Super Bowl Memories & Leftovers

The Super Bowl has always been an important event for me.  Each year, on the first Sunday of February, my family would go to my uncle’s house for a Super Bowl party extraordinaire.  We’d order both pizza and Chinese food, make bets on the game (I’m talking a toonie, MAX) and spend quality time together as we cheered for our favourite team and watched the halftime show.

In February 2004, my uncle lost his battle with cancer.  Since then, Super Bowl Sunday has been bitter sweet.  It’s the time of year I miss him most, but it brings me comfort to carry on the tradition that I had always cherished as a kid.  I never miss a Super Bowl party and will continue to carry on the legacy of the first Sunday of February. 

This year, all the necessary elements were in place.  I made a bet with my dad and my younger brother that the Patriots would win (thank you fiancé for steering me in the losing direction!), invited some of my favourite people over, and cooked a Super Bowl feast that was sure to please.

I always like to make traditional game time foods, and this year’s menu was no exception: guacamole, bean dip, salsa and slow cooked pulled chicken sandwiches and of course, beer.  Dee-lish! 

(*side note: Madonna was amazing.  I don’t care what the 10,000+ TPS (tweets per second) had to say.  Madonna=awesome. Period. )

We went to bed that night with full bellies and another awesome Super Bowl memory to add to my collection.  

…We also ended up with a fridge full of leftover pulled BBQ chicken.  

And so, last night’s dinner took leftover chicken to a whole other level:  Pulled Chicken Hash.  Yes, that’s correct.  Potatoes, meat and a runny egg…what could be better??? 

Pulled Chicken Hash

2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato diced

• 2 cup of leftover BBQ pulled chicken

• 2 eggs

Directions:

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Place potatoes in a large heated skillet and sauté until golden brown.  In the meantime, prepare easy-over eggs in a separate skillet.  Plate potatoes on two plates, top each with 1 cup of heated BBQ pulled chicken and place the easy-over egg on top. Serve with a side or roasted brussel sprouts and enjoy! 

 Try it. You’ll thank me.  

Barbequing Is Not Just For Boys

This past weekend (yes, I know it's Thursday but this Fat Girl in a Little Coat has had a pretty hectic week!) my friends and I found ourselves sans significant others and decided to have a fabulous and long overdue girls weekend.

There is nothing better than spending quality time with the ladies in your life.  In fact, it's necessary. Our girls weekend was spent eating (of course), laughing, sunning, reading gossip magazines and consuming plenty of sangria.  

We had talked about going out for a dinner to one of those really popular, overly expensive and raved about tapas places.  Instead, we decided to barbeque.  Barbequing is not a foreign concept to me, however, if left on my own to use one, I would likely blow up the neighbourhood.  Thus, I have always left grilling to the man in my life.

Side note: Last summer my friend and I tried to use a Hibachi to grill some vegetables.  It took us over an hour to get the damn thing lit and when we finally did we were covered in soot and ash. 

This weekend I concluded that girls can barbeque too. In fact, I think we do it better. We seasoned some veggies, seafood (which I obviously didn't consume) and meat and headed down to the cabana area of my friend's condo building for our grill fest (we also made an amazing summer salad- the recipe is at the end of the post). She barbequed everything perfectly and the meal was absolutely delicious. For the first time all weekend we were quiet- too busy enjoying our meals to say anything.

Later this week, I ventured into barbeque territory myself.  I didn't let my boyfriend (fiancé...still not used to it) man the grill (pun intended).  I flipped the turkey burgers and grilled the veggies and made an amazing barbeque dinner, mostly on my own.    I still left turning on and off the barbeque to my boyfriend but I watched as he did it. Next time, I may even light the grill myself without worrying about being arrested for arson.

Grilled Watermelon and Feta Salad:

Ingredients:

• sliced watermelon
• crumbled feta cheese
• arugula
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze (reduced vinegar)
• fresh basil or fresh mint leaves 

Directions:

Cut Watermelon into big enough slices so that they won't fall through the barbeque grill.  Grill slices for 2 minutes on each side and place on top of arugula.  Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and top with crumbled feta and basil or mint.  Yum!

Battle of the Burger

It's the first official full day of summer and I have decided that this will be the summer of the burger.  Whether I barbecue them myself, or eat them at burger joints like Five Guys (my friend is a burger connoisseur and swears that Five Guys has the best burger in the city), I am pledging to delve into the world of burgers and become an expert of sorts myself.

My boyfriend and I are going to be in Boston next month and we already have plans to go to Bartley's- which is famous for its burgers and was featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, one of my favourite Food Network shows. I can't wait!

But I will not wait for Boston to begin The Battle of The Burger. In fact, I think it's already begun with a clear winner. I have been experimenting with curry burgers and I believe that I have finally perfected the recipe. I will be making other burgers this summer, but I'm not sure anything can beat these Indian-inspired patties.

Fat Girl's Curry Burgers

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of ground veal and chicken (you can use any ground meat)
• 1 egg
• a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tbs curry powder (I use a medium yellow curry)
• 2 tsp of cayenne pepper (or more or less to taste)
• a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and form into patties.  Barbecue patties for approx. 7 minutes on each side. Place patties on buns (I use whole wheat or multigrain) and top with grilled eggplant and sauteed onions.  I spread some Masala mayonnaise on the buns as well. 

Masala Mayonnaise:
Mix together about 1/2 cup of light mayonnaise with Masala seasoning and cayenne pepper.  I didn't really measure it but a few shakes of Masala and a small dash of cayenne pepper should do the trick.