (Finally!): Arizona @ Philadelphia

Cactus Chili with a Soft Pretzel and Tastykakes

So one thing that has driven me nuts about Arizona having all sorts of Sunday night games is that I can't find a lot about their cuisine online.* However, one ingredient that shows up all the time is cactus, but I'm always like, "um...no." Luckily, Margy P. not only recommended cactus chili, she shared her award-winning recipe with me. I wish I could put it all in this blog. It's like a recipe you might find in a church cookbook. How much round steak? Just one. How much beef broth? Two cups or so. How much cumin? Doesn't even give you a hint. Whatever. It was really, really good. 

One more thing - Margy's recipe says you can get nopalitos at Jewel, but I didn't find them.** However, I did find them at Strack & Van Till's on Elston. They had Tastykakes, too, so a total winner in my book. 

Whew! Now on to dinner for tonight :)

*Do not suggest fry bread. I tried it. It was disgusting.

**I'm guessing the Rogers Park Jewel serves a more diverse crowd than the West Loop Jewel. 

Week 11 - Cincinnati @ Arizona

I  hate when the Cardinals have a Sunday night game. Try googling ""foods Arizona is famous for." After prickly pear cactus and Navajo-Churro sheep, you get a bunch of other people asking the same question. Google "Arizona cuisine" and the answer is Arizona-style Tex-Mex.

Not that Cincinnati is much better.* All you get then is a list of different chili place. Don't get me wrong. I like Cincinnati chili. I just don't want to make it again.

Mostly, I'm just mad because I missed Erica's chili party. My plan was to go up to her party, collect the leftovers, and use them in my dish.** But my car froze in the wet snow and didn't thaw in time to make it up for the game. So not only did I miss the party, but I had to throw everything together a pot of Skyline chili.

Whatever. The end result is Skyline Chili burritos. With margaritas. Lots of margaritas.

I used the Authentic Cincinnati Chili recipe for the slow cooker from All Recipes. It was good, but I was kind of grossed out that it didn't brown the meat before adding the liquid. That just strikes as a little too British for me, so I browned it first. I also didn't put it in the fridge over night (obvi) so I didn't skim of the fat.

If I were to do this again,*** I would melt the cheese and maybe make an enchilada sauce. Enchilada sauce makes everything better.

So do margaritas.

*I know I'm going to catch hell from at least one person for saying this.
**Totally not cheating.
***God, I hope not.

Week 10 - Arizona v. Seattle = Southwestern Salmon Tacos with Chipotle Sour Cream

YUM.

Of course, this helped:

It's from Washington. It totally counts. 

As did this:

Grilling makes everything better.

The recipe comes from The Splendid Table. It was very simple, but I still messed it up. Nothing major, but somehow I grabbed a can of chipotle salsa instead of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. I don't know if it made any difference because that sour cream was delicious.

The one thing I might change is seasoning the salmon. The recipe called for just salt and pepper, which makes sense. You don't want to cover up the flavor. I just wonder if some cumin or chili powder would up the southwesterniness of the meal.

Catching Up - Weeks 7-9

I've got no excuse, so let's just get through this.

Week 7: Eagles @ Panthers = North Carolina BBQ Cheesesteak

I was hesitant to make this meal because I'm pretty sure I make cheesesteak every single time Philadelphia plays on Sunday night. I also use the same recipe from Bobby Flay every single time - not because it's particularly good, just because it's the first one that shows up when you google it. But as my friend Tony pointed out, "Who gives a fuck? That sounds delicious."*

Tony was very, very right. This meal was AWESOME! 

Carolina barbecue may be my favorite because it's very vinegar,  at least the Eastern-style ones are. That might be the most interesting part of this recipe. Apparently, Carolinians (?) are  divided between Eastern-style and Lexington-styled barbecue. I think the Lexington kind has tomatoes? 

Anyway, if I remember correctly, I used this slow cooker recipe from Taste of Home, in part because the one of the reviewers who loved it says she's from NC "where swine is divine." Who can argue with that?

One last thing - Rob wanted to take part, so he made a crab cake appetizer with some vinegary cucumbers. He says North Carolina has crabs (Anyone else find that funny or am I the only one who has the sense of humor of a 12-year old boy?)so it totally counts. I totally disagree. However, the crab cakes were even better than the sammies.

Week 8: Green Bay @ Denver = Bison Burgers w/ Cabernet Onions and Wisconsin Cheese

I'm still angry about this one. Packers lose on my birthday? How rude! The meal, however, was FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!** 

The recipe came from Epicurious, so really, that shouldn't be a surprise. I guess the surprise is how easy it was. I used to use Epicurious recipes all the time, but they tend to require either 20+ steps or pain-in-the-ass ingredients. Thanks, but I have football to watch.

Here are the mistakes changes I made:

• Despite looking for and finding Wisconsin cheddar, I came hope with smoked mozzarella. I have no idea why.  
• The onions got maybe a third of the cook time the recipe calls for. You know how people say, "If you can read, you can cook"? This is not true for me.
• I totally forgot to think about sides. Luckily, I had some carrots, and since I love this recipe on from The Spice House, I figured I would make it. Here's how it turned out...

Oh, well.

Week 9: Eagles @ Cowboys = Tex-Mex Stromboli

Seriously? The Eagles again??? Thank God Lori Farkas Gillespie suggested stromboli. 

So smart, right? But here's the thing - I had just come back from Detroit. I had no groceries, and I was really tired. The result? I used this lazy recipe from Pillsbury but swapped fajita fixings for the Italian stuff. Whatever - it wasn't like I was going to make my own dough anyway. That's just insane. 

Also,  I didn't have time to marinate the steak (flank, I think) so I basted it with butter while grilling. This is also insane, but in a good way. 

I almost forgot - in Detroit I bought Jar Head Salsa, so I didn't even really make fajitas. Still, I'm calling this one very good, mostly because it was so easy. Definitely a recipe I would make again - only I would put a bit more effort into it. 

*I may have added the "fuck."

**Surprisingly, that's only one step above AWESOME!

Weeks 5 & 6 - My Bad

I'm blaming everything on Rob.

He made dinner (actually, breakfast) for Week 5, so doesn't that mean he should write it up? And I certainly can't post Week 6 if he hasn't done Week 5, right?

Yeah, that's total B.S. I didn't expect Rob to do anything more than cook. In fact, I'm impressed he took it on  - although I don't know why he waited to make breakfast for my mom and me instead of just make dinner for himself. That was probably the smarter choice. We had just come back from New Orleans, and there was no way we were going to be able to eat dinner that night. Then again, breakfast wasn't easy either.

Anyway, Rob made Joe's Special with New York strip (For breakfast!). Every time San Fran comes up, I want to make Joe's Special, so I'm glad he made it. But NY strip on a Monday morning is a bit much. Oh...and he bought bagels. And fruit.  I'm guessing to lighten it up?

Rob never uses recipes, but here's an Epicurous one so you have an idea about what it is. Luckily, Rob dropped the ground beef, but the steak was overdone. Mom thought that was better, considering it was 7:30 in the morning. And really, it was pretty yummy. I may do it again some time. Minus the steak.

Week 6 was an easy recipe to come up with - mainly because I think I did it before. Indiana v. New England was New England clam and corn chowder.  I can't find the recipe now, but this one from All Recipes is pretty close. I think the one I used had more bacon - duh - and 3 cans of clams, but otherwise, this is it.

Day of, the soup was kinda "meh." It could have used some hot sauce or red pepper. But the next three days when I was eating it for lunch, it became good, maybe even very good. I may try it again, only with fresh cans and the right potatoes. The recipe I used called for white skin potatoes, and I was totally hoping there would be a sign at the grocery store. There was not. So I got a russet. Of course, when I got home, I googled "right potato for soup." Russet isn't the right choice. Eh - it was fine.