Projo Football Food & Spirits

Chef Howard Snitzer of Christie's restaurant in Newport just sent along this recipe for chowder with a twist. It has maple pepper bacon.

Christie's Clam Chowder
4 ounces butter
4 ounces flour
8 ounces celery, 1/4 inch dice
8 ounces fennel, 1/4 inch dice
8 ounces white onion, 1/4 inch dice
8 ounces maple pepper bacon, diced
1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
1 pound chopped clams
1 1/2 quarts clam juice
1 1/2 quarts 2 percent milk

Sweat vegetables and bacon in butter until onions are tender, but not browned. Add flour and mix well. Cook for five minutes.
Add milk slowly while stirring. Add clams and potatoes last. Bring back to almost a simmer. Adjust salt and black pepper.
(makes 1 gallon of soup)

Serve with Soup Nuts:
1 pound water
1 pound butter
1 pound bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 eggs

Bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour and salt all at once.
Turn off heat and mix until the dough comes away from the side of the pan.
Transfer to mixer. Add eggs one at a time. Pipe out ¼” round on lined sheet pan.
Bake at 425 degrees until crisp, golden brown and delicious.

Seriously Simple Holidays: Recipes and Ideas to Celebrate the Season by Diane Rosen Worthington doesn't just address worries at Thanksgiving. She offers advice on how to organize a home bar or host a lovely brunch. Worthington’s dishes can be used for football parties and who isn’t thinking about that with the playoffs just around the corner. Here are two of her football recipes.

DRIED FRUIT AND CHOCOLATE BAR COOKIES

1 1/4 cups chopped dried apricots
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
2 cups boiling water
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70 to 75 percent cacao), coarsely chopped
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Place the dried fruit in a medium heat-proof bowl and pour in the boiling water, making sure to cover the fruit. Let stand for 30 minutes. Drain well.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 7 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool.
Butter and flour a 12-by-17-by-1-inch jelly-roll pan.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Add the walnuts and mix with a fork.
In another large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat until very light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix again. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture along with the dried fruit until just combined. Add the chocolate pieces and carefully blend into the batter with the electric mixer.
Evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out almost clean and the top is golden brown. Let cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into bars and serve.

SEAFOOD GUMBO
Roux
1/2 cup canola oil or other high-heat cooking oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Base
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken broth or fish stock
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons Cajun creole seasoning blend
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound Andouille sausage, cut into 1-inch slices
2 pounds large shrimp 13 to 15 per pound), peeled and deveined
1 pound lump crabmeat
1 teaspoon file powder
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Hot pepper sauce for serving

Make the roux: In a 4-cup glass measuring cup, stir together the oil and flour until combined, making sure no lumps remain. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Using pot holders to protect your hands, stir the roux with a wooden spoon. Repeat 3 times until the roux is dark brown or almost black (for a total of 8 minutes on high). You may need to microwave the roux for 1 minute longer. Again using pot holders, transfer the roux to a large pot.
Make the base: Place the pot over medium heat. Add the onion, bell peppers, and celery and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, or until softened, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, bay leaves, seasoning blend, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Add the sausage, shrimp, and crabmeat and cook for 3 minutes or until the sausage and shrimp are heated through. Add the file powder and cook for 1 minute. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
To serve, ladle into bowls. Garnish with the parsley and pass the hot sauce at the table.

Want a hearty dinner to enjoy during the Sunday Night in America game between the Pats and the Bills? How about this suggestion from Smokey Bones.

SMOKEY BONES BRUNSWICK STEW

½ chicken, (about 1 ½ pounds)

6 cups water

2/3 lb. ground beef

1 ½ lbs. onions, diced (about 4 cups)

¾ lb. smoked pulled pork (or 1 lb. ground pork, see note)

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 14 ½-oz. cans diced tomatoes in juice

¾ cup ketchup

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¾ teaspoon hot sauce

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup barbecue spice

2 (15-ounce) cans cream-style corn

1 tablespoon of yellow mustard

· Cut chicken into pieces, place in a stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken; pour stock into a bowl or large measuring cup. When chicken is cool, discard skin. Pull meat from bones; discard bones. Tear meat into small pieces. Six ounces of smoked chicken meat may be used in place of raw chicken and water or canned broth may be substituted for stock.

· In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until about half done.

· Add onions; cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add chicken and pulled pork; stir and cook until well mixed and heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

· Transfer the meat mixture to the stockpot. Stir in 4 cups of the reserved chicken stock. Stir in tomatoes and their juice, ketchup, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, barbecue spice and corn. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, adding stock if needed.

Note: When substituting ground pork for smoked pulled pork, cook the ground pork with the beef and add ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke to the stew with the other seasonings.

Makes 12 (1 ½cup) servings

AP

The pumpkin looks a liitle like a football. Bigger hole than a jack-o-lantern.

This recipe is from Jim Romanoff of The Associated Press, who writes, "A savory corn pudding baked in a pumpkin is likely to upstage anything on your table, including a golden-brown roasted turkey."

Corn Pudding Baked in a Pumpkin

1 cooking pumpkin about 8-9 inches in diameter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup cornmeal
4 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed, divided
4 cups milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup finely sliced scallions
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the top of the pumpkin. Scrape out the seeds and coarse fibers. Season the cavity with salt and pepper.

Place the pumpkin cut-side down, in a baking dish. Bake until tender but still firm enough to be filled, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

In a dry, medium saucepan over medium-high heat, toast the cornmeal, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

In a food processor, puree 2 cups of the corn. In a medium bowl, mix it with the remaining corn and set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the milk until steaming. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the cornmeal. Cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the reserved corn mixture, then stir in the eggs, scallions, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Flip the pumpkin cut-side up and return it to the baking dish. Spoon the filling into the pumpkin. Bake the filled pumpkin for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the filling is puffed and browned on top.

Notes: Make sure to use cooking pumpkins, which often are referred to as "sugar" pumpkins.

The pumpkin and corn pudding can be prepared separately up to eight hours in advance. After baking the pumpkin shell, cover and refrigerate. The filling also can be covered and stored in the refrigerator.

An hour or so before the meal, rewarm the pumpkin shell in the oven, then fill with the reserved corn pudding and bake in a 400-degree F oven for 45 to 55 minutes.

With Dallas next up for the Patriots, I was thrilled to see The Texas Cowboy Kitchen cookbook by Grady Spears appear on my desk. A quick peek through and I found a nice chowder (cowboy style) to serve for the game.

Just in case you have a crowd coming, here's a more conventional chowder from Gregg's. They shared this recipe for New England Clam Chowder with Journal readers five years ago.

By the way, you can find crème fraîche (for the cowboy chowder) in the gourmet cheese department at Eastside Marketplace in Providence and at other large grocery stores.

Pinto Bean Chowder

1 cup corn, cut fresh from the cob
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup diced bacon
2 carrots, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 yellow onions, diced
4 jalapeños, seeded and diced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cuts cooked pinto beans, drained
2 cups chicken stock
Kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
6 tablespoons crème fraîche

In a sauté pan, cook corn over high heat 4 to 5 minutes until blackened, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

In same skillet, heat the oil and cook the bacon over high heat until it starts to brown. Add the carrots, celery, bell pepper, onions, jalapeños, and garlic, cooking until they begin to softened. Remove from heat.

In a food processor, purée half the beans with 1/2 cup of the chicken stock. Add processed bean mixture, remaining chicken stock, and remaining beans to the vegetables in the skillet, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Stir in the cilantro, remove from heat, and divide among bowls. Garnish with dollop of crème fraîche.

Serves 4 to 6.

GREGG'S NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

2 ounces salt pork, diced 1/4 inch
One medium onion, diced
2 quarts clam juice
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced 1/2 inch
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 ounces butter
11/3 cup flour
11/2 pounds chopped fresh clams
2 cups heavy cream

Render salt pork in a large soup pot over medium heat. Remove salt pork from pot. Add butter and melt. Add onions and cook until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour to make a roux and cook for 3-5 minutes on low heat, stirring frequently. Do not brown.

In a separate pot, cook potatoes in clam juice until half cooked.

Drain juice from potatoes and reserve. Add more juice if necessary to equal 2 quarts. Using a wire whip, slowly stir juice into roux mixture. Continue stirring until mixture is thickened and smooth. Add seasonings. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add clams and potatoes and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Add heavy cream. Bring back to a simmer.

Serve with oyster crackers.

Makes 1 gallon and serves 8.

(Can be eaten as a stew or as a dip for tortilla chips)

Mexicali Chicken Stew
One pound boneless chicken thighs, cut into one-inch cubes for stew, half
that size for dip
One package taco seasoning
Two cans stewed tomatoes with peppers and celery
One box frozen corn niblets
One box frozen green beans cut into small chunks
One tablespoon of oil

Use half the taco seasoning to coat the chicken chunks.
Brown the chicken in oil in a large skillet.
Stir in the stewed tomatoes, corn, green beans and remaining taco
seasoning.
Bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

From reporter Paul Parker.