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Miami Wine Columnist, Fred Tasker, gives his Super Bowl Drinks Suggestions

What to drink with Super Bowl snacks? Now, this is a challenge.

As you know, Super Bowl Sunday is the only day that’s worse than Thanksgiving for the unhealthiness of America’s eating habits. In fact, a group of nutritionists this week released a list of the Five Worst Super Bowl Party Foods in terms of health, including the Deep Dish MeatZZa Pizza from Domino’s, the Meat Pizza from Papa John’s, the Creamy Chicken Alfredo Pasta from Pizza Hut, the Tuna Melt from Quiznos and the Honey BBQ Wings from KFC.
A couple slices of the Domino’s pizza alone has 860 calories, 44 grams of fat and 2,880 milligrams of sodium – a full day’s allowance of salt.
The only thing you can drink with this is the biggest, most tannic red wine you can find – a Barolo, an Amarone, a cold-weather cabernet sauvignon – in the hope that those medical studies are right that say red wine makes the fat platelets slippery so they slide through your veins without clogging your heart.
Super Bowl is also a time for snacks that hurt – fiery Buffalo Wings cooked in fat and Louisiana Hot Sauce plus cayenne pepper plus Tabasco sauce. Your uncle’s five-alarm chili. Volcanic tacos. Foods that prove that, while you might not be man enough to play pro football, you’re by golly man enough to destroy your own stomach while watching it.
For this you need a wine with some sweetness in it to soothe your flame-broiled palate between bites. An off-dry Riesling, a semi-sweet chenin blanc. Even a sweet, red port. If you prefer beer, you could try an oatmeal stout with a big, creamy head and sweet, thick, malty flavors to help you heal.
For burgers and steaks and – I don’t know – armadillo or whatever you charcoal on the grill, you want a big, hearty, all-American red wine like zinfandel.
So you have lots of choices. But you’ll notice I didn’t mention American light beer, despite all those TV ads making the astonishing allegation that it’s “drinkable.” I presume it’s drinkable – I mean, it is liquid. But you won’t see me drinking it.

Buffalo Wings

Yield:  16 wings

¼ cup Crystal or Frank’s Hot Sauce

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire

Salt and pepper, to taste

16 large, fresh chicken wings, split and tips removed

Method:

1.      Combine the hot sauce, butter, Worcestershire, salt and pepper.

2.      Fry the wings in a 350° deep fryer for twelve minutes.

3.      Toss wings in a bowl with the Buffalo sauce.  Serve with Original Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce, vegetable crudités (such as celery, carrots, cauliflower, brocollini, and fennel) and eat while hot!

Original Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

Yield:  1 pint

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ cup buttermilk

¾ tsp. Worcestershire

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. Tabasco

Method:

1.      Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Stir well with a whisk.

Down Island Wings

Yield:  16 wings

1/3 cup Mango BBQ or your favorite BBQ sauce

1 Tbsp. Walker’s Wood Jerk Seasoning

16 large, fresh chicken wings, split and tips removed

Method:

1.      Combine the BBQ sauce with the jerk seasoning.

2.      Fry the wings in a 350° deep fryer for five minutes.  Finish on a hot grill for another seven minutes.

3.      Toss wings in a bowl with the jerked BBQ sauce.  Serve with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and eat while hot!

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Yield:  3 cups

1 cup homemade mayonnaise

1 cup Gulden’s mustard

1/3 cup Dry Sack sherry

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. honey

Pinch cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

2.      Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Stir well with a whisk.  Season to taste.

Thai Grilled Wings

Yield:  16 wings

Marinade:

   ½ cup soy

½ cup fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp. nam pla (Thai fish sauce)

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 fresh Thai chiles, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 ripe mango, cut into 1” slices

2 tsp. salt

¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves

16 large, fresh chicken wing drumsticks

Method:

1.      In a medium sauce pan, combine soy sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, chilies, and sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Let cool completely.

2.      Place drumsticks in a shallow baking dish.  Pour over soy sauce mixture and toss until chicken is well coated.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.

3.      Meanwhile, in a small bowl, toss mango slices with salt.  Let stand 30 minutes.

4.      Remove wings from marinade and pat dry.  Cook on a hot grill for about twelve minutes.  Toss in a large mixing bowl with Hot and Sour Sauce.  Serve with salted mango and mint leaves and eat while hot!

Hot and Sour Sauce

Yield:  1 cup

¼ cup grape seed or corn oil

½ cup thinly sliced shallots

¼ cup thinly slice garlic

2 Tbsp. chopped dried red finger chiles

½ fresh red Thai chile

1 piece fresh galangal, peeled and cut crosswise into ¼” slices

1/8 tsp. belacan (shrimp paste)

1 ½ Tbsp. palm sugar

2 Tbsp. tamarind paste

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

¾ tsp. nam pla (Thai fish sauce)

¾ tsp. salt

Method:

1.      Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add shallots and garlic.  Cook, stirring, until deep golden brown.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

2.      Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and transfer mixture to the jar of a blender.  Carefully puree until smooth.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl; set aside until ready to toss with cooked wings.

Gateau Leger au Chocolat
Food News and Views 10th Anniversary Cake
By Linda Gassenheimer
© Copyright www.DinnerinMinutes.com  All Rights Reserved

Making this cake requires only a very small amount of potato starch which produces a light texture and allows the chocolate flavor to come through.  It’s a rich, moist cake that tastes better made one day in advance.

7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
3 tablespoons water
4 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup potato flour (or corn starch)
For Decoration:
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup chopped walnuts
Cake pan inch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare the cake pan: Cut a piece of greaseproof paper to fit the bottom of the pan.  Spray the bottom of the pan with vegetable oil spray. Place the paper in the pan and spray the paper and sides of the pan.  Sprinkle the sides of the pan with some sugar and the bottom with a little flour.  Shake out excess and set aside.

Melt the chocolate, coffee and water in a double boiler.  When the chocolate is melted, take off the heat and add the eggs yolks one at a time.  Whisk the egg completely into the chocolate before adding the next egg.

Add the butter in pieces, mixing well before the next piece is added.  Stir until smooth.

Beat the whites to a medium peak. The peaks will form but not be firm.  Sprinkle on the sugar and carefully beat to form stiff peaks.  Beat in the potato flour.  Take a spoonful of the whites and mix into the cooled chocolate to lighten it.  Fold the chocolate into the whites and spoon into the prepared cake pan.

Bake in the middle of y our oven for 40 to 45 minutes.  Remove the pan to a cake rack and cool for 1 hour.  The cake will be slightly creamy and puffed up when it comes out of the oven.  While it cools, it will deflate and crack slightly.  Slide a knife between the sides of the pan and the cake and turn out onto a cake rack to finish cooling.

To decorate:  Whip the cram.  When the cake has completely cooked, spread a thin layer of the cream around the sides.  Take the chopped walnuts in your hand and gently press them into the cream working all around the sides.  Place the remaining cream in a piping bag and make 5 rosettes n the top.  Or, simply sprinkle icing sugar on the top just before serving the cake.