Yes, you can enjoy big taste and keep it healthy for your game day eats
By Cathy Branciaroli, Food Correspondent, The Times
An easy to make and tasty nosh for Superbowl is a Jalapeno popper courtesy of my friend Susan Pridmore of the Wimpy Vegetarian.
It’s not a proper Super Bowl party without a smorgasbord of appetizers, snacks, dips, finger-foods, drinks and desserts to match the rest of the afternoon’s theatrics this coming weekend.
The average football fan eats about a day’s worth of calories during the game, and a few years ago the U.S. Calorie Control Council estimated that Americans pack away 11 million pounds of chips on Super Bowl Sunday. Hand-held snacks go hand-in-hand with watching the Game. How else are you going to satisfy your hunger in a way that doesn’t distract from the very important tasks of watching, rooting, cheering and critiquing?
Super Bowl Sunday is the day to pull out all the stops when it comes to indulging in favorite salty snack foods. There are plenty of recipes for wings, pizza, dips, guacamole, nachos and much more. Personally I like hot dips. A family member makes a great one using 8 ounces of cream cheese and a can of Hormel no-meat chili. Then the mix is thrown into the microwave, heated and served with tortilla chips. The young guys in our family can’t get enough of it.
Unfortunately for healthy diets, season-ender buffets are one of the biggest calorie-fests of the year for many Americans, so instead I suggest we fill our plates with delicious, healthier food for fun and festive Big Game eats. Here is one idea for a healthier appetizer.
Jalapeno Poppers Gougeres
Recipe Courtesy of Susan Pridmore of the Wimpy Vegetarian
This appetizer is really tasty and is actually easier to make than it seems
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Ingredients:
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup water
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp dry mustard
1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese plus 2 TSP for topping
½ cup cream cheese
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 cup pickled jalapeno slices or as needed
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Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Premeasure all ingredients. In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat in the water and salt. Increase heat till the mixture boils. Add flour all at once, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon the till the mixture comes together into a mass of dough. Continue beating till the dough for one more minute or until the dough becomes very smooth. Transfer the dough into a bowl and add the beaten eggs one at a time, again with a wooden spoon. Then thoroughly beat in the Dijon and dry mustard and the cheeses. Taste and adjust seasoning. Drop 1 Tbs of dough one at a time onto the baking sheets. Top each one with a slice of the jalapenos. Top with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 10 minutes and then rotate the pan from front to back and bake another 8 minutes till the gougers are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool but serve warm.
Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog Delaware Girl Eats
