Monday Night Matchup Menus: Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers

OK, I’m somewhat tempted to hop in Oscar (please, everyone should name the car) and head down to SD for the game on Monday, simply because they’re not hosting the Raiders. We’ll see. In the meantime, here’s what we’re cooking up:

Coconut Almond Antonio Dates Darren SpRolls

Chopped Chicken Phillip Livers Pate

Laurence Macaroni and Cheese

CaraMalcolm Floyd Popcorn

Eddie Kir Royale

Coconut Almond Antonio Dates Darren Rolls

Ingredients:
2 c pitted dates (8 oz) – check the pitted ones, the bag I got still had a few lingering in there and jammed up the Cuisinart. No bueno.
1 c shredded coconut
½ c almonds
1 T orange zest (1 orange)
1 t water

Procedure:
Throw all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined and slightly clumpy.
Scoop out a heaping teaspoon at a time and shape it into a log.
You can refrigerate them first or just serve room temp. Happy vegan football fans!

Chopped Chicken Phillip Livers Pate

Ingredients:
¼ c olive oil
1 lbs. livers
2 c mushrooms, (I used cremini)
2 T garlic, minced
4 T scallions
3 T bourbon
2 T Shallots
4 T parsley
2 lemons, juiced
6 strips bacon, crumbled
salt
pepper

Procedure:
Clean the livers. There may be a proper way to do this but I just removed the connective tissue with my hands and got messy. Since it was all being thrown in the blender later, I didn’t worry about keeping the shape of the livers intact. SWOOPS* the livers. Cook the bacon well-done and crispy so it easily crumbles and set bacon aside. Add the livers and mushrooms to the pan with the bacon grease and cook on medium high heat for a few minutes. Add the garlic and shallots and stir. Cook another few minutes. Add the bourbon and deglaze the pan.

Once everything is just cooked through, transfer the pan contents to a food processor and add the parsley, scallions, lemon juice, bacon crumbles, salt and pepper, and blend until smooth. Works well with crackers or on top of crostini (toasted sliced SWOOPS baguette.)
*SWOOPS = Season With Olive Oil Pepper and Salt

Laurence Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
1 16 oz box macaroni, any shape you roll with
4 T butter
4 T flour
4 c milk
2 c cheddar
1 cup jack
1 cup parmesan
1 cup goat
1 cup velveeta
4 jalapenos, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 T garlic, minced
6 strips bacon, crumbled
4 T olive oil
¼ c panko

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the bacon in a skillet on medium high head until well-done. Drain on paper towel, crumble, and set aside. Saute the onion in some olive oil on med high heat for 2 min. Add the jalapenos and cook another 2 min. Add the garlic and cook another 2 min. Remove from heat and add the bacon. Set aside. In a large pot, cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain and set aside, (I usually add olive oil so it doesn’t get sticky.) In a large sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to make a roux. Add the milk gradually and stir until thick and smooth. Stir in the cheeses one by one until melted into the sauce. Add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and bacon. Stir. Season with salt and pepper. Pour cheese sauce over pasta and mix well. Transfer everything into a baking dish. Top with melted butter or olive oil mixed with panko and some extra cheese if you desire. Spread the crust on top of the dish and bake for about 20 min. Turn broiler on for the last 3-5 minutes to crisp the top. But don’t burn it. Smack and Cheese!

CaraMalcom Floyd Popcorn

Ingredients:
1 c butter
2 c brown sugar
½ c corn syrup
1 t salt
½ t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 c peanuts
½ t cinnamon
1 T ginger root, minced (my secret ingredient)
¾ c popcorn kernels

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 250. Pop the popcorn on the stove. Heat some oil in a big pot on high. Throw a kernel in there. When it starts to bubble, add all of the kernels and cover the pot, shaking it around occasionally to evenly distribute the heat. You will hear the popping. When the noise dies down, remove the pot from the heat and set aside in a bowl. In a medium pot, melt the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup over medium high heat. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Add the salt and ginger and stir well. Remove from the heat. Add the baking soda, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir well to combine. Add the peanuts and stir to combine. Pour the mixture over bowl of popcorn and transfer to a baking sheet (don’t line with foil), in an even layer. Put the sheet in the oven and cook for an hour. Every 15 minutes, remove the sheet and quickly transfer the caramel popcorn to the bowl and then back to the sheet and return to the oven. This will make sure all of the popcorn is evenly coated. (So you do this four times.)

Eddie Kir Royale

Ingredients:
Champagne of choice (At my 32nd bday champagne tasting, the final rankings were: 1) Krug, 2) Cristal, 3) Veuve La Grande Dame, 4) Dom Perignon, 5) Taittinger)
Splash of crème de cassis (a little goes a long way here)

Procedure:
Pour a few drops of the cassis in a champagne flute. Sometimes I toss in whatever berries I have lying around. Top with the bubbly. For added bubbles, sip in a hot tub.

Now Man Up! And Chow Down!!