Super Bowl Sunday rituals and recipes open thread

The Super Bowl is nearly upon us, with the Bengals and Rams set to cap off the season and take us formally into a hotly-anticipated offseason for the Atlanta Falcons. While we wait for the moves that will hopefully bring our favorite team closer to getting back to the Super Bowl themselves—I said closer, not there this coming season, though I’ll obviously accept that—let’s settle in for one final ride.

As you prepare for the day, let’s talk gameday recipes and rituals. Where do you watch the Super Bowl every year, and is it any different from where you’re watching the Falcons on a weekly basis? What Super Bowl recipes are a must every year for your family and friends?

Below you’ll find a few of our favorite annual recipes for the Super Bowl. Share yours and your rituals and use this as your morning open thread!

Jeanna’s Buffalo chicken dip

This is the dish I take to every single party, and I make it at home regularly, too. Using sliced deli chicken gives it a surprisingly nice texture, and if you’re able to get the BoarsHead Blazin’ Buffalo, it’s inherently packed with flavor, which makes the dish that much easier to make. If you’re using a different type of chicken, you may want to add additional seasoning to taste (specifically salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne or chipotle powder). With the BoarsHead, the Frank’s, Marie’s blue cheese, and Philadelphia cream cheese, this recipe is gluten free. I’m already looking forward to eating it on Sunday.

1 lb. BoarsHead Blazin’ Buffalo chicken breast, sliced and chopped into 1” squares

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup blue cheese dressing

¹⁄₂ c. Frank’s Red Hot (can use more or less, depending on your preferences)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix chicken with cream cheese, blue cheese dressing, and Frank’s. Add 1 c. cheese and stir until fully combined. Put in a 9x9 baking dish and top evenly with remaining cup of cheddar. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and lightly browned on top. Serve with crackers, chips, and assorted raw vegetables (carrots and celery are particularly good with it). If you’re looking for the easiest Buffalo chicken dip recipe in the world, you can also throw all of the ingredients in a slow cooker, mix them together, turn it on, and enjoy.

Dave’s chili

1-1.5 pounds of beef, 80% fat-free

1 large white onion

1 large bell pepper

2 celery stalks

2 cans of black beans, drained

1 can of kidney beans, drained

1 can of tomato paste

2 cans of crushed or diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce/soup, depending on thickness preference

2-4 diced habanero peppers, with/without seeds depending on heat preference

1 16 oz. bottle of dark beer (stout or porter)

1 tablespoon dried, crushed chilis or chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 squirt of sriracha

Add salt/pepper to taste

Dice up all the ingredients specified above and toss them in the crockpot. Get the beef browned on the stovetop and add to the pot. Add the cans of tomato sauce/soup, paste and crushed/diced tomatoes. Let the whole shebang simmer on low for about half an hour, then add the beans, beer and spices. Slap a lid on it and leave it for at least eight hours, but preferably closer to twelve.

The biggest adjustments to this recipe will be for heat and thickness. If you’re someone who likes a soupier consistency, use tomato soup in place of the sauce and consider adding a little water or stock. If you like an extremely thick, extremely hearty chili, add in another can of beans and use the sauce.

Matt’s crispy chicken wings

We know that fried chicken wings are a junk food. But did you know that chicken wings can be a superfood if you don’t fry them? I’m not a doctor but it is definitely the healthiest thing you could eat. I call it a chicken wing cleanse. However, you still want your wings to be crispy even though you aren’t cooking wings for very long. The skin should be tougher than the Falcons’ run game.

I have two important steps that make this a multi-day project: brine then an extended dry. A 16 to 24 hour brine adds flavor and tenderizes the chicken. Placing the chicken wings on a wire rack in the fridge for another 16 to 24 hours dries out the skin and gives you extra crispy wings. After plenty of testing, not getting the skin right is the worst thing you can do with wings.

I like to brine the wings, toss on some rub, dry for a day in the fridge, drop them into the air fryer and hit them with a sauce. Boom: you have a delicious health food.

Brine

• 2 cups of water
• 1 TBSP salt
• 2 TSPs sugar
• 1 TSP black pepper
• Splash of cayenne and red pepper flakes

Place one pound of wings in a ziploc bag and pour in the brine. Leave in the fridge for 16-24 hours.

Rub

I have found out I’m too lazy to make my own rub. Any chicken rub will do. I use a mix of Frank’s RedHot Original (yes, they have a rub) and MeatChurch. Just be easy on the seasoning because the brine is already doing some work and you don’t want it too salted. Let the wings dry in the fridge for 24 hours on an elevated rack. Toss the wings into an air fryer at 420 degrees for 12 minutes before flipping for another 12 minutes.

Sauce

You will have some extra crispy wings that are juicy, delicious, and tender — totally cool to eat without sauce. I toss mine in Moore’s buffalo sauce with a splash of vinegar.