SUPERBOWL SUNDAY APPETIZERS

Today we are having a little get together with a couple of friends for the superbowl. I personally don't even know the names of who is playing, but I am looking forward to the plethora of good food. We are going to have wings, 7 layer dip, spinach artechoke dip, bacon wrapped sausage, and who knows what else! I am going to be making a new wing recipe I just found, the spinach artechoke dip, and bacon wrapped sausage. I will edit this later with pictures and what everyone thought of the food! Here are the recipes. *WARNING: After eating these you will probably have to spend a week straight on the treadmill (So now you know what next week will be like for me).

Tempura Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
3 lbs. of chicken wings, pre cut
1 cup cornstarch
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Oil for deep-fat frying
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup currant jelly
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place cornstarch in a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken wings a few at a time, and shake to coat evenly. Dip wings in eggs.
In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 250°. Fry wings for 5 minutes or until light golden brown and juices run clear, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, jelly, soy sauce, ketchup and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Place chicken wings in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Pour half of the sauce over wings. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15 minutes.
Turn wings; top with remaining sauce. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear and coating is set. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

Bacon-Wrapped Sausage

Ingredients:
3/4 pound sliced bacon
2 packages (8 ounces each) brown-and-serve sausage links
1 cup plus extra packed brown sugar, divided

Cut bacon strips widthwise in half; cut sausage links in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each piece of sausage. Place 1 cup brown sugar in a shallow bowl; roll sausages in sugar. Secure each with a toothpick. Place in a foil-lined 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

Spinach Artechoke Dip

5 garlic cloves
1 10 oz. bottle store-bought alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts (non-marinated), roughly chopped
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (softened) (At least I got fat free, right?) Haha!

Wrap the garlic cloves in tin foil and bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When they are cool to the touch, squeeze them out of their skins and finely chop. Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl. It's ok to have clumps of cream cheese. The mixture won't be completely smooth. Spread the mixture into an 8X8 pan and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and hot. Serve with chips or baguette slices.

Crockpot: Sweet & Spicy Chicken Tacos

We had these for dinner last night when some friends came over. These were really easy to make and they tasted so good! Have I mentioned before that I LOVE my crockpot? These were a hit and everyone loved their sweet and spicy flavor, even Emi! Next time, I think I will make Enchiladas with the chicken. You should definitely try this!

Funny note: This picture is of Emi's plate and he LOVES pickles. He eats EVERYTHING with pickles.

Sweet & Spicy Slow-Cooker Chicken
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Approximately 1/4 c. White Cooking Wine**

Coat the inside of your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Place all ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours, or until chicken shreds very easily with a fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Chicken will absorb liquid after it is shredded.) Serve in tacos or however your little heart desires.

Since I am serving this as Chicken Tacos you would need the usual things you would put on a taco. Lettuce, Cheese, Tomatoes, Sour Cream, Avocado, Onions... We also made some Mexican rice (courtesy of Rice-a-roni) and put that in there as well. Just use whatever you like.

*I put my chicken breasts in the crockpot frozen because they seem to come out more tender that way.

**If you use frozen chicken breasts, they seem to require more liquid. I like to use White Cooking Wine because it adds a nice flavor. Or you could just use some water.

I also made some Pico de Gallo to go with this. My friend Jessica makes an awesome Pico de Gallo recipe, and while this isn't her recipe, I am hoping that it will be just as good.

Pico de Gallo
1 large tomato, diced
3 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime

Mix ingredients together, cover and refrigerate overnight.

*If you use a food proccessor this recipe is VERY easy.

The pico de gallo wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but everyone did seem to really like it. I think next time I will add more salt and leave out the cumin altogether. Or maybe I will consult Jessica on what she does. If you do use a food processor, if you like your tomatoes more chunky - be sure to cut them up yourself. :-D