Superbowl snacks: BBQ Chicken Sliders and Potato Skins

Recipes #9 and 10:  BBQ Chicken Sliders and Potato Skins

It's not a secret that I don't really care about football. Our team, the Panthers, finished last in the conference, so I tuned out long ago. But, what I do care about is food, especially football-watching food. I love the type of food eaten during games, aka "bar food." This includes the following: chicken wings, nachos, onion rings, potato skins, cheese fries, chili cheese dogs (yes, Tiff, I will eat a chili dog during a game), dips of all varieties, pizza, etc.

So, planning a Superbowl menu was a challenge, because I wanted to make/eat it all. Since it was just Matt and I, I had to limit it to a couple items, barbecue chicken sliders, potato skins, and margaritas (those were for me; Matt had beer).

I know I'm supposed to be using other people's recipes (and not my own) for the purpose of this blog, but calling the chicken sandwiches a recipe is a stretch--it's basically just chicken and sauce on a bun. So, here's my version. I always use Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, because it's my favorite.

BBQ Chicken Sliders
Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts 
• 1 can of chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp of "jarlic" (jarred garlic--feel free to use fresh if you want)
• 1 cup of barbecue sauce(or more, depending on your preferences)
• Dinner rolls, hamburger buns, or whatever you want to use to eat your meat

Directions:

Cook chicken breasts, broth, salt and pepper, and garlic in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Drain liquid off chicken, and shred. Add BBQ sauce to your liking. Put on a roll/bun. Eat.

I basically follow the same recipe for pulled pork, but instead of broth I use a can of Coke. The acids in the Coke break down the pork and make it really tender, and the sugars caramelize and give it a nice sweet flavor. I haven't tried Coke on my chicken.

For the potato skins, I followed this recipe, and served them with ranch dressing instead of sour cream:
Potato Skins

For the margaritas, I followed the directions on the bottle of margarita mix (Costco brand).

Banana bread with streusel topping

Recipe #3: Banana Bread with Streusel Topping

One of Matt's favorite treats is banana bread, but we have a problem in our house that prevents me from making it. We always end up eating the bananas before they can reach that perfect overripe state needed for banana bread. So, the last time we went to the grocery store we bought about 5 extra bananas and practiced some self-restraint and let them get all nice and mushy. It was hard work, you guys!

I debated not posting this recipe, because it didn't seem fancy or complicated enough for a cooking blog. Then, I decided that I have to be true to myself. While I do use gourmet cheeses and things like rosemary-infused grapeseed oil (thanks, Aunt Robynn!), I also buy Doritos and Oreos and eat them straight out of the bag. I'm not claiming to be Ina Garten or Martha Stewart, so I'll try to remain unpretentious. Besides, banana bread is classic, and every beginning baker should give it a try. If you don't like it, then I'm not sure we should be friends.

I used the recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook--you know, the red and white checkered one (mine's pink and white for breast cancer awareness). Here's the link to the recipe online: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/quickbreads/banana-bread/

Lastly, here are my banana bread pointers:
1. Mash up the bananas in a large Pyrex measuring container (if you have one). This makes it easy to measure the bananas, since most recipes call for the mashed bananas in cups, not number of bananas. My recipe said five bananas would be around the right amount, but mine were large so I only needed four. Here they are unmashed:

2. Use a potato masher for the bananas. You can also use a fork, but that will take longer.
3. Feel free to customize it to your liking. I left out the nuts, because Matt doesn't like them, and I added some vanilla extract. I've also seen versions with chocolate chips.
4. Don't try to take it out of the pan immediately, or it may come out in chunks.
5. If it does come out in chunks, eat those chunks immediately to destroy the evidence. No one has to know!


I didn't get any chunks this time.