Tag: Big

Big Game Watch Party Recipes by Gordon Ramsay

The BIG GAME coming and is considered the second most important “food holiday” after Thanksgiving. Food is an essential part of any watch party, so it’s time to fire up with my annual watch party recipe roundup.

Graphic for Big Game roundup 2019

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Introduction

Most of us are looking forward to the big game this week. God knows we need a distraction. I almost always enjoy the game. But even if you don’t enjoy the game, there is no reason not to have great food and a party.

While I will admit to liking college football more than pro, I do enjoy professional sports during their playoffs. They seem actually to try harder. Personally, I’m a reformed Lions fan, which means I don’t watch regular-season games. It is so nice not to waste that 3 hours every Sunday.

And is 7 hours of pregame programming really needed? We will be enjoying the puppy bowl part of that time. OK, I’m off task, back to the food.

Let’s divide the recommendations into four classes, finger foods, chili, main courses, and sweets.

🖐️Finger Food Recipes

If you are hosting a party, finger foods are great for watching the game and munching. Here are some of my best.

image of Watch Party finger foods

Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

Easy to follow step by step photo instructions for crispy oven baked chicken wings. No need to fry to get the great crispy skin. Add a Buffalo coating, and you have an American favorite. Now you can do it at home. Plus it is healthier.

Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

All great wings deserve a great dipping sauce. You can whip this up in a few minutes for everybody to enjoy.

Quick French Bread Pizza

Great tasting pizza perfect for that quick evening meal or a party. And at 20 minutes it’s faster than a speeding pizza dude.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Bacon Wraps

What could go wrong with bacon, sugar, and spices? Cubes of chicken wrapped in bacon and coated with brown sugar, chili powder, and cumin? Great finger food for that “bring a dish” party. A skill level of 3/10 (easy). Plus it is easy to double or triple if needed.

Mango Pineapple Salsa

Mango salsa is so simple to whip up. Wonderfully tasty and a great compliment to spicy Mexican foods. Just a little slicing and dicing and you’re there. Perfect for a party and friends.

Mango Salsa with Pineapple from 101 Cooking for Two

Easy Guacamole

A quick and easy guacamole recipe that is healthy, creamy, a bit spicy, and delectable. Using only fresh ingredients and about 10 minutes, you will have one of the best guacamole you can make at home.

🥣Chili Recipes

To me, the watch party must have a chili or two. You can check all my chili recipes in my chili category. But here are some of my favorites.

Crock Pot Chili

Who says everyday crock pot chili needs to be blah? A wonderful tasty red ground beef chili recipe made crock pot easy. A great hardy meal but good enough for that Superbowl party.

Ultra Simple Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

This is the easiest and best crock pot white chicken chili recipe you will ever taste. Dump, dump, dump, then cook for 4 hours. You are rewarded for your laziness with a great chili, and all your friends will demand the recipe.

White Chicken Chili on a spoon over bowl

Crock Pot Stew Meat Chili

Super easy dump and go chunky stew meat chili. This wonderfully tasty chili brings multiple levels of taste with the optional use of different types of chili peppers. Tender chunks of beef will make this chili a favorite.

Salsa Verde White Chicken Chili a la Crock Pot

A little spice and lots of taste. This Salsa Verde White Chicken Chili takes chicken chili up a few notches.

Close up of a spoonful of Salsa Verde White Chicken Chili

Low Fat High Taste Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

Great tasting healthy crock pot white chicken chili with only about 250 calories and 2 gram of fat per serving. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions. No pre-cooking the chicken here.

Low Fat Crock Pot Chicken Chili on a spoon

Crock Pot Three Bean Turkey Chili

One of my best chili recipe ever. A wonderful crock pot three bean turkey chili that the whole family will love. Plus it’s healthy. Now you can have it all.

🥘Main Course Recipes

Maybe you are having more of a dinner. Here are some classics in all three food groups: beef, pork, and chicken.

Spicy Taco Meat

Great Mexican for all. The best taco meat you will ever eat for tacos and nachos. You will never open an envelope of taco mix again.

Oven Pulled Pork from Pork Butt

Outrageously good pulled pork without a smoker. Low and slow is how you do it with these easy step by step photo instructions with only a few minutes of active time.

pulled pork sandwich with BBQ sauce on a bun

Crock Pot Pulled Pork the Right Way

Great melt-in-your-mouth pulled pork is now an easy economical dinner recipe. Cooked all day low and slow in your crock pot, pork butt becomes pull-apart tender for the family or a crowd.

close up picture of a BBQ Sandwich with sauce on a blue plate

Crock Pot French Dip

An easy recipe for crock pot French dip sandwiches that are melt in your mouth tender and bursting with wonderful taste. Easy to follow step by step photo instructions.

image of a French dip sandwich with dip on a gray plate.

Kansas City Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket

Great BBQ for everybody. The ultimate KISS recipe with only two ingredients and only about 5 minutes of total work time, what could be better? A never failed recipe we have used for 40 years.

Oven Baked BBQ Brisket from 101 Cooking for Two

Oven Baked Chicken Legs

Oven baked chicken legs are a simple dinner the whole family will love. Just trim, pat dry, simple spices, and bake them in the oven. You will have perfect crispy, juicy chicken legs every time with these easy step by step photo instructions.

Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Deliciously crispy skin and juicy inside, oven baked chicken thighs have it all. They are quick, economical, tasty, and require almost no skill — a great recipe for two or a crowd. Just one pan and a bit of seasoning will get you some of the best baked chicken you will ever taste.

🍬Sweets Recipes

No party or dinner is complete without something sweet. Give them something great to talk about that you can make ahead.

Crock Pot White Chocolate Almond Clusters

Great white chocolate almond clusters are an easy crock pot candy with these step by step photo instruction for the perfect white chocolate candy.

white chocolate almond clusters on a white plate

Easy Oreo Fudge

Outstanding Oreo fudge that will practically melt in your mouth. Only 4 ingredients and ultra-simple. Great for the holiday office party or a gift.

Cheesecake Bars

New York cheesecake bars will impress your friends and family. Creamy delectable cheesecake, great for that special brunch with friends or family gatherings.

Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Just 5 minutes, 4 ingredients and 2 hours in the crock pot will get you some of the best candy.

Easy Lemon Bars

Six-ingredients are all you need for these easy lemon bars. Bursting with great sweet-tart lemon taste and a buttery shortbread base, they are everything a lemon bar should be. Perfect for every day or a special occasion.

Homemade Candied Nuts

Don’t you just love the smell of the candied nuts at the mall or a fair? You can do it at home with these easy to follow step by step photo instructions.

close up image finished candied nuts on the cooking tray with white parechment paper

My Pine Cone

Have a great watch party.

DrDan

Editor note: Originally Published January 30, 2017. This post will be refreshed yearly with my current recommendations.

Molly and Lilly Playing with a Stick

Big Fat Greek Taters – Southern Plate by Gordon Ramsay

Big Fat Greek Taters are a favorite in my house and I think the’ll be in yours as well!

My husband is a meat and potatoes type guy. Before we met, he was very basic in his food choices but being married to me (bless his heart) has forced him to expand his horizons. He tried to stick with the “potatoes and Mac and cheese are my only vegetables” attitude for as long as he could but a few years back I sat down and said “You’re over forty now, your body would appreciate a green bean every now and then.” This is what good wives say, right? 😉 To that, I added “You know, everything you eat doesn’t have to be your favorite.”

Apparently, that was a light bulb moment for him because these days, he eats broccoli, green beans, the occasional cabbage, and his favorite side dish is asparagus. Now with each of these, his favorite way of having them cooked is roasted in olive oil. We have become olive oil devotees in our house. So from time to time I still make his lifelong favorite, roasted red potatoes. Only now, they’re roasted, too, seasoned just right and roasted in olive oil with a squeeze of lemon to brighten things up a bit. Red potatoes are my absolute favorite for this recipe because of the added garden fresh flavor that comes from the skins but you can use whatever type of potato you have on hand.

You’ll need 5-6 medium sized red potatoes. Red potatoes are my favorite for this but any potato will work. You’ll also need Olive oil, Oregano, Kosher Salt, and a bit of Lemon Juice.

Chop your potatoes up into bite sized pieces. Make sure to leave the skins on so they will be extra flavorful.

Spread potato chunks out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

Drizzle with oil and lemon juice, toss to coat. (I just use clean hands to toss them around a bit, then wash my hands again). Sprinkle with oregano and salt. Big Fat Greek Taters coming up!

Bake at 375, stirring halfway through, until lightly browned at the edges and tender, about thirty minutes.

Big Fat Greek Taters are ready to enjoy!

Ingredients

5-6 medium red potatoes (about two pounds), washed with skins still on
2-3 tablespoons olive oil*
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspooon kosher or himalayan salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Cut each potato into bite size chunks. (do not peel potatoes)
Place potato chunks in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Stir to coat, then sprinkle with oregano and salt.
Bake, stirring halfway through, until tender and lightly browned at the edges, about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Notes

*This recipe first appeared in my second cookbook, Come Home To Supper. In the original the recipe called for 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil rather than tablespoons. I’m more generous with the olive oil these days but you can use more or less if you prefer.

You may also enjoy: How To Perfectly Roast Any Vegetable

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Yum

My Big Fat Greek Baked Beans – Finally! by Gordon Ramsay

As I may have mentioned on Twitter several times, Michele
and I have both been sick all week, so please pardon the lateness, and brevity
of this post. The good news is this Greek-style baked beans recipe is very
simple, and there’s not a lot of extra info I need to pass along.

One thing I will mention is that while these are baking, be
sure to peek once in a while to see if you need to add more liquid. You can
bake covered, but then you don’t get the crustification on top, so I prefer to
bake uncovered, and stir in a splash of water, or two, if it looks like it’s
getting too dry.

If you can find gigante beans, they really are the best, but
Conona beans also work great, as will any other large dried bean. Just be sure
to soak them properly, and simmer them until tender before proceeding to the
baking step. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m climbing into my big, fat bed.
Enjoy!

Ingredients for 12 portions:

1 pound dried Gigante, Conona, Lima, or other large dried bean (soaked
overnight)

3 quarts cold fresh water to boil in

2 bay leaves

1 large red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 cups tomato sauce or finely chopped fresh tomato

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons clover honey

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for the top

1 tablespoon kosher salt (2 teaspoon if using fine table
salt)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

cayenne to taste

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups water, plus more as needed while baking
4 ounces feta cheese for the top

– Bake at 350 F. until beans are soft

–>