Hunting and Gathering: Super Bowl food

05 Feb Hunting and Gathering: Super Bowl food

by Lisa Barlow

Hey Super Bowl fans, what are you planning to eat during the Big Game? Mac ‘n Cheese Jalapeno Poppers? Mile High Nachos? Grilled BBQ Potato Skins? Smokin’ Hot Buffalo Wings?

Football and food seem to go together so inextricably that even a fair weather fan like myself knows that I need get my game on in the kitchen this Sunday. And there is plenty of inspiration out there to help me plan my menu. Every celebrity chef with a TV show seems to have weighed in with his or her variation of a classic gridiron favorite. 

The statisticians are busy thinking about Super Bowl fare as well. But their numbers have often been a little wonky. It is probably closer to 8 million pounds of avocados used to make guacamole this weekend than the 80 million that is often reported. That’s still an awful lot of chip dip.

If you are like my mother-in-law, for whom all football related activities are sacrosanct, you have already made your Chex party mix, deviled the eggs, peeled the shrimp and made the cocktail sauce. And that’s just for her. My father-in-law will be in the other room reading a book.

In our house, we’re keeping it simple. I am making everyone’s favorite chili and serving it with buttermilk cornbread. There will be Micheladas, which we learned to love in Mexico. And yes, there will be plenty of guacamole.

I thought this chili recipe was a closely guarded family secret until I read the back of the Wick Fowler’s Two Alarm Chili packet in the supermarket. I’m pretty sure the measurements are the same. But you’ll be cooking with real onions instead of dehydrated ones. True Texas chili does not contain beans. Nor is the meat ground. If you don’t eat meat, feel free to buck tradition and substitute a mixture of garbanzo, pinto and kidney beans for the cubed steak.

Serve the chili with plenty of grated Jack cheese, sour cream and pickled jalapenos.

Super Bowl Chili
2 pounds cubed steak (I use London Broil)
1 16 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 medium-sized onions chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoons salt
Cayenne pepper to taste  (I use 1 teaspoon.)
Tabasco to taste
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
½ cup chili powder
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 Tablespoons masa harina

Instructions
• Saute onion.
• Sear meat.
• Combine onion, meat, tomatoes, garlic and spices. Reserve the masa harina.
• Add 2 cups water and simmer for an hour or until meat is soft.
• Take a little of the chili liquid in a bowl and whisk in masa harina until it is a smooth paste. Use this to thicken the chili.
• Adjust seasonings and serve.

Lisa Barlow is a writer and photographer who divides her time between New York, Telluride and  San Pancho, Mexico. An enthusiastic omnivore, she specializes in stories about food.