Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Week 15: Hummus, Mile High Tarts and John Elway Soup

Thar Te-Blows! 

I can’t explain how excited I was to watch this match-up.  At some point this week’s game became less about the Patriots winning and more about Tebow losing.  This is directly related to this week’s SI cover and Pastor Hanson’s quotes about God being responsible for the current Denver winning streak. My favorite being:

“It’s not luck.  Luck isn’t winning 6 games in a row.  It’s favor. God’s favor.”


Uh-huh.  At the time, a good portion of the United States believed him.  But not New England fans.  It had nothing to do with how pious Tim Tebow is.  It had nothing to do with his level of faith or commitment to religion. It was much simpler.  New England fans knew the one truth the rest of the country was missing.

Not even God himself dares to mess with The Hooded One. 


The Patriots ended up whooping the Broncos 41 to 23 as they clinched a playoff berth and the AFC East Title.  Brady looked great with 320 yards, 2 TD’s and a serious Gronk-esque Spike.  Hernandez ruled the TE spot this week with 129 yards and a TD and Gronk chipped in for another 4 receptions for 53 yards.

In addition to the Patriots winning, the Packers lost.  No offense to Aaron Rodgers, the kid is cute as hell, but “NAH NAH NA NAH NAH.”  No undefeated season for you!  To round out the good news weekend, the Celtics won, CERN found traces of the Higgs Bosom  and adulterer Kobe Bryant was served divorce papers. (About stinkin’ time Vanessa!)


We started the game with some homemade Lemon and Garlic Hummus.  Once you have tried fresh hummus and realize how easy it is to make you won’t be purchasing any more Sabra. Okay, maybe the Supremely Spicy one.  I used this recipe for the hummus http://www.therecipediva.com/recipe/Simple-Hummus-10688, only adding more lemon as a personal preference.  

Lemon and Garlic Hummus

Ingredients:
30 Ounces Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 ½ Lemons, juiced
2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled
1 ½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil
½ teaspoon Cumin
15 Grinds Black Pepper
¼ Cup Water
Paprika, Extra EVOO and Extra Parsley for Garnish


Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a blender of food processor.  Blend until smooth.  


Denver Omelets were the most obvious famous food to make for the Broncos game. These are traditionally filled with Ham, Onion and Bell Pepper.  Dan and I subbed bacon for ham, added Gruyere and spiced it up a bit for OB Mile High Tartlets.

Mile High Tartlets

Ingredients:
1 Pkg Frozen Phyllo Cups (15)
4 Strips Bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
¼ Cup Green Pepper, minced
⅓ Cup Green Onion, diced
2 Ounces Gruyere, shredded
⅓ Cup Cream
1 Egg Yolk
⅛ teaspoon Seasoned Salt
⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
⅛ teaspoon Garlic Powder
⅛ teaspoon Celery Salt


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 and place Phyllo Cups on a parchment lined pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine Bacon, Green Onion, Green Pepper and Gruyere.  Place a pinch of mixture in each Phyllo Cup so they are full, but not overflowing.  
3. In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients.  Place a teaspoon of each mixture into the Phyllo cups with the Bacon Mixture and bake 10-15 minutes.  (Add more of cream mixture to each cup before baking if they are not full) Serve immediately.

As the perfect ending to a perfect game we had John Elway Hamburger Soup.  The original recipe was published in an NFL cookbook but I used the one below as a reference.  You will notice that Dan and I added some Hot Italian Sausage and Celery seed, but other than that we stuck to the recipe.  http://www.food.com/recipe/john-elways-hamburger-soup-206457

John Elway Hamburger Soup

Ingredients:
1.5 Lbs Ground Beef
1 Lb Hot Italian Sausage
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Large Onion, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, minced
6 Cups Beef Broth
1 Cup Red Wine
1 Can Tomato Sauce (15 oz)
1 Can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis (15 0z)
1 Cup Potato, diced
1 Cup Carrot, diced
1 Cup Celery, diced
1 Cup Frozen French Style Green Beans
1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley Flakes
½ Tablespoon Dried Basil
½ Tablespoon Celery Seed
Salt and Pepper


Directions:
1. In a large skillet, brown Hamburger and Sausage.  Drain.
2. In a separate large skillet saute Onions and Garlic in Butter.  When Onions are translucent, add Beef mixture.  Cook 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.


Happy Cooking!

1 comment:

  1. That all looks amazing and beautifully presented! Matt was mad we didn't go over when he heard about all the food being there!! HIGH FIVE!!!!

    ReplyDelete