Game Day Feast

It’s that time of year again! This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday – that weird yet super-fun day where Americans, all told, will eat approximately 28 million pounds of nachos, 1.25 billion chicken wings, and 8 million pounds of guacamole.

The recipes below don’t yield those types of quantities, but should be more than enough to feed a hungry crowd! Best of all, they’re actually REALLY easy.

Chicken Wings

Ingredients: For the Chicken Wings Themselves – Double, triple, or scale this recipe as needed

1. 2 lbs chicken wings (party wings) – a mix of drums and flats
2. 2 teaspoons baking powder (optional)
3. 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt

Prep: For the Chicken Wings

Method One (Slow) – Dry Brine

1. Using a sharp boning or chef knife, separate the drumettes from the flaps at the joints, and the flaps from the wingtips. Reserve the wingtips for stock
2. Place drumettes and flaps in a large mixing bowl; sprinkle with baking powder and Kosher salt and toss to coat
3. Place drummetes and flaps on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered for 6 – 12 hours, and up to 24 hours

Method Two (Fast) – Wet Brine

1. Using a sharp boning or chef knife, separate the drumettes from the flaps at the joints, and the flaps from the wingtips. Reserve the wingtips for stock
2. Place drumettes and flaps into a few gallon zip-lock freezer bags (about 1 bag per 1lb of wings) along with 2 tablespoons kosher salt and 1.5ish cups of cold water.
3. Massage the bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 4 hours (the longer the better, but even 30 minutes will make a difference)

Cook: For the Chicken Wings

1. Preheat oven to 425° – use the convection setting if you have it
2. Pat wings very dry using paper towels
3. Arrange wings on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil
4. Bake wings for 20 minutes; then flip and bake for another 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches at least 175° on an instant read thermometer
5. Toss in sauces of choice – see recipes below

Wing Sauces (These are super easy)

For Buffalo Wings

Note: You can actually skip the whole darn thing and just buy Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce – it’s really good and will save you some time. Or make your own as follows:

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoons butter
2. 1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane or pressed
3. 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce* (see note)
4. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
5. 1 teaspoon red or white wine vinegar (or any vinegar in a pinch)

Cook

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until well combined
2. Allow to cool to room temperature before using
3. Toss wings in sauce
4. Sauce can be made 2 days in advance and then refrigerated if stored in an airtight container

For Garlic-Parmesan Wings

Ingredients

1. 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
2. Pinch kosher salt
3. 2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
4. 1/4 cup powdered Parmesan cheese
   
   Note: Go for the refrigerated stuff if you can get it, not the room temp stuff in the jar with the green lid. Also, do use the pre-grated… in this case you want the cornstarch on there that keeps it from clumping, because it will also keep your wings from becoming a stringy, saucy mess!)

Cook

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe container
2. Nuke until butter is melted
3. Whisk to combine
4. Toss wings in sauce

For Sriracha Hot Wings (Think Buffalo with an Asian Twist!)

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoons butter
2. 1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane or pressed
3. 1 cup Sriracha hot sauce
4. 2 tablespoons honey
5. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
6. 1/2 teaspoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
7. zest and juice of 1 lime
8. 2 more limes, halved
9. diced green onions for garnish

Cook

1. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat until foaming and completely melted; swirling or stirring to keep it from burning
2. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute
3. Add remaining ingredients whisk constantly until ingredients are homogeneous and sauce has thickened slightly
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Use right away or transfer to refrigerator. Sauce can be made 2 days in advance

For Honey BBQ Wings

1. 2 tablespoons butter
2. 1 clove garlic, grated on a microplane or pressed
3. 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
4. 1/4 cup honey
5. Pinch Kosher Salt
6. 1 teaspoon red or white wine vinegar (or any vinegar in a pinch)

Cook

1. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe container
2. Nuke until butter is melted
3. Whisk to combine
4. Toss wings in sauce

Blue Cheese Dressing

Note: You can just skip the whole immersion blender thing and use a cup of store bought mayo – that’s fine! Just skip the egg and vegetable oil below and combine ingredients 2 – 6 with the 1 cup of mayo

Ingredients

1. 1 egg
2. 2 tablespoons sour cream
3. 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
4. juice of 1 lemon
5. pinch kosher salt
6. 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles (divided)
7. 1 cup vegetable or canola oil

Cook

1. In the bottom of a beaker or jar just large enough to fit the head of your immersion blender, add all ingredients in the order listed above, reserving half the blue cheese crumbles separately
2. Plunge head of immersion blender to the bottom of the jar or beaker and pulse once or twice to combine; then, turn it on – as the emulsion forms, slowly lift the head of the immersion blender (Confused? Check out this 1:37 video by J. Kenji Lopez for a visual.)
3. Stir in remaining blue cheese crumbles
   

Ultimate Game Day Chicken Nachos

Ingredients

1. 18 – 24oz Tortilla Chips
2. 16oz shredded cheddar cheese
3. 8oz jack, Colby jack, or “Taco Blend”
4. 16 oz shredded chicken or pre-cooked chicken strips
5. For Toppings (pick what you like – this part’s up to you!): Pickled Jalapeños, Sour Cream, Hatch Chiles, Black Olives, Guacamole (recipe follows), Pico de Gallo (recipe follows)

Cook

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. On a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil – arrange one layer of tortilla chips, followed by half the cheese, followed by another layer of tortilla chips, followed by the chicken, followed by the rest of the cheese
3. Bake in oven until cheese is melted
4. Remove from oven; distribute toppings evenly and serve

Guacamole

Ingredients

1. 6 – 8 large, ripe avocados
2. 4oz Hatch or other canned green chiles (optional)
3. 2 Jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely minced
4. 1 clove garlic grated on a microplane (optional)
5. Juice of 1 lime
6. Pinch Kosher salt

Cook

1. Smush (that’s the technical term) avocados in a large bowl using a potato masher if you have one (or a large salad fork and a lot of elbow grease if you don’t)
2. Mix in chiles, jalapeños, lime juice, salt and garlic if using
3. Taste and adjust for seasoning

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

1. 1 cup diced white or red onion (about 1 large onion)
2. Pinch Kosher Salt
3. 2 cups diced Roma Tomatoes (about 5 – 6 tomatoes)
4. 3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely diced
5. 1 tablespoon minced cilantro

Cook

1. Begin by dicing up the tomatoes. Transfer tomatoes to a colander or mesh strainer and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let sit for 10 minutes (this will keep your Pico from getting soupy!)
2. Dice up the rest of the ingredients
3. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; cover and refrigerate until ready to use