Whether you’re rooting for the Atlanta Falcons, the New England Patriots, the commercials or the puppies on Super Bowl Sunday, you have common ground with your neighbors: You’re doing it with a heart-stopping plate of snack food in hand.
The Super Bowl — this year, Sunday, Feb. 5 — is the Thanksgiving of American sports, with chicken wings replacing turkey, nachos instead of stuffing, jalapeno poppers subbing for green bean casserole. And then there are the spuds: You’re missing out on grade-A gorging if you skip the humble starch.
Mashed potatoes, however, won’t do. Too dinner table. No, the Super Bowl is prime time for another potato prep: tots.
I’m a fan of store-bought, freezer-aisle tots (Tater Tots, if we’re being proper; Ore-Ida owns the trademark), which are way easier than making tots from scratch. (Trust me.) And sure, an unadorned tot is fine on its own, but for the Super Bowl, it’s all about going big or losing to someone’s bacon-weave taco. Top your tots with Buffalo chicken and blue cheese. Pair them with curds and a poutine-inspired gravy. Have you ever thought about putting tots in the waffle iron? Well you should, and your friends will thank you.
Take home MVP (Most Valuable Potato, if you’d like) this year with these three tot-ally gluttonous upgrades.
jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @joeybear85
Buffalo tot-chos
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 4 hours
Makes: 6-8 servings
Let your slow cooker do the heavy work with this recipe. With most of the prep done the night before, you won’t have much to do on Game Day but sit back and pop open another beer.
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 bottle (12 ounces) hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot
Salt and pepper
1 package (28 ounces) frozen Tater Tots
8 ounces crumbled blue cheese
Ranch dressing
1 Place chicken in a slow cooker. Coat chicken in garlic and cayenne powders. Add Worcestershire, butter and hot sauce. Cover and cook on low until fork tender, about 4 hours.
2 Once cooked, taste sauce and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Using two forks, shred the finished chicken finely. Reserve any sauce.
3 When ready to serve the chicken, prepare tots in oven according to package instructions. Remove from oven, and place on a serving platter or plate. Top with shredded chicken, blue cheese and ranch dressing.
Nutrition information per serving (for 8 servings): 599 calories, 39 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 206 mg cholesterol, 25 g carbohydrates, 2 g sugar, 37 g protein, 2,058 mg sodium, 2 g fiber
Tot waffle bar
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15-30 minutes
Makes: 8-10 servings
Tot waffles are an internet sensation, and for good reason. The crispy wedges of carbohydrates offer a blank canvas. Set up a toppings bar, and let guests overindulge.
2 packages (28 ounces) frozen Tater Tots
1 Thaw tots in fridge for an hour or more, or in batches in a microwave, about 2 minutes.
2 Heat oven to 200 degrees. Heat waffle iron, lightly brushing with vegetable oil or spraying with nonstick cooking spray. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3 Working in batches, fill waffle iron with a single layer of tots in a tightly packed grid, lined up like little soldiers. If you don’t pack the tots tightly enough, the waffles will come out weblike, with holes in some sections. When closing the waffle iron, give a good squeeze and weight with a cast-iron skillet or other heavy equipment. This will flatten the tots, ensuring you get a full waffle with no holes. Cook until browned and crisp, 8 to 18 minutes; the timing greatly depends on the power of your waffle iron. You’re aiming for an extra-crispy waffle.
4 Transfer waffle to the prepared baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining tots.
Toppings bar ideas
Sour cream, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, chives or green onion: Your classic baked potato, but now extra crispy, thanks to the waffle iron.
Marinara, mozzarella, pepperoni and other pizza toppings: Place in the oven to melt cheese, and you’ve got tot pizzas.
Guacamole and crumbled-up pork rinds: I call it a lapsed hippie’s avocado toast.
Pulled pork, slaw, cheddar: Want to get cray? Use two waffles to create the world’s best pulled pork sandwich.
Note: Nutritional information too variable to calculate for this recipe.
Pou-tot-tine
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30-40 minutes
Makes: 6 servings
Taking cues from the French fries, curds and gravy dish from our neighbors to the north, pou-tot-tine is a no-brainer.
1 package (10 ounces) cheese curds
1 package (28 ounces) Tater Tots
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1/4 cup flour
2 cups high-quality beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste
3 stalks green onion, finely sliced (green parts only)
1 Allow cheese curds to come to room temperature about 30 minutes before cooking. Prepare tots according to package instructions.
2 In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion; cook until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour, whisking until all flour has been incorporated. Cook while whisking until the roux turns light brown, about 5 minutes.
3 Turn heat down to low. Slowly add stock to the saucepan, whisking constantly. Taste mixture, and add salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat back up to medium; cook, stirring constantly, until you achieve desired thickness, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
4 To serve, arrange prepared tots in bowls. Top each bowl with a handful of cheese curds and a ladleful of gravy. Sprinkle each bowl with green onions and serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 584 calories, 30 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 59 g carbohydrates, 5 g sugar, 14 g protein, 1,428 mg sodium, 5 g fiber
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