Avocado Tomatillo Salsa with Baked Seeded Tortilla Chips

Around our house football has rarely been something that is ever turned on.  The hubs is so busy with skydiving, BASE jumping, tunnel flying and tuning in to the Supercross series and X Games, etc. that there hasn't really been room in our lives for football.

Interestingly enough, for some reason, this past year he has been really into it. Go figure.

The fun part of that for me is that it means we have actually invited a few friends over to watch the Superbowl next Sunday. 

Which means I get to plan party food!

I have made this smooth, guacamole like dip a few times now and it can be somewhat dangerous to have on hand.  In fact, I admit a bowl of this with some chips has been my lunch or dinner more than once lately.

For a healthier, fun and crunchy alternative to regular dip chips you can make these baked flour tortilla strips that are laden with flax seeds, sesame seeds and poppy seeds.  The kids actually really loved them because they were so different and crunchy.

I like my dips to be more on the smooth side than the chunky side, possibly because then the kids don't worry so much about what they are getting with each scoop and eat it that much easier without all the usual, "what's this Mom?" inquiries that usually result.

It also means making the dip is that much easier because most of the prep work is done in the food processor.  You don't have to chop anything up terribly well or uniformly.

That said, if you prefer a chunky dip, feel free to do the prep by hand and just gently toss/stir everything together.

Enjoy, and happy game day!

Tomatillo Avocado Salsa

Makes approximately 3 ½ cups

Printable Version

7 oz tomatillos, husked and rinsed (depending on size, 4 to 7 tomatillos)

1/2 small red onion, chopped coarsely 

2 fresh Serrano chiles, seeded and chopped* (or more if you like it really spicy)

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 large clove garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

juice of 1 large fresh lime

2 to 3 large avocados (about 1 lb) (pitted, peeled and sliced just before adding to the mixture)

1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Preheat the broiler with a rack about 4 to 5 inches from the heat.  Place the husked and rinsed tomatillos in a heat proof shallow baking dish (a glass Pyrex pie plate is perfect for this).  Char the tomatillos under the broiler for 8 to 10 minutes, use tongs to turn them over and broil the other side until charred, about 5 more minutes.

*Note – when handling chiles you should always work with rubber gloves to avoid getting the oils on your skin.

Put the onion, chiles, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and the charred tomatillos in the bowl of your food processor or in a blender and process until smooth.  Add the avocado and lime juice to the mixture in the food processor and pulse several times to combine and smooth the mixture to your desired consistency. Fold in the sour cream if using (if the chiles are a little too spicy, this will cut the heat).

Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature with chips.  Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Seeded Baked Tortilla Chips

Makes approximately 32 chips

2 tablespoons flax seeds

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

4 10 to 12 inch flour tortillas

1 large egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons cold water and 1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and set the racks in the upper- and lower-middle levels.  In a small bowl, beat the egg with the water and salt.  Place two tortillas each on the baking sheets and brush them lightly with the egg mixture.  In a small bowl, stir the seeds together.  Sprinkle the seeds generously over the brushed tortillas.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the tortillas into triangle pieces (about 16 pieces each, or smaller if you want).  Bake the chips in the oven for 10 minutes, then switch the position of the trays and continue to bake until the tortillas are crisp and lightly golden – about another 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow them to cool before removing from the pans.

Adapted from The 150 Best American Recipes, by Fran McCullough & Molly Stevens

Football Grub (and an excuse to make something sweet)

Our very first Superbowl party! To be honest, every year around our house the Superbowl pretty much comes and goes unnoticed. We may tune in for half-time or some of the commercials - the only time of year I will purposely watch a commercial and not change the channel - but never the game, let alone the whole thing.

What is different this year? Well, for the past several years my husband has worked with mostly women who weren't interested in football, and frankly, neither was he. Now he works at the indoor wind tunnel in Ogden, IFLY Utah. He has been a skydiver for years and has almost 4,000 skydives and roughly 130+ BASE jumps. Also, he and his best friend got sponsored for skydiving for the first time last year and are loving it.

You would think that all of that would be enough. It isn't. He is also a huge Supercross fan and will watch any of the X-Games type sports. Never really any mainstream sports though. Now, this year, he is suddenly watching a lot of football. Not really obsessively, and I don't think he even has a favorite team or feels the need to watch. I think he just enjoys watching a good game. So, this presents an interesting first time opportunity for me since we have never thrown any kind of "tail-gate" like party. This is more his speed.

I guess on this we both win. I get to plan a fun menu of things I don't really make all the time and he gets to have his buddies from work over to watch the game. This makes it rather difficult to impress him. His buddies however, I am hoping will be properly thrilled. Did I mention that only one of them coming over isn't a bachelor? Oh yea. I've got good guinea pigs coming.

So, I thought I would tell you about a few of the things we had. I made mac 'n cheese again as well as potato wedges and chicken bacon bites. Other than that I didn't have luck with getting pictures of some of the other things, so here is what I did get.

I made these rolls as buns for mini cheeseburgers and had more dough than needed for buns...so, I made cinnamon buns with part of the dough. Yeah, yeah, yeah - I could have just made less dough, but there have been some interesting mishaps in the kitchen lately... that, however, is another story (which I will confess to in the near future).

In the mean time, though I didn't get pictures of the hamburger rolls, I did get pictures of the cinnamon rolls. This dough makes a very soft, pillowy cinnamon roll. I don't recommend it for sticky buns, but they are great for cinnamon rolls. The only change I would make from below is to decrease the amount of salt in the dough.

POTATO ROLLS (for mini hamburgers)

Makes 30 to 35 rolls.

INGREDIENTS

2 small russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 packages active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar, plus a pinch
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus more for bowl and plastic wrap
4 teaspoons coarse salt
5 1/2 cups to 6 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cook potatoes until knife-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid. Mash potatoes; set aside.

2. Cool reserved liquid to 105 degrees. In the detached bowl of an electric mixer, whisk liquid, yeast, and pinch of sugar. Set aside until mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.

3. Attach bowl to electric mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment. With the mixer on low, add remaining sugar, reserved potatoes, buttermilk, 4 tablespoons melted butter, and salt. Gradually add enough flour to make a slightly sticky dough. Knead dough until smooth, about 2 minutes. Brush a mixing bowl with butter. Place dough in bowl; cover bowl with buttered plastic wrap. Set aside to rise until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

4. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough out 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into 2-inch-wide strips. Cut strips into triangles or squares; place at least 1 1/4 inches apart on baking sheets. Brush tops with remaining melted butter; cover with buttered plastic wrap. Let rise until dough does not spring back when pressed with a finger, 15 minutes. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes; serve.

VARIATION:

CINNAMON ROLLS

For the filling:

2/3 C light brown sugar

1/4 C sugar

1/4 C butter, melted

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

For the glaze:

2 C powdered sugar

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp milk (plus additional if needed to get desired consistency)

Whisk together til smooth in a small bowl.

For the cinnamon rolls after you turn the dough out roll it as above into a rectangle. Brush with the melted butter, leaving a strip clean at the top to seal the dough after rolling. Spread with the cinnamon mixture and press lightly into the dough. Cut into 1 1/2-inch slices using a sharp serated knife. Place in buttered baking dish to rise again (about 30 minutes). Bake as above, 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before adding the glaze.