From Peapod guru Tony Stallone's desk to yours:
Super Bowl Sunday is here and I must admit I'm a little less enthusiastic about this year's premier football event than last year since Da Bears are staying home. I can still remember it like yesterday with Devon Hester running back the opening kickoff for a touchdown… But let's not reminisce this Sunday, instead let's invite some family and friends over and have a rootin' tootin' time cheering for our favorite team or possibly witnessing a perfect season. To make the cheering a little more interesting, let's theme our party food to represent each team.
Representing the mighty, undefeated New England Patriots will be a huge, hearty pot of New England Clam Chowder. I have a simple recipe that is deliciously filling, along with a couple of tips that will shorten cooking and prep time and pump up the flavor. The first tip is to microwave the potatoes so you don't have to wait for them to cook in the chowder. I also leave the skins on to make it more nutritious. A couple more tips for great chowder include using fresh thyme (Have I said it before? Fresh herbs make any recipe even more spectacular!), and fresh leeks instead of onions. We haven't really talked about leeks before. Even though they look like gargantuan green onions on steroids and belong to the onion family, they have a sweeter, distinctive flavor that melds so well with the clams, cream and potatoes that your chowder is sure to overshadow the game! I will show you how to clean and use leeks as well as how to select the best quality (hint: bigger is not always better; stay tuned on Sunday), and finally how to store them. Please see attached recipe for Boston's Tony Clam Chowder.
Representing the New York Giants is the famous New York deli "Boar's Head Sandwich Loaf"! New York is famous for their multitude of delis appealing to every ethniticity in the Big Apple's melting pot, and Boar's Head is a New York original founded in lower Manhattan in 1857. It's hard to walk into any New York deli not featuring Boar's Head. I have a family recipe for this sandwich loaf which we refer to as "lunchmeat loaf". It's filled with capocollo (hot Italian ham), Genoa salami, prosciutto and provolone. Boar's Head is probably more famous for their meats than cheese, but I have to tell you their cheeses are unbelievably delicious and have flavor like no other brand. They truly are a premium deli brand committed to excellence, and I love a good deli sandwich! This is the perfect entrée for your Super Bowl party (forget the 6' sub that is hard to eat) and a great accompaniment for the chowder. This recipe is super easy and you can make it ahead of time and warm it up for game day. The most difficult part will be layering the meat and cheese then folding the loaf, so we will demonstrate this on the air. Please see my family recipe.
We will finish off our Super Bowl festivities with… what else but a New York cheesecake! It will be served with fresh seasonal berries that also happen to be in the colors of both teams, red raspberries and blueberries (this is a good time of the year for blueberries coming from Chile and this week they are not only plentiful, but you will find them at a great price as well). We will have some fun and shape the berries into the form of a football or helmet in keeping with our theme. When it comes to making great cheesecake I have found simpler is better, and this is the recipe that we have used in our household for years.
For more information, go to www.peapod.com and http://tony.peapod.com.
Recipes:
Boston's Tony Clam Chowder
6 strips Heavy Smoked Bacon (like Boar's Head), cut into small pieces
one-half C Celery, thinly sliced
1 Leek, cleaned & finely chopped (white and light green part only)
2 TBS Flour
4 Russet Potatoes, microwaved and diced
one-half stick Butter (salted or unsalted)
1 C Cream
>1 and one-half C Milk
4 cans Minced Clams, drained (save the juice)
2 tsp Fresh Thyme, chopped
4 Bay Leaves
2 tsp White Pepper
To taste Salt
Cook bacon in a large pot until fat renders and it begins to turn crisp. Add celery and leeks; stir and cook until vegetables soften. Add flour and stir well. Add potatoes, butter, cream and milk; blend together to get an even consistency. Add clam juice and seasonings; simmer for 5 minutes. Add clams and heat through, adjusting seasonings as necessary. Serve with crusty bread or rolls. Serves 6 to 10.
Tony's Tip: For those of you who enjoy something a little different, try adding 3 TBS of a good sherry at the very end. I really like the flavor it adds
Boar's Head Lunchmeat Loaf
3 loaves Rhodes White Bread Dough, thawed
2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 lbs Various Boar's Head Deli Meats (Genoa Salami, Ham, Capocollo, Proscuitto…)
2 lg Tomatoes, thinly sliced
one-half lb Boar's Head Provolone Cheese
Roll out bread loaves into approximately 6"x 12" rectangles (remember to flour rolling surfaces and bread to prevent sticking). Sprinkle seasonings directly onto bread and press into dough. Starting on one end, layer meat, tomato, then cheese taking up approximately a quarter of the total length, then fold meat and dough over. Repeat process on top of folded section until the very end, making sure the dough covers the entire loaf. Place on a baking sheet in a preheated 350° oven and bake for 25 minutes or until dough is golden brown. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes, then slice and serve with hot Giardiniera peppers.
Super Bowl Cheesecake
1 Extra Serving Size Keebler Ready-Crust Graham Cracker pie crust
2, 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
>2 tablespoons lemon juice
one-half teaspoon vanilla
one-quarter teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 one-quarter cups sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
one-quarter teaspoons vanilla
1 one-half pt Rasperries
1 one-half pt Blueberries
Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and salt until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Place crust on baking sheet; pour in filling. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until knife inserted in from the edge comes out clean.
Combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla; carefully spread over pie. Continue baking 10 minutes; cool. Chill. If desired, top with fresh Berries
