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Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

 
 Chocolate Guinness Cake with Chocolate Baileys Buttercream Frosting

As January rolls in, we here in America mourn the end of the winter festivities and gay merriment of Hanukkah and/or Christmas, and the New Year, but we always forget about the third winter holiday: Super Bowl Sunday.  

Super Bowl Sunday is where we Americans pay our respects to the young men who put themselves out in the face of danger once a week (and maybe even during two-a-day practices).  They forgo seeing their families, drinking, and participating in other activities that may affect their stamina each Sunday. These young, athletic men have a 100% chance of getting injured during the season (true stat). But they do it for one reason and one reason alone:  make it to The Big Game. And for their multi-million dollar salaries. So I guess that is two reasons. 

 

Twice Dipped Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Football Treats 

In America, family and friends gather to celebrate the big day.  Some men have "No Girls Allowed" parties. Grown men. Those type of men are extremely mature. 

But the cooler people do not discriminate based on sex. No! Whether one is in it for the game, the commercials, or the food, you can believe a good time will be had by all. 

I've made the Holy Taco Snack Stadium, but everyone needs a little something sweet as a change from the spicy wings, 5-foot long heros (or hoagies or subs depending on what part of the country you are from, but really, we should all call them heros because the other words just don't make sense. And don't even get me started on Jimmies. Or Pop. Um... hello. Sprinkles and Soda!).  This year, I decided to make a Guinness Football Cake with Bailey's Buttercream frosting, horseshoe and fleur de lis sugar cookies, and, my personal favorite of which I could not stop eating as I was making it making me feel like I won't fit into my jeans soon, twice-dipped chocolate peanut butter rice krispie football treats.

Unfortunately, I do not have time to post the recipes (not that ANYONE would start making these items now... is anyone even on the internet right now? ) so I will post them at a later date where these treats will be completely irrelevant and readers wonder, "Why is she posting about football in March?"

Enjoy your day and GEAUX SAINTS!  

 

 

Sugar cookies decorated with royal icing
 

The Ultimate Super Bowl Snack: The Holy Taco Football Stadium

  
Last year for the Superbowl, I made the stadium above. Please excuse the photo, but I didn't have my camera with me and I took the photo with my ANCIENT iPhone 3G. Now I have the iPhone 3GS. So much cooler. 

I felt that I needed to re-post this, because this is the Ultimate Super Bowl Snack.  It is comprised of 60 Twinkies for the stadium, 1 lb guacamole for the field, Queso Dip for the Steelers End Zone, Salsa for the Cardinals End Zone, Slim Jims for the goal posts, Vienna Sausages for the players, Cheese for the helmets, and Assorted Chips for the fans.

I would like to recreate this again this year, but I wonder what I would use for the end zones. I'd keep the queso for the Saints end zone, but I'd probably dye onion dip blue for the Colts end zone.

The people at Holy Taco explain this snack this way:

TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375

TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285

TOTAL COST: $86.47

TOTAL DELICIOUSNESS: 1 Billion trillion, dude.  One billion trillion.

Click here for the tutorial (and a MUCH better photo and composition).

Homemade Pesto

 
 

I love pesto, but oftentimes, ordering food with pesto scares the crap out of me. I sometimes believe that eating even a drop of pesto will cause me to gain copious amounts of weight, distributing fat throughout my arms, legs, stomach and hips as I enjoy it's nutty, sharp, garlicky, oil-filled flavor. 

But sometimes, I just like to have it. Some of my favorite salads have a basil pesto vinaigrette and I wanted to re-create those salads in home in all of their glorious wonder.  I know it has become common, but I am totally a "dressing on the side" girl, and I still feel like a jerk for asking that. But believe you me, in New York City, that is the least of the special requests. You have no idea. If the dish is grilled trout with crispy potatoes, bitter greens, and anchovy vinaigrette, you'd better believe that the order will go something like this:  

"I'll have the grilled trout, but instead of grilled, I'd like it steamed.  And I'd like the potatoes to be boiled instead of crispy.  How are the greens prepared?  Sauteed? No, no, no, I can't have that. I'd like them roasted, but absolutely NO BUTTER. I'm allergic. And no vinaigrette. Thank you."

If you think I'm kidding, you are sadly mistaken. I can't tell you how many dinners I have been to with requests like that.  And the waiters all take it in stride... at the table. I'm sure they, along with the chef, are cursing the diner as they enter the order. 

Sometimes, it's just better to make the food that "scares you" at home, so you know exactly what is in it. Food like pesto is a prime example: I know that it is fresh, there are no secret preservatives deterring my body from metabolizing it. 

I definitely like to make pesto the old fashioned way: mortar and pestle. There is no fun tossing stuff in a blender and letting the blender do all of the work. No!  I want to pound that pesto to a pulp!  Release any pent up stress!  Beat that beat! RAWR!  And the end result is so worth it. Creamy pesto filled with the fresh, sweet flavor of basil, nutty pine nuts, pungent garlic, sharp, freshly grated parmesan cheese, and quality olive oil. Just a little taste goes a long way. And not on my hips. 

Homemade Pesto

In a mortar, pound 1 garlic clove and a pinch of salt to a paste.

Add 1/4 cup pine nuts and continue to pound that to a paste.

Add 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese and pound that in. 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Coarsely chop 1 lightly packed cup of basil leaves.

Place the leaves in the mortar and pound the leaves until they become a paste.

 

Return the pine nut mixture to the mortar with the basil mixture.  Slowly drizzle in 1/3-1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil as you continue pounding the mixture.  Adjust salt, if necessary. 

  

 
 
 
Homemade Pesto adapted from Alice Waters: The Art of Simple Foods

1 bunch basil (about 1 lightly packed cup), coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 - 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste

In a mortar and pestle, pound 1 garlic clove and a pinch of salt to a paste.  Add the pine nuts and continue to pound.  Add the parmesan cheese, pound until the mixture is well-combined.  Transfer mixture to a bowl.

Add the basil leaves to the mortar and pound them until they become a paste.  Return the pounded pine nut mixture to the mortar. Pound the leaves and pine nut mixture together.  Continue pounding as you gradually pour in 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.  Taste for salt and adjust, if necessary.

TWD: Dark-Chocolate Mini Heart Cake Filled with Chocolate Covered Raspberries

 
 

I was really excited to see that Kristin of I'm Right About Everything chose Milk Chocolate Mini-Bundt Cakes for this week's TWD mainly for one reason: it gave me an excuse to by a new cake pan. 

Unfortunately, I am never able to stick to the plan when it comes to shopping for food, cooking, or baking supplies. 

I often beg Jack to come to the supermarket with me whenever I need to go food shopping.  But Jack, who often works 70-80 hour weeks, could think of a million other things he'd rather do with his free time.  I try to explain that I need someone to reign me in. Someone to tell me that I don't need to buy the guava flavored panda bears that I will never eat because I don't eat candy but feel that I HAVE to have because they interesting, and really, who wouldn't eat guava flavored panda bear gummies (besides me because, you guessed it... I don't eat candy)? 

I go in with a list of four things, I come out spending over $100.

So when I went down to the Baker's Supply store on 6th Avenue and 23rd Street, I had two things in mind:  heart shaped cookie cutters for Valentine's Day and a mini-bundt pan.  One hour and much-more-money-than-I-wanted-to-spend later, I walked out with 3 different sparkling sugars, colored gels, a mini-heart-shaped springform pan, fleur de lis and horseshoe cookie cutters (for the Super Bowl) and a football cake pan (again for the super-bowl).  What was missing?

Heart shaped cookie cutters and a mini-bundt pan. 

This is why, my friends, you see this mini-cake before you.  I made some slight changes to the recipe.  The original cake recipe called for milk chocolate as opposed to dark (I'm a chocolate snob and milk chocolate tastes like nothing to me) and cocoa-covered walnuts swirled throughout the batter. I hate nuts in cakes and brownies so that is a double no for me. Instead, I dropped chocolate covered raspberries in the batter and baked away. 

I then frosted the cake with a raspberry buttercream frosting, covered it with my fondant and rolled the cake in a bit of sanding sugar.

The cake was good, but I think it was because of my changes (toot, toot to my own horn). I liked the deep chocolate flavor that the other TWDers said the cake was lacking because of the milk chocolate, and the bits of gooey chocolate covered raspberries added a nice surprise and definitely played a part in the moistness of the cake which, otherwise, was a tad dry. The raspberry buttercream added a nice sweetness and smooth texture, while the marshmallowy fondant (which I love) and the sanding sugar added some playful textural contrast. 

Overall, it was a fun cake to make, although I probably won't use this recipe again.  And for some reason, I must be cursed because none of my other photos will upload!  I shake my fist at you, Typepad blogging platform! 

 Check out the rest of TWD and check out Kristin's site for the recipe!