football - - Page 4

by Borracho

Gridiron Grub: Fish Tacos and Chips

To be honest, I don’t have much of a creative process. In fact it is more like a train of thought that often goes completely off the rails. To give you an idea, let me illustrate how I came up with what I wanted to try for this week’s Gridiron Grub post:

Hmmm, I have to write another Gridiron Grub post————Crap, what am I going to write about————Can I do something about the NFL game that was in London between San Francisco and Denver?————Man do they both stink! I can see why UK would rather watch soccer————Do I know anything about British Food?————Yorkshire pudding, fish & chips, Spotted Dick————Ha! Spotted Dick————Am I 12 yrs old?————Man, this is tough, I want a taco————(15 minutes later)————Fish Tacos and Chips!!

So here you go, for your next football gathering, whether in the US or across the pond, try Fish: Halibut tacos with Pickled Cabbage-Jalapeno Slaw and Crema and Chips: Salted Lime Jicama chips.

by Borracho

Gridiron Grub: Sweet P Slices

So here we are again, another week of football and food. This entire series came from the idea that the two go hand-in-hand in this country. It is so ingrained in our culture that even someone who has no interest in the sport has probably attended a Super Bowl Party or gone tailgating. I remember 2 things about the first Super Bowl party I ever attended: that girls were invited (back when they still had cooties) and that we got to stay up late and order whatever toppings we wanted on our pizza.

Just like your favorite football team or player, pizza is always up for debate. Whether it is what cities or shops make the best pizza or whether you choose to call it a pie, tray or dish, everyone always have very strong opinions. My go-to pizza is a vodka sauce-covered cut of Old Forge style pizza, but I don’t think I have met a pizza yet I didn’t enjoy. This week, after daydreaming about a fave local Indian restaurant but not getting a chance to go, I decided to mash up the taste of Indian sweet potato roti and a laundry list of ingredients I had on hand for Sweet P Slices:

Recipe after the jump.

in Recipe 4 comments

by Borracho

Gridiron Grub: French Onion Soup Sandwich

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

That is one of my favorite quotes about teamwork and the spirit of those words is part of why I love sports so much. We see time and time again that individual stars get paid the big bucks but often it is the team that works together best that has the most success. The same could be said for cooking. While quality ingredients are important, the simplest ingredients can really come together with just some time, effort, technique and a sense of fun.

With that in mind, it has been a rain-filled and cold week on the East Coast so I was in the mood for soup and a sandwich. Here’s the spin I put on a traditional combo for wifey and I to enjoy while cheering on PSU football Saturday night.

Open-faced French Onion Soup Sandwich

First you must recruit. So to assemble your team of ingredients, here is what I went with: 4tbsp clarified butter, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 lb onions sliced lengthwise, 8 oz beef stock, cup of spiced apple wine (I had it on hand from a local winery but feel free to use any white wine you like), c grated apple wood smoked Gruyere,red onion ciabatta bread and parsley.

in Cheese / Drinks / Recipe / Red Meat / Sandwich 3 comments

by Borracho

Gridiron Grub: Peach Bourbon Wonton with Gorgonzola Mornay Sauce

If you saw the first post in our Gridiron Grub series, you know that I am a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. If the fact that I am writing about football food once a week doesn’t turn you off, the fact that I am an Eagles fan might.

Philadelphia sports fans get a pretty bad rap and only some of it is deserved. We’ve been accused of throwing snowballs at Santa, cheering when opposing players get hurt, throwing batteries on the field and earlier this year, there was coverage of this disgusting incident. Particularly well known is Section 700 of the old Veteran’s Stadium. It was home to a group of especially rowdy and inebriated fans.

I have had a difficult time getting excited about this year’s team considering we traded one of the most respectable guys in the league and are now starting the infamous Ron Mexico. Because of this, I have been reminiscing about some of the great times I have had with friends at games through the years.

This week’s recipe I put together as a testament to the 700 Section and all the other fans out there like me. Fiery and sweet; fun and a little boozy.

in Cheese / Recipe 0 comments

by Borracho

Gridiron Grub: Roasted Tomato and Chevre Chiles

I can explain the merits of a 3-4 versus a 4-3 defense. I know the 3^rd string running back on your favorite team, what college he went to and can discuss why I think his downhill running style will compliment their style of offense. The first professional photograph I ever took was a 10 month old Borracho in a Philadelphia Eagles sweatsuit! I love football and have watched countless hours of games and been to numerous stadiums.

Fans go to stadiums hours (and sometimes days) before games to tailgate. They set up in parking lots across the country with everything from disposable charcoal grills to elaborate set-ups of culinary ingenuity that fill the pre-game air with delicious scents. Once you’re inside a stadium, there are always options; different towns have their own signature foods and some stadiums even go as far as: sushi, Rocky Mountain oysters , lobster rolls, ahi tuna sandwiches and even pork chops on a stick!

While the hospitality is great, I have seen too many burnt wings, lukewarm dips, stale chips and flat beer. This is the year that I say no more! I am on a quest to sack traditional edibles and up the quality of football food. Some will be familiar gridiron grub, some tributes to various cities and some will come from your suggestions. Because sometimes you need to call an audible to make something happen.

in Cheese / Recipe 11 comments

by Russell Warnick

The World Cup of Food

Image Courtesy of Nestor Cerami

We couldn’t let soccer’s 2010 FIFA World Cup go by without throwing in our two cents — which as you might expect, has less to do with our feet than with our mouths. So while serious sports fans spend this week debating which squads got the crap draw and which teams are most likely to make the second round, foodies can put all that aside and take a look at our 2010 World Cup Food and Drink Rankings, in which we’ve ranked the 32 participating nations from worst to best, based not on soccer skills but on the appeal of each country’s most iconic dish.

For the record, I offer no apologies for the dishes or the order in which they are ranked—I had many discussions with my international friends when researching these and they have disagreed with me on many—for that, you can leave your opinions in the comments.

#32. Australia – Vegemite on Toast

Usually when there is a petition on Facebook in support of something, you know it’s a desperate plea, and Vegemite on Toast is no exception. This isn’t one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of foods, this is simply a hate it kind of food. Yes, there are nearly 111,000 facebook users on the record as supporting it, but I’m pretty sure that’s roughly the population of Australia, right? Let’s hope for their sake that the Aussie lads find something better to chow on before their matches in South Africa.

#31. Ivory Coast – Kedjenou

Factoid: the current coach of the Ivory Coast team is former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. I’m sure old Sven has some tricks up his sleeves planned for the field, but you’ve got to admire the Ivory Coast’s cooking tricks, too. Kedjenou, like many other West African dishes, starts with some tough old chickens and basically cooks the shit out of them ’til they’re edible. It may not be the quickest way to make a meal taste good, but it sure as hell beats Vegemite.

#30. Slovenia – Buckwheat

I task you with something — Google “Slovenia” and “food.” Whatever the result is it’ll surely include buckwheat. Buckwheat, buckwheat and more buckwheat. Could you be any more boring, Slovenian cooks? If you must have a Slovenian soccer dish, I sifted through the ES archives and stumbled upon this tasty dish, vegetarian too — Wilted Greens with Buckwheat Noodles (and an egg).

in Food Travel / Trends 30 comments

by gansie

Team Fake Celebrity

It really pains me to give this any press. But it’s so gross I just have to exploit. Plus, it’s not the first time we’ve dissed Super Bowl coverage and mocked Kendra Wilkinson‘s food associations.

Courtesy of Three-O and 5W Public Relations, here are Kim Kardashian (Reggie Bush/Saints) and Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett’s (Hank Baskett/Colts) Super Bowl drinks of choice. Puke.

Team Kendra

3 oz. Three-O Citrus Vodka
1/2 oz. Blue Curaçao
1 oz. lemonade

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a cherry.

Team Kardashian

1 1/2 oz Three-O Triple Shot Espresso
1 oz coconut rum
1/2 oz amaretto liqueur

Shake rum & amaretto with ice.
Strain into chocolate rimmed martini glass.
Shake vodka with ice & layer into martini glass.

in Celebs / Drinks 3 comments