Super Bowl recipes from WTOP

WASHINGTON – WTOP staffers offer up some of their favorite Super Bowl recipes.

Over the years, these have been newsroom-tested. Some of them have been tested repeatedly (because the newsroom likes to eat).

WTOP staffers talk about their creations in these short videos.


Mitchell Miller’s Super Guac

Note: Everything must be fresh.

  • 6 to 8 avocadoes
  • 1/3 cup of tomatoes; finely sliced
  • 1/4 cup of chopped shallots
  • 1 jalapeno pepper; finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro – or to taste
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cumin – or to taste
  • Juice from two ripe limes

Combine all of the fresh veggies together before adding the avocadoes

Pick up a chip – just don’t double dip


Debbie Feinstein’s Turkey and Spinach Enchiladas

Adapted from the Six O’Clock Scramble Cookbook by Aviva Goldfard

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
  • 1 package of frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1 Tsp cumin
  • 1 1/4 cups mild salsa (I use peach)
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 8 soft taco flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13-inch baking dish with non stick spray

  • Brown the turkey
  • Thaw spinach in microwave and squeeze out all the extra water
  • Pour off excess liquid from the ground turkey
  • Add spinach to turkey
  • Add chili powder, cumin and salsa
  • Remove from heat and add shredded cheese
  • Divide mixture among tortillas, roll them up and put in baking dish
  • Sprinkle cheese across the top
  • Cover with foil and bake about 15 minutes
  • Remove foil for last 5 minutes and put under low broil to brown the cheese
  • Cut into bite-sized pieces for appetizers or keep whole for entree

Mark Lewis’ Pigs in a Blanket

This is good ol’ familiar pigs in a blanket recipe is straight from Pillsbury’s website.

  • 2 cans (8 oz. each) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
  • 48 cocktail-size smoked link sausages or hot dogs (from two 14-oz packages)

Heat oven to 375. Unroll both cans of the dough. Separate into 16 triangles. Cut each triangle lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles.

Place sausage on shortest side of each triangle. Roll up each, starting at shortest side of triangle and rolling to opposite point; place point side down on 2 ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown, switching position of cookie sheets halfway through baking. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm (with a side of honey dijon mustard).

My advice: Keep a close eye. Cooking times can easily vary depending on oven and type of cookie sheet. I suggest not making at 5 a.m. in the morning as I did. I’m not as attentive at that hour while waiting for coffee to brew! LOL


Gary Emerling’s French Quarter Cheese Spread

Sterling Emerling, Gary’s better half, made this for the newsroom. The recipe is from Taste of Home.

Ingredients

  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 tablespoon grated onion
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
  • Assorted crackers

Combine the cream cheese, onion and garlic. Put on a serving plate and shape into a 6-in. disk. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in pecans. Let it cool a little and then spoon the cheese mixture over it. Serve with crackers.


Molly Welton’s White Pizza Dip

This is the recipe off the Lipton’s soup mix box.

Ingredients:

  • 1 envelope Herb With Garlic Soup Mix. (I used Lipton Recipe Secrets.)
  • 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped pepperoni (optional – I used Turkey pepperoni.)

*Similar recipes add 4 oz. of cream cheese or they call for 8 oz. of sour cream.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a 1 quart casserole, combine soup mix, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through.

Instead of baking, you can put it in the crock pot for about 2 hours.

Serve with sliced Italian or French bread, tortilla chips, crackers, etc.


Jack Taylor’s Shrimp Dip

  • 1 lb of cooked shrimp
  • 1 block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
  • 4 scallions
  • Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter

In a frying pan, melt a tablespoon of butter; while it is melting, chop up peeled, un-tailed shrimp to texture – cook for 4 or 5 minutes, then add cream cheese and chopped scallions.

Let all ingredients combine, then add cayenne pepper to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve cold later.

If consistency is “watery,” you can add more cream cheese and un-melted butter to “firm up”


Mike Jakaitis’ Football Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 4 lbs. of meatloaf mix (sold in stores) OR 2 lbs. ground beef, 1 lb. ground pork, 1 lb. ground veal OR 4 lbs. of ground turkey.
  • 1 packet of onion soup mix
  • 3/4 cup bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup of your favorite bbq sauce
  • spices: 1tbsp of salt, 1tbsp pepper, 1tbsp garlic powder(could be more or less of each–depends on you).
  • 1/4 cup of oregano, 1/4 cup parsley, 1/4 cup sage.
  • 1 to 2 eggs to bind everything together.
  • 1 or 2 pieces of string cheese (to make the laces)

To make the meatloaf:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients EXCEPT the string cheese.

Mix well with your hands. Don’t be shy. Get in there!

Shape like a football best you can.

Put loaf in a pan with aluminum foil underneath to make clean up easy.

To make the laces for the football:

Split 1 piece of the string cheese in half. Place on top of the loaf, press slightly to make a little dent in the loaf. After making the dent, put the cheese aside for later.

Baking directions:

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Insert a thermometer at the top of the loaf. Make sure the temperature reaches at least 155 degrees. If it doesn’t bake a little longer.

Place the string cheese back on top of the meatloaf for the laces. Take another piece of string cheese, peel of small piece to finish the laces.



Bruce Alan’s Artichoke Dip

  • 2 jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced

Mix ingredients together. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with hot french bread.


Mike Moss’ Zippy Guacamole

  • 3 large avocados, cut and cubed
  • � Vidalia or other sweet onion, finely diced
  • � teaspoon salt
  • Juice of � lemon
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 1 shot of tequila
  • 1/2 tsp. of cayenne

Mix ingredients together, but don’t make it mushy.


Tristiana Hinton’s Special Super Bowl Wings

  • 20 plain chicken wings – fresh or frozen. (I used frozen ones for this batch.)
  • Chili powder
  • Onion powder
  • Black pepper
  • Poultry seasoning
  • 1/2 Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce
  • Red chili peppers

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Season wings to your liking with chili powder, onion powder, black pepper and poultry seasoning.

Bake for 6 hours.

Toss on the BBQ sauce and sprinkle on the chili peppers. Bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is warm and gooey.


Katie Howard’s husband’s chili

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground beef (or substitute with ground turkey or no meat for a vegetarian option)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • � teaspoon garlic powder
  • � cup diced onion
  • � cup diced green pepper
  • � cup diced tomato
  • 2 cans tomato sauce
  • 1 can kidney beans (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (add more for an extra kick if you like it spicy) Amounts can be doubled and even tripled based on the capacity of your slow cooker.

Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Directions:

  • Brown meat in oil with garlic powder.
  • Place beans (undrained), onion, green pepper and tomato in slow cooker.
  • Add tomato sauce, salt and chili powder. Stir.
  • Add meat. Stir.
  • Cook on high for two hours, stirring occasionally and adding more chili powder if desired.

Layered Chicken Dish

This dish is from an after-school cooking class that the daughter of WTOP’s Katie Howard is taking. It takes 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

  • Tortilla chips
  • Prepared chicken cutlets (consider using Perdue Short Cuts carved chicken breast, grilled Italian style)
  • Corn
  • Cheese (mozzarella and Monterrey Jack)

Directions:

  • Crush tortilla chips to make the bottom layer.
  • Place the chicken cutlets on top.
  • Place a layer of corn on top of the chicken.
  • Spread a layer of cheese (mozzarella and then Jack) on top of the corn.
  • Add another layer of crushed tortilla chips.
  • Repeat the steps in that order to add more layers.
  • Pat down the layers and place in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.

Mark Lewis’ Bacon-Wrapped Little Smokes

  • 1 pound center cut bacon
  • 1 package little smokes sausages (can use turkey, beef or combo)
  • 2 cups brown sugar (or more to taste)

Set oven at 375. Slice bacon into thirds (or pull it apart) and wrap around sausages. Dredge in brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate (for several hours, if not overnight to allow brown sugar to coat).

Arrange bacon-wrapped sausages on baking sheet with a rack or a broiling pan so that the bacon can drip while it cooks. May want to consider lining pan bottom with foil to make clean-up easier.

Bake until bacon is crisp and brown sugar has melted. It should take about 30 to 35 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on thickness of bacon used and whether you line the pan with foil.

Side Sauce For Little Smokes

  • 1/3 cup BBQ sauce
  • 1/3 cup reduced fat mayo
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • Several dashes of Mexican hot sauce

Combine all ingredients until brown sugar is blended well. Chill.

Recipe modified from AllRecipes.com.


Taylor’s Spicy Boneless Chicken Balls.. aka Jack’s Spicy Balls

  • 1 Pkg. of ground chicken
  • 2 Large clove of garlic
  • � – 1 cup of bread crumbs (to texture – not exceptionally runny)
  • Frank’s RedHot Sauce (Wing or Hot Buffalo)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine chicken, pressed garlic, bread crumbs and � cup of Frank’s sauce. Form mixture into balls on greased (Pam) cookie sheet. Drizzle with Franks sauce.

Cook for 10 to 15 minutes and then drain grease. Drizzle again with Frank’s sauce and cook again for 10-15 minutes

Recipe “invented by” Stacey Taylor, better half of Jack Taylor.


Cold Shrimp Dip

  • 2 cans of de-veined shrimp (or previously steamed shrimp, cold and diced)
  • 2 blocks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)
  • Scallions (to flavor – I usually use 2 – thinly sliced)
  • � stick of butter (softened)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl

Best served right away (room temp) with Bugles. This can be refrigerated and then served with bread or crackers.

Recipe “invented by” Kiki James.


Roasted-Bacon Almonds

This recipe is from The Daily Meal.

  • 2 strips bacon
  • 2 cups (16 ounces) roasted almonds, unsalted
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, honey or agave syrup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • A pinch of pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fry your bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towel.

Put almonds into a bowl and mix with the bacon grease. Stire and spread on to a cookie sheet.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes.

Mix sugar, salt and pepper together in a separate bowl.

Put almonds in a brown paper bag. Shake, shake, shake. Of course, make sure you have the top closed.

Put almonds in a mixing bowl. Crumble your bacon into bits and add to nuts. Add the mixture of sugar, salt and pepper.

Serve.


Mike McMearty’s Cream Cheese Dip

  • One of those bricks of cream cheese
  • 8 oz. bag of cheese of choice (I like spicy mix.)
  • Small can of green chilis chopped
  • 8 oz. bottle of salsa

Mix chilis and cream cheese. (Let cream cheese get to room temp for better mixing.) Then mix 4 oz. of cheese of choice and 8 oz. of salsa with chilis and cream cheese. Add the extra 4 oz. cheese on top and spread evenly.


Molly Welton’s Pizza Dip

  • 1 jar of pizza sauce (14oz)
  • 3/4 cup chopped turkey pepperoni
  • 4 chopped green onions
  • 1 can black olives (2 1/4 oz)
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 cup mozarrella cheese (about 4oz)
  • 3 oz. of cream cheese (softened)

Combine everything except the cheeses in a small slow cooker. Cover and set on high 1 to 1 1/2 hours or low for 2 hours or until hot.

Stir in mozarrella and cream cheese until well blended. Serve with bread sticks.

Flavor tip: add a little more or less of what you like on your pizza.

Recipe is modified from a traditional crockpot recipe.


Reada Kessler’s Yummy Spinach Dip

In full disclosure, Reada Kessler snagged this recipe from the back of the Knorr Vegetable Soup package and then modified it.

  • 1 package (10 oz.) baby spinach, chopped or 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 16 oz. sour cream
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 package Knorrs Vegetable soup/dip mix (or any veggie dip mix)
  • 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (This is optional. It tastes great without them.)
  • 3 green onions, chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours or overnight. Serve in a hollowed out bread bowl with bread and crackers for dipping.


Mike McMearty’s Super Spicy Cheese Dip

  • 8 oz. cream cheese (one brick)
  • 8 oz. of salsa (I prefer hot)
  • 1 small can of chopped green chilis
  • 8 oz. grated cheese (I use a spicy Mex-mix) plus a bit more for topping

Let the cream cheese sit out to get to room temperature. In a large bowl mix the chilis (drained juice from can) and cream cheese. Then add Salsa and stir. Then add grated cheese and stir. Spread in dish for serving with rubber spatula. Top dip with additional grated cheese (cover entire surface area) and let set in fridge for an hour or just dig in if you can’t wait.


Mike Jakaitis’ Guacamole

(This one won WTOP’s Great Guacamole Challenge in 2008) (Serves 4 to 6)

  • 3 avocados
  • fresh jalapeno (chopped to taste)
  • serano jalapeno (chopped to taste)
  • 1 small tomato seeded and diced
  • 1 shallot diced
  • � cup diced red pepper
  • � small sweet onion diced
  • � small red onion diced
  • 1 tbsp. chopped green onion
  • � tsp. sea salt
  • � tsp. pepper or to taste
  • � tsp. cumin
  • � tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste
  • � tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
  • � tsp garlic powder
  • 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp. fresh finely chopped cilantro
  • splash of extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, place the scooped avocado, squeeze a little lime juice (1 tsp. to start.)

Add seasonings and start mashing. Use a potato masher or the end of a meat tenderizer to do the job, or just improvise.

Fold in the onions, shallots, tomato, and jalapeno peppers.

Splash in a little more lime juice (optional).

Add a splash of the olive oil.

For best results, allow the dip to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

**For a mild guacamole dip, omit any hot pepper, cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes. Red bell pepper is OK, in fact you may want to add more.


Colleen Kelleher’s slow cooker turkey chili

(Serves 6-8, maybe more if they’re not hungry,)

  • 2 lbs. ground turkey, 93 percent lean
  • 1 to 2 c. of chopped green peppers (1 or 2 medium peppers)
  • 1 c. chopped mushrooms
  • 1/2 c. chopped celery
  • 1/2 c. chopped onion (You can increase this if you are an onion fan. I’m not,)
  • 1 6 oz. canned tomato paste
  • 1 8 oz. canned tomato sauce
  • 2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes, do not drain
  • 1 10 oz. can of Ro Tel mild diced tomatoes and green chilis, do not drain
  • 1 40.5 oz. can of light red kidney beans, drained
  • 1 package of McCormick’s chili seasoning for slow cookers

This is a modified version of the recipe on the back of the McCormick’s seasoning package.

Brown the turkey and drain off the fat. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Gently fold everything together so the seasoning covers everything.

Line your slow cooker with those slow cooker liners, if you want your clean-up to be easy. Transfer everything to the slow cooker. Set slow cooker to low for 8 hours (4 on high, if you are impatient.) Don’t lift the lid while it’s cooking.

When it’s done, top with shredded cheese, sour cream and chives and enjoy. If you are watching your calories, this is a great time to make the cheese and sour cream either reduced fat or fat-free.


Mike McMearty’s Weenies and Beanies (Serves 8-10)

  • Handful of brown sugar (about half cup)
  • 3/4 cup of Heinz Ketchup
  • 2 large Yellow Onions, peeled and diced
  • 1 pound of Oscar Meyer bacon (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE)
  • 2 large cans of Campbell’s baked beans (approx. 20 oz.)
  • 1 package of Hebrew National Kosher beef hot dogs (I sometimes use half of a second package)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook the Oscar Meyer bacon slow over low heat. You want it crisp – well-done, but not burned. Place cooked bacon on paper towel.

Cooked diced onions in bacon grease until brown.

While cooking the bacon and onion, empty both cans of beans into large casserole dish (you want something rectangular, about 18 inches by 12 inches).

This is also a good opportunity to cut the hot dogs. The dogs are to be cut in diagonal criss-cross fashion. The cute should be about halfway through the dogs, do not cut all the way through the dogs.

Line up five dogs at a time on a cutting board and make a long incision, diagonally across all the dogs at the same time, then switch directions. End result – you should have a criss-cross pattern on the top of the dogs.

Add the ketchup and brown sugar to beans and stir.

Crush bacon into small bits. You want little bite-size pieces that will fit on a spoon and that you’ll be able to taste. This is best done by hand.

Drain grease from onions.

Add bacon bits and onions to beans and stir thoroughly until well-mixed.

Place the serrated hot dogs on top of the beans, submerging them 1/4 inch into the mixture. Cover entire casserole dish with tin foil and slide into the middle rack of the oven.

Peel back tin foil and check at 30 minutes. Beans should be boiling around the edges; dogs should be beginning to curl up. At this point, remove foil and turn on broiler. Broil entire casserole for about five minutes until dogs start to get golden brown singe. Check frequently during broiling!

On a dinner plate, squirt a large puddle of ketchup (about the size of a half- dollar) and mustard (I recommend Grey Poupon or English’s Hot Mustard). The proper eating technique involves cutting off a bite-size piece of hot dog and dipping one end in the ketchup and the other in the mustard.

Careful, though: weens and beanies are sooo good. You’re likely to eat too much at one sitting.


Mike Jakaitis’ Pork BBQ recipe

Ingredients:

  • 6-8 pound pork shoulder or butt
  • olive oil
  • Your favorite BBQ sauce
  • Maple Syrup
  • A cup of your favorite BBQ rub, if you are without a rub:
  • 2 tbsp garlic salt
  • 2 tbsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp rosemary
  • 2 tbsp paprika
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Coat pork with olive oil. Massage your dry rub all over pork. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours.

After refrigeration, bring pork back to room temperature. Massage brown sugar all over pork. Add drizzle of maple syrup to pork. Place pork in pan, skin side up.

Cooking Time:

1. Low and Very Slow: Cook at 225 degrees, plan on 1.5-2 hours per pound. (Six pound roast will take about 12 hours.)

2. Low and Kind Of Slow: Cover pork with aluminum foil and cook at 300 degrees for 4 hours. Remove foil and cook for another 2-2.5 hours. Remove pork from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes. Take two forks and start shredding the meat. The meat should easily pull apart. Add your favorite sauce and serve on rolls, or eat meat itself.


Hillary Howard’s Mexican Salad

  • Your favorite bagged salad
  • Your favorite tortilla chips
  • Your favorite salsa
  • Sliced avocado
  • Chopped onion
  • Black olives
  • Chick peas
  • Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • Baby tomatoes
  • Limes

This couldn’t be easier. Empty lettuce in bowl. Add all ingredients. Crunch up tortilla chips and toss them in. Finish with lime juice and mix. Voila!


Brennan Haselton’s Guacamole

(Serves 2 to 3)

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 3 finely diced jalapenos (heaping 1/2 cup — to taste)
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (you won’t need less)
  • 1/4 cup chopped white onion or red onion
  • 1 small chopped tomato (leave out the pulpy guts). This is partly for taste, partly to make the guacamole more pleasing to the eye.
  • 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon
  • 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Mash up avacodos but not too finely. Add to rest of ingredients and mix.

For those with more sensitive palates, start with 2 jalapenos and add more to taste.

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