Football Food

It's almost Super Bowl time!  I should remove that exclamation point...I'm really not that excited about it.  I don't really care about either of the teams.  Mark is excited because his Pittsburgh Criminals, I mean Steelers, (sorry...after all the jokes about the Dallas Cowboys, I had to) have made it to their 7th 8th Super Bowl.  (Mark corrected me!)  Aidan is excited because he decided, just this weekend, that the Packers are his favorite team.  Gag.  But, it will be fun to get together with some friends, eat some football food and watch the commercials, I mean, the game.  At least I hope we're getting together with friends...if you're my friend and you're reading this, please plan something.
Anyway...last night in honor of the play off games we had a very healthy dinner of potato skins, mozzarella sticks and nachos.  Mark was very excited.  I've learned a lot in these last several years of cooking for him...keep it simple...think bar and grill...that's what he gets most excited about.  The potato skins may have made him more excited than just about anything I've ever made.  I've been asked to make these for the Super Bowl.  They were simple to make, and very tasty...so I thought I'd share.

Potato Skins:
yield: 12 potato skins

6 small to medium sized potatoes
3 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. pepper
real bacon bits
4 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (buy a block, shred your own, it makes all the difference in the world!)
sour cream

Bake the potatoes.  Slice them in half and scoop out the potato, leaving about 1/4" in the shell.

Mix together the oil, Parmesan and spices.  Brush onto both sides of the potato skins.

Bake at 475 degrees for 7 minutes, turn over and bake another 7 minutes.

Sprinkle cheese, bacon and green onions into the shells.  Serve with sour cream.

I'll also share the recipe for the mozzarella sticks...I overcooked mine a little, so watch them carefully.  The ones that were just barely golden brown were the best.

Mozzarella Sticks:

10 mozzarella cheese sticks
1 1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
1 c. shredded Parmesan
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. oil

Mix bread crumbs, salt and Parmesan.  Dip a cheese stick in egg, let excess drip off, then coat with bread crumb mixture.  Place on baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining cheese sticks.  Dip each cheese stick a second time in egg and then bread crumb mixture to get a good coating on them.  Put them in the freezer for 2 hours.

Heat oil in a skillet.  Cook cheese sticks about a minute on each side, or until golden brown.  Serve immediately.

Happy Super Bowling!