By Jan Norris & Dan Oliver
Super Bowl fans, or even those who secretly show up only for the commercials, are too antsy to sit down to real food. The portable dips and chips or breads are a much better choice for hitting a variety of palates.
Here, we offer up four flavorful ones with a tropical taste, and a classic deviled egg dip, while our resident beer expert, Dan Oliver, aptly pairs the best brew to each flavor profile. Here’s to your team — or commercial!
Black Bean Dip
The heat can be adjusted on this with the cayenne; add more or less to your taste.
1 large onion, quartered
1 celery rib, cut into chunks 1/2 green pepper, cut into wide strips
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3 slices thick bacon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons packaged taco seasoning
pinch cayenne pepper one 16-ounce can black beans, drained 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
Sour cream, for garnish
Chopped green onions, for garnish
Cut celery into 3 or 4 chunks, and onion into quarters. Cut pepper into strips. In food processor or chopper, pulse vegetables until minced.
In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat. When bacon begins to render fat, add garlic. Cook garlic until tender and slightly tan. Continue to cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper toweling.
Put bacon in food processor with cooked garlic, garlic powder, taco seasoning, cayenne, minced vegetables and drained black beans. Pulse process until beans are mashed but chunks of vegetables remain. Stir in cilantro.
In serving bowl, garnish with dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with green onions, if desired. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.
Dan Oliver’s Beer Pairing: What we have here is earthy (beans) and herby (cilantro). Did you know cilantro is basically the leaves of the coriander plant? Why not keep it all in the family and choose an earthy, spicy beer with coriander already added? My first choice would be La Chouffe, my favorite Belgian ale. A Witbier would work as well. If you want to stay with the Mexican theme, I’d go with the full-flavored Negra Modelo.
Cheesey Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip
This is one of the most popular recipes I ever published. I’ve adapted it here for full cheese flavor. If you’re cutting calories, in place of cheeses, use 1 cup of light blue cheese salad dressing and replace Monterey jack with feta cheese.
two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup Franks Red Hot Wing sauce (more or less, as desired)
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 chicken breasts, cooked, diced or shredded
1 cup Monterey jack cheese
Put all ingredients into a saucepot, or a small Crock-Pot. Cook on medium-low heat until cheeses are melted. Reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes to blend flavors.
Serve with scoop-like corn or tortilla chips, or flatbreads.
Dan Oliver’s Beer Pairing: There are three roads to take here; light, cold lager to cut the heat; sweet lager or ale to cut the heat; or spicy ale to match it. Helles or Dortmunder should fill the first bill. A strong Belgian golden ale or sweet stout the second and an IPA or Saison the third. I opted for Penn Gold, a Munich-style Helles brewed not too far from Buffalo.
Swamp Cabbage Hummus
We natives know hearts of palm as swamp cabbage — and cook it as a cabbage with bacon and onion. In hummus, it substitutes for often-added artichoke hearts: simply cut up and blended with the chickpeas.
one 16-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
1 cup chopped hearts of palm, drained
4 cloves garlic, peeled
Juice of 2 lemons, plus a grating of lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Olive oil for topping
In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients except olive oil. With machine running, slowly drizzle olive oil until hummus is creamy and slowly drizzle in olive oil as the ingredients are being processed to a creamy consistency.
Serve with toasted pita points that have been sprinkled with olive oil and cumin.
Dan Oliver’s Beer Pairing: We’re back down to earthy here and your favorite Hefeweizen will do the trick nicely. Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat may sound kind of wacky, but it’s an excellent example of the traditional German style. However, if clove and banana flavors are not your cup of tea, a nice mild English brown, such as Newcastle, won’t swamp your taste buds.
Bacon And Roasted Pineapple Dip
Don’t scoff — especially when we tell you to roast the pineapple first. This is what pretzels were made for.
two 16-ounce cans pineapple chunks, drained well
4 strips smoked bacon, cooked crisp, crumbed
1 1/2 packages Neufchatel (farmer’s) cheese, softened 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 green onion, finely chopped
Heat oven to 400 F. Spread pineapple chunks on a nonstick baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes until starting to color. (Alternately, if you have a grill going, skewer pineapple and toast over flames until beginning to char.)
Put other ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and mix well. Add charred pineapple and pulse to chop roughly.
Serve with pretzel crackers.
Dan Oliver’s Beer Pairing: Cheez Whiz, Jan, you’re throwin’ the kitchen sink at me here! Smoky, sweet, salty and cheesy? I think we’ve got to go to the dark side on this one, a Dopplebock or robust porter. The winner is Left Hand Black Jack Porter, an English version of the style which I believe has enough sweetness not to clash with the pineapple.
Deviled Egg Dip
Nothing says football like deviled eggs: We know men who can eat dozens. But it’s work doing deviling for a party group, so turn them into a dip with a kick instead. Serve with rye party toasts or rye bagel bites with party sausages on the side.
1 dozen hard-boiled eggs (see note)
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 hard cooked eggs
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1 tablespoon scallions, minced
1 small jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pinch chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Slice eggs in half and remove yolks to large mixing bowl. Chop whites finely, add to mixing bowl with remainder of ingredients and combine.
Note: 1 teaspoon baking soda added to the egg water before boiling helps eggs peel easily.
Dan Oliver’s Beer Pairing: Deviled egg on rye, huh? What, we’re a deli now? I’m thinking nothing overly bold here, a Kolsch, maybe a blonde ale. But you know what they say: The devil is in the details and what’s the best way to do battle with the devil? A monk. The smooth, easy-drinking and Florida-brewed Monk in the Trunk, a Belgian amber ale, could be a heavenly match.122609_CS_Superbowl_1 copy.jpg
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