GAME ON- SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

 

No matter which team you are cheering on for many, it's all about the food and the  Super Bowl ads.

A bowl of homemade chili with a slice of chocolate chip cookie cake is perfect for your halftime snacking. 

The Beef and Bean Chili recipe was adapted from closetcooking.com and serves 6-8. the Chocolate Chip Cake was adapted from crazyforcrust.com 

Beef and Bean Chili

Cook's Notes: This is one of those recipes that actually tastes better the second day. The bowl of chili was served with a cornbread muffin and a slice of cookie cake. This is a one-pot meal.  

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bacon, fried crisp, set aside, and crumble when cooled
• 1-1/2 pounds of ground beef (85%) or ground Italian sausage
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 1 cup of celery, diced
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) diced tomatoes with basil
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) of pinto and red kidney beans
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1-1/2 tablespoons chili powder
•  1 teaspoon each of oregano, cumin, Italian seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon of paprika 

Directions:

• In a soup pot, fry bacon set it aside on a paper towel-lined plate, and wipe the pan free of grease.
• Rinse two cans of beans in a colander. 
• Brown ground beef with onions, crumble and drain in a colander. 
• Wipe the pan again free of grease, add beef and bacon back to the pan, plus add in celery, diced tomatoes, ketchup, water, mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and spices.
• Simmer on low for one hour and a half covered. Do not let the mixture boil. 
• Serve the chili with cornbread and your favorite toppings, e.g., sour cream, shredded cheese, and diced green onions.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake 

Cook's Notes: There are lots of possibilities for this recipe. Can just add chocolate chips to the batter or use holiday M&M's. I used chocolate chips for this recipe and added a few holiday M&M's on top before baking. The recipe was baked in a 9-inch spring form pan lined with foil and sprayed with PAM. You can customize it for any occasion with different sprinkles, mix-ins, and frosting for a birthday cake or one for Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day… it’s perfect any time of year.

The recipe photo from the author showed frosting pipped around the edges, but that added too much sweetness for me, so I skipped that part. Though I will say it did looks festive.  

 Ingredients: 

• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips or use M&M's or a combination

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place melted butter in a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment). Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix on low speed until the mixture is smooth. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until combined.
• Mix in salt and baking soda, then slowly mix in flour and mix just until the batter is smooth and comes together. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl during mixing. Slowly add in chocolate chips or M&M's.
• Press batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cookie is just slightly golden brown on top, and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

JOIN EVER READY STARTING MONDAY (10th) FOR A VALENTINE BLITZ OF GOODIES