Super bowls of hot chili

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Slow cooker bison, bean and beer chili (POSTMEDIA TIMES COLONIST)

The Super Bowl kicks off this Sunday and it's a day full of action, particularly in my kitchen. With so many commercials and an extended halftime, there's time aplenty to whip up, or put a final touch on, food for sports fans.

If you're planning to watch the game and wondering what to serve, I have three recipes for you.

Having recently published a slow-cooker book, I know that simmering a large batch of chili can yield tasty results.

Today's recipe is a meaty one made with cooked and crumbled ground bison. Once in the slow cooker, the bison is simmered with tomatoes, a mix of four beans, vegetables and a range of flavourings, including beer, spices and hot pepper sauce.

The chili takes eight hours to cook, so you can get it started in the morning, and it will be ready by the time the game is on.

Your guests can top their bowls with chopped cilantro or green onion, sour cream and grated cheese.

Serve with some tortilla chips for dunking, and you'll have a pleasing dish for any crowd of sports fans.

Those tortilla chips will also go well with three-chili guacamole. The chilies in this avocado-rich dip are jalape±os, chipotle peppers (which are smoked jalape±os) and poblano peppers, which are dark green, mildly spicy and rich-tasting.

The resulting guacamole, which also includes onion, tomato and cilantro, has a world of flavour and, thanks to the mix of chilies, a bit of a kick.

Fried chicken is certainly a southern-style preparation and my recipe follows a technique I've used in the past, where the chicken, in this case chicken wings, is coated, deep-fried until light golden, and then finished off in a hot oven.

This enables you to cook and serve a bunch of wings at once, rather than doing them in batches in your fryer. It also enables you to get them oven-ready ahead of time, to cook and serve when needed. See recipe for information on how to do that.

Slow cooker bison, bean and beer chili

Meaty chili to serve on the range, or in your living room while you watch the football game. I made the chili in a slow cooker with a 61/2-litre capacity.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 8 hours, 10 minutes

Makes: 8 servings

1/2 kg (11Ñ4 lb) ground bison

375 ml (11/2) cups beer

2 540 ml (19-oz.) cans bean medley, drained, rinsed in cold water and drained again (see Note)

1 796 ml (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1 796 ml (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 250 ml (1 cup) frozen corn kernels

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium green bell pepper, diced

15 ml (1 tbsp) chili powder

10 ml (2 tsp) ground cumin

5 ml (1 tsp) dried oregano

15 ml (1 tbsp) Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce, or to taste

salt to taste

chopped fresh cilantro or thinly sliced green onion, sour cream, and grated Monterey jack or cheddar cheese, for garnish

tortilla chips for dunking

Place the bison in a non-stick skillet set over medium heat. Stir and cook the bison until completely cooked through and crumbly. Drain off the excess liquid, and then spoon the bison into your slow cooker.

Mix in the remaining ingredients, except garnishes. (The mixture will look thick, but will thin out as the chili slowly cooks.) Cover and cook on the low setting for 8 hours.

Taste the chili and adjust seasoning as needed.

Let your guests garnish bowls of the chili as desired, with cilantro or green onion, sour cream and cheese. Serve with tortilla chips for dunking.

Note: Bean medley is a canned mix of four beans. It is sold at most supermarkets alongside the other canned beans.

Three-chili guacamole

To ensure they are ripe and ready, purchase your avocados a day or two before making the guacamole. You can chop all the ingredients for the guacamole ahead of time and refrigerate. When ready to serve, mash the avocado with the lime juice and then mix in the chopped ingredients.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: None

Makes: About 4 cups

3 ripe, large avocados, cut in half lengthwise and pitted (see Note)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 medium fresh poblano chili, seeded and finely diced

1 small fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 chipotle pepper, finely chopped (see Note)

2 medium, ripe on-the-vine tomatoes, finely diced

125 ml (1/2 cup) finely chopped red onion

60 ml (1/4 cup) chopped fresh cilantro

1 large garlic clove, minced

tsp ground cumin

salt to taste

tortilla chips

Scoop the flesh out of each half avocado into a bowl, and then drizzle with lime juice. Use the back of a fork to mash the avocado until somewhat smooth, but still containing some discernible pieces. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except tortilla chips, and then spoon into a serving bowl. Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: The avocados I used were about 10 centimetres long and quite plump. If you can only find small ones, use four or five of them to make the guacamole. Chipotle peppers are sold in cans at most supermarkets in the Mexican food aisle. Unused peppers can be stored in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Corn-crusted Southern-style chicken wings

Herb and spice-flavoured wings, coated in corn flour, and cooked until golden.

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus marinating time

Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Makes: 24 wings

24 chicken wingettes or drumettes, or a mix of both (see Note)

250 ml (1 cup) buttermilk

10 ml (2 tsp) Tabasco or other hot sauce, or to taste, plus some for drizzling

310 ml (11/4) cups corn flour (see Note)

5 ml (1 tsp) salt

2 ml (1/2) tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 ml (1/4) tsp marjoram

1 ml (1/4) tsp ground sage

1 ml (1/4) tsp onion powder

0.5 ml (1/8) tsp garlic powder

1 ml (1/4 tsp) paprika

vegetable oil for deep-frying

Place chicken, buttermilk and Tabasco in a bowl and toss to coat the wings. Cover, marinate and refrigerate the wings two hours. When the wings have finished marinating, combine the remaining ingredients, except oil, in a second bowl.

Heat the oil in your deep-fryer to 175C (350 F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Dredge the wings in the corn flour mixture, firmly pressing it on, and set on one of the baking sheets.

Deep-fry the wings, in batches, for 1 minute, or until light golden in colour. Drain the wings on paper towel and set on the second baking sheet. (The wings could be made to this point several hours before needed. Cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.) Bake the wings in a preheated 190C (375 F) oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until richly golden and cooked through. Arrange on a platter and serve with additional hot sauce for drizzling.

Note: Most supermarkets sell chicken wingettes, the middle part of the wing, and drumettes, the meatier portion of the wing. If you can't find them, buy whole wings and cut them yourself. Corn flour is finely ground, dried corn. It is sold at most supermarkets. The brand I used was Bob's Red Mill.

-- Postmedia News

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 1, 2012 C1