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.  

Tryptophan Coma

Since Fall is my favourite season, it only seems fitting that the season's only(non-religious) holiday is one of my favourites as well.

As a kid, I never celebrated Thanksgiving.  I grew up in a kosher home so gravy was a foreign concept and using butter and cream in mashed potatoes was against the rules.  One year, in an attempt to satisfy my love of turkey day, my mom made a Thanksgiving-style dinner.  The turkey was good ( a little dry because when you are kosher you can't baste your turkey in butter), we had au jus instead of gravy and the mashed potatoes were made with margarine (I cringe).  My mom certainly didn't serve brussel sprouts with crispy bacon either.  All in all, I would deem my one childhood Thanksgiving dinner a complete failure (sorry mom, I know you tried).

In my adult life, much to my parent's dismay, I have abandoned kosher and taken up the annual ritual of  celebrating Thanksgiving- the proper way. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I get two Thanksgiving dinners but I am certainly happy with one.  This year's did not fall short of fantastic; seasonably warm weather, great friends, good wine (lots of it) and delicious food. By the time the tryptophan took effect I had already rolled my way home (with left over mashed potatoes in hand) and fell into a fast food coma.

Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving!