Game Day Feast

I've told you all before and i'll say it again:  football is all about the food and the Super Bowl is no exception!

Because this was a year where we planned to watch the big game alone, i decided to have some extra fun with the menu.  And it paid off well considering the game was a let down. 

Side Note: The Chiefs are my second favorite football team, even though my husband recently informed me that one is not allowed to have a second favorite team and that you have to be all in or not at all.  It will be our secret.  Not only did they lose the game, they never even gave me hope that they might win. 

So we focused on the snacks.. & commercials... but mostly snacks.

I had planned to do buffalo wings and guacamole, but when i finally got around to grocery shopping (which i hate with the passion of a thousand fire breathing lizards), the wings were sold out and the only avocados left were rock solid.  So i improvised.

The chicken bites turned out great!  I baked them in the oven with panko and they were crunchy with the perfect amount of heat and bonus: actually on the healthy side compared to fried wings or nuggets. (recipe below).  I also left some of them plain because Asher isn't a huge fan of buffalo sauce.  I served those with honey mustard and that was just as scrumptious. 

The peach salsa is a Pioneer Woman recipe and it was beautiful, quick, and delicious.  I made it first and snacked on it while i made everything else.  I saved the peach juice that was left over from this recipe to add to the margaritas later..  so good!

The brie was great too and already has me brainstorming a million variations to try.  I'll get a recipe for that up here soon!

Overall, the night was a total success.  Low key with my little family and lots of fun munchies.  

For the bites:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

For Sauce:

• 1/3 cup hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

1. Add the buttermilk to a large bowl
2. Dissolve a teaspoon of salt in 1/4 cup of warm water and add that to the buttermilk, add 1/2 teaspoon pepper
3. Add the chicken to the buttermilk mixture and refrigerate for an hour or two
4. In the meantime, add the panko to a pan on the stove over low heat.  Add about two teaspoons of oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and toast until it comes to a nice light brown color.  Set aside to cool.
5. Spoon the chicken out of the buttermilk with a slotted spoon and toss the pieces in the panko to coat on all sides
6. Add coated chicken to two sheet pans lined with parchment paper and drizzle with a little olive oil
7. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through
8. While the chicken bakes, add all of the sauce ingredients to a kettle and heat on the stove until the butter melts
9. When the chicken comes out of the oven and cools slightly, toss the bites in the sauce
10. Serve with blue cheese, carrots & celery

Honestly, just so good.  I'll be eating the leftovers all week!

Try other sauces too - These would be great with BBQ or maybe a thai chili!

Let me know what you made for the Super Bowl this year in the comments!