Bone Suckin' BBQ Buns & Other Super Bowl Eats

I remember how my high school friends who went east for college - a number of my best friends did - reported back how strange it was to have the Super Bowl start in the evening. I didn't think much of it then, but this year was my first time dealing with it, and I have to say: it was disconcerting. One of my favorite things about Super Bowl Sunday was always the nice weather during the first half, whether I was at a friend's house for a barbecue, or watching the game on the patio of Lucky Baldwin's, or just sitting on my own couch as the sunlight streamed through the window.

The sun didn't set until just around halftime and I loved the way it made the game feel like two different events - an afternoon barbecue and then an evening party. Not so much this year - it was all a nighttime event. (I've never been one for the pregame nonsense, and I figured it would be even more unbearable this year with the Harbaugh brothers/Ray Lewis story lines, so I didn't start watching until kickoff.)

But, whatever. It's still the Super Bowl. So I wanted something good to eat.

Elizabeth and I were out in the afternoon and we picked up some chips - Combos for her; these garlic and dill pickle chips for me.

My chips were very flavorful. If garlic and pickles are flavors you enjoy, as I do, you will love these. But if you don't like them, I cannot think of a food you would hate more than these chips.

The yogurt/cucumber dip from Damascus went nicely with the chips, too. It was fresh and full of diced cucumbers.

I got some pita chips, too. They weren't burnt, but they were as crispy as any pita chips I have ever tasted. Elizabeth pointed out correctly that the dips would have been better with fresh pita bread, not these.

I made a buffalo chicken dip, too. I slow-cooked two chicken breasts (there are no photos of that process; I figure you've seen it enough times, plus I was busy watching the game and not in the mood to take photos of everything I did) and diced one of them up. I used a half-cup of Tabasco buffalo sauce, blue cheese dressing, cream cheese and sharp cheddar - mixing it all and heating it for twenty minutes. It was a very good dip.

I mostly ate the dip with the pita chips, but since Elizabeth had the buffalo-flavored Combos, I tried a few of them. I've never been a big Combos fan - not since I made myself sick overeating them on a camping trip when I was 12. So I only ate these three with the dip.

The other day I walked into Manhattan and visited the Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown. I picked up several things, including these frozen cakes. I steamed four of them to bring them back to life.

I took the other of the slow-cooked chicken breasts, pulled it apart, and placed it back in the slow cooker with some Bone Suckin' Sauce.

Some of the sauce-drenched chicken went into each bun, with a slice of homemade pickles. a sprig of cilantro, and some caramelized red onion relish I made. Since the Bone Suckin' Sauce I'd purchased was of the "Hot" variety, I figured some sweet red onions were necessary to cut the heat. It turns out the sauce really wasn't all that hot so I didn't need the relish. But it still tasted good.

Since I was full from all the other snacks, I only ate these four buns. But in other circumstances, I could have eaten at least a dozen of them.

I hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed the game.