Game Day Grub 2024

SLOW COOKER BBQ CHICKEN SLIDERS

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or pulled chicken
• 12-pack slider buns
• 1 18 oz bottle BBQ sauce
• 1 18 oz bottle Italian dressing

Drizzle both bottles over chicken breasts, cover & cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Don’t open the lid until at least 6 hours. Shreds easily! Serve on rolls or pistolettes. (Italian dressing gives it a tangy sauce – yum!)

SLOW COOKER BUFFALO CHICKEN SLIDERS

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 17 oz bottle buffalo wing sauce, divided
• 1/2 of 1 oz package dry ranch dressing mix
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Slider buns or potato rolls
• Blue cheese, feta cheese, or shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Place the chicken breasts into a slow cooker, and pour in 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 7 hours. Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter, and shred the meat finely with two forks. Pile the meat onto the rolls, and splash with the remaining buffalo wing sauce and cheese to serve.

MURPHY’S TRICK FOR THE BEST BURGERS

Murphy makes the BEST burgers!!   He learned a trick from his friend Dave.  Here are the secrets to the BEST burgers ever:

• 1 – Buy good, quality meat.  And make sure it has fat.  Save lean meats for soup.
• 2 – Don’t OVERWORK the meat.  The more you mash and mix ground meat, it breaks down – changing the taste.
• 3 – Don’t over-season the meat.  Just use salt & a little pepper.  This honors the natural and GREAT flavor of the meat – that you’ve NOT overworked or over-seasoned.
• 4 – Don’t mash down on it during cooking – that releases the tasty fat.

Recommendation:  Have a burger BAR for everyone to put what they want on their perfect burger.  Don’t put sauces and condiments IN the burger, put them on the bar.

Burger Buffet Bar:

• Ketchup/Mayo/Mustard
• Relish
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Salsa
• Cheese slices
• Shredded Cheese
• Jalapenos
• BACON!
• Avocado

SAM’S SMASH BURGER TACOS

• 1 lb ground beef
• 5-6 tortillas (medium-sized…not taco or burrito sized…use that middle size)
• Onions, diced
• Tomatoes, diced
• Lettuce, shredded
• Cheese
• Condiments

This is more of a method than a recipe. A pound of ground beef will make about 5 of these.

Have your griddle or pan on medium-high heat. Lightly roll the meat into balls and place the balls on the hot griddle. Salt and pepper if you want. Before smashing them, top each ball with a tortilla and then smash both with a spatula, press, or whatever you like to use to smash your burger.

Once the meat is crispy around the edges, you can flip the burger/tortilla and top with cheese. Cover the burger with a lid or dome to melt the cheese quickly. Once the tortilla is a little toasty and the cheese is melted, remove the burger taco from the grill and top with your favorite condiments and toppings.

**I also like to grill some onions while cooking the burgers because I like grilled onions on mine.

CAST IRON QUESO

• 8oz  block of pepper jack cheese
• 8 oz block of Monterey jack
• 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 10 oz can of Rotel tomatoes (not drained)
• 1/2 lb of cooked & drained ground beef OR pork etc (Add taco seasoning to the meat)
• 10 oz can of green chilis (not drained)

Place in the cast iron. No need to stir (yet). Put in the oven at 350 degrees until melty. Take it out carefully and stir. VERY cheesy. VERY tasty. ENJOY.

WARM & CHEESY BACON DIP

• 16 ozsour cream
• 12 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
• ⅓ cup sliced scallions

Preheat oven to 400 °F. In a large bowl, stir together all of the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture into a 1½-quart baking dish. Bake until the dip is bubbling and starting to brown on top, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm with chips, baguette slices, or your favorite crackers.

TOUCHDOWN DIP

• 1 ½ Cup Mayo
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• ½ -1 Cup Bacon Crumbles/Bits
• 4 Green Onions, sliced
• ½ Cup slivered almonds

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients with a spatula. Mix well. Refrigerate until time to serve. Can be made a day ahead. Serve cold with tortilla chips, corn chips, and veggies. Optional: You can add 1 teaspoon of minced garlic for more kick. **This dip is sometimes called Million Dollar Dip.

 BAKED BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

• 2 cups shredded chicken (rotisserie works well)
• 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• ¼ cup buffalo sauce
• 1 tbsp. ranch dressing
• A dash or 2 of hot sauce
• Finely chopped chives or green onions for garnish (optional)
• Celery sticks for serving.

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl combine chicken, cream cheese, 3/4 cup cheddar, buffalo sauce, ranch, and hot sauce. Pour mixture into a baking dish and top with remaining cheddar cheese.  Bake until warm & bubbling! About 15 minutes. Serve with thick bread, heavy chips, and veggie sticks.

SAM’S BACON ONION JAM

• 1 pound bacon, diced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

Dice up the whole package of bacon before cooking. Cook bacon in a skillet until it just gets crispy. Don’t overcook it. Remove cooked bacon from the skillet and drain the bacon grease, leaving about 2 TBS. Use that to caramelize your onions and shallots. Once the onions and shallots are caramelized, add the rest of the ingredients (including the cooked bacon) and mix them together.

I like to take it all once it’s cooked and use my immersion blender (stick blender) to chop up those bacon pieces a little more and blend it together like a jam. But you don’t need to do this – it’s good either way!

MINI CORNDOGS

• 1 can Pillsbury Cornbread Swirls
• 1 pkg cocktail weiners

Separate and unroll each cornbread swirl.  Cut each into 3 equal pieces.  Roll a cocktail weenie up in each piece of cornbread swirl.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 14-17 mins. Serve with your favorite condiments or dipping sauces.

SHEET PAN NACHOS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef (You can also shred chicken or pork)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning
• 12 ounces tortilla chips
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and garlic, and cook until beef has browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks; stir in taco seasoning. Drain excess fat.

Place tortilla chips in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Top with ground beef mixture, black beans, corn and cheeses. Place into oven and bake until heated through and the cheese melts, about 5-6 minutes. Serve immediately, topped with tomato, onion, jalapeno, sour cream and cilantro.

SAM’S POTATO NACHOS

• 3 potatoes (Russets)
• 8 oz of your favorite cheese, shredded (I used pepper jack)
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 1½ Tbs paprika
• 1 Tbs onion powder
• 1 Tbs garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup green onion, chopped
• 12 oz pkg of bacon
• Sour cream, salsa, or whatever you want to serve/dip with

Cook the bacon as you normally would and set it aside. Once it cools a bit, you can chop it up.

Preheat oven to 400°. Clean the potatoes and slice them into 1/4 “ slices. Put them all in a large bowl and toss with olive oil and spices. Place coated potato slices in a single layer on baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes then flip the potatoes and bake for additional 20 minutes.

Turn oven to broil. In a cast iron or baking dish do a layer of potatoes, shredded cheese, bacon, and green onion. Repeat until all potatoes are used up. Broil dish until all cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with your favorite condiments.

SUPERBOWL CHEESEBOARD – “SUPERBOARD”

• Cheese – 2 kinds
• Strong/Heavy Wheat Crackers
• Breadsticks
• Pepperoni
• Green grapes
• Sliced Peppers
• Carrot Sticks
• Kalamata Olives
• Ranch
• Hummus
• Popcorn
• PB stuffed pretzels OR crunch big ones
• Mustard for dipping

SLIDERS

• 1 lb ground meat (80/20)
• 1 pkg King’s Hawaiian rolls
• 2 Tbs all-purpose seasoning or salt/pepper/garlic powder mix
• ½ onion, chopped and sauteed
• 2 cups shredded cheese, your preference
• 3 Tbs butter, melted
• 1 tsp garlic salt

Press beef into 9/13 pan until the pan is completely covered. Season with all-purpose seasoning. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 7 minutes. While beef is cooking, slice the rolls horizontally making sure to keep the tops together and the bottoms together. Remove beef from oven. It should shrink in size but fit perfectly on the bottom of the rolls. Top beef with sauteed onions and cheese. Place tops of rolls on top of the beef/onion/cheese. Add garlic salt to melted butter and mix well. Brush mixture on top of all the rolls/sliders. Return the tray of sliders to the oven until cheese is melted and roll tops are browning. Remove from oven and slice into individual sliders and serve.

PHILLY CHEESESTEAKS

• 2 ribeye steaks
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 large bell pepper, sliced
• 3-4 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbsp Tony’s seasoning
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• Poboy/Hero/Hoagie bread
• Provolone cheese slices

Put the ribeyes in the freezer until they are almost frozen.  Remove from the freezer and slice very thin slices. (Being almost frozen makes it easier to slice thinly).  Season ribeye slices with Tony’s or a season all or your fave seasoning mix and place in Ziplock bag with oil.  Place in refrigerator for at least an hour

Slice onions, pepper and mushrooms and set aside. (I do these on the outdoor griddle, but you can use a few skillets on the stove.) Set one side of griddle on high heat and when heated, place sliced ribeyes on griddle to cook…doesn’t take but about 5 minutes.  Make sure you stir them occasionally to get an even cook.

While the steaks are going, cook the onions/peppers/shrooms on the other side of the griddle over medium/high heat. Veggies and meat should all be ready about the same time…toss all together on one side of the griddle and keep on medium heat. Slice your bread lengthwise, butter and place open side down on low griddle to give em a little crisp.

Separate your meat/veg mix into sandwich-sized portions and top each portion with some provolone. (If you have a dome cover you can place over the meat to make the cheese melt quicker).  I know purists say cheese whiz is the cheese to use…feel free, I haven’t tried it yet.

Once cheese is melted on top of meat to your liking, place bread on top of the meat/cheese open side down and use the spatula to lift the meat and bread at the same time, flipping over so you have a cheesesteak sandwich.

*This looks more complicated than it is.  With some prep, you can do all the cooking in under 10 minutes.  I also use pistolettes to make more smaller sandwiches…for those who don’t want the whole big sandwich.

SAM’S CHICKEN BACON RANCH SKILLET

• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika (for potatoes)
• 1 tsp ranch seasoning
• 1 chicken breast, cubed
• 2 tsps ranch seasoning
• ½ tsp each of salt and pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp minced garlic
• 6 strips of bacon
• 8 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 2 green onions, diced

Dice your potatoes into small cubes and toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic
powder. You can always adjust your seasoning measurements to your liking. Place seasoned
potatoes in an air fryer. Cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Be sure to toss/shake the potatoes
every 5 minutes.

While the potatoes cook, fry your bacon in a cast iron. Pour off the bacon grease when done but
keep about 2 Tbs in the skillet to cook the chicken. Put the cubed chicken in the hot skillet and season with salt, pepper, paprika, ranch seasoning, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until done and remove the skillet from the heat. When the potatoes finish you add them to the chicken in the skillet.

Mix the chicken and potatoes well and top with the pepper jack cheese. Crumble the bacon onto the cheese. Broil the whole skillet for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Sprinkle green onions on top of the melted cheese and serve.

This does taste yummy with ranch drizzled on top too!

STEAK VERSION

Prepare the potatoes as directed in the recipe above (you can also use a 16oz bag of diced frozen hash browns)

Ribeye steak
1 stick of butter
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 8oz block of cheese, shredded (I used pepper jack)

Dice steak into bite sized pieces, drizzle the pieces with a little olive oil and whatever seasonings (steak seasoning) you prefer.  While the potatoes are cooking in the air fryer, heat half of the stick of butter in a cast iron over medium high heat, cook the steak pieces briefly (until just cooked).  Removed cooked pieces from the skillet.  Add the other half stick of butter and garlic to the skillet and cook the garlic briefly.  Once done, remove skillet from burner and pour off and save the garlic butter. When potatoes are done, toss them in  the skillet with with the steak pieces, mix those up and pour the garlic butter over the potato/steak mixture, top with your favorite shredded cheese and place the skillet in the oven under your broiler for a couple minutes (until cheese melts).  No bacon or ranch in this recipe, and it’s delish!

BAKED CHICKEN WINGS

• 1 to 4 pounds chicken wings, cut into drumettes and flats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder per pound of chicken wings
• ½  teaspoon kosher salt per pound of chicken wings
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter per pound of chicken wings
• 2 tablespoons of your favorite wing sauce per pound of chicken wings
• Blue cheese dressing, for serving
• Celery sticks, for serving

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire rack inside. Carefully dry chicken wings with paper towels. In a large bowl, combine wings with baking powder and salt and toss until thoroughly and evenly coated. Place on rack, leaving a slight space between each wing. Repeat with the remaining 2 batches of wings. Place baking sheet with wings in the refrigerator and allow to rest, uncovered, at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Add chicken wings and cook for 20 minutes. Flip wings and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes longer, flipping a few more times towards the end.

Meanwhile, combine butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking until combined. Transfer wings to a large bowl, add sauce, and toss to thoroughly coat. Serve wings immediately with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks, conspicuously shunning anyone who says that real Buffalo wings must be fried.

SLOW COOKER BBQ PORK LOIN

• 3-4 pound pork loin
• 12 oz root beer
• 16 oz Hickory BBQ sauce
• Your fave meat seasoning

Rub the loin generously with your favorite seasoning rub. Pour the root beer and BBQ sauce in your crock pot and mix well. Add the loin. Cook in the slow cooker for 6-7 hours on low or 3-3 1/2 hours on high. You can slice the loin and serve with sides or shred it and serve it on buns or slider rolls.

SAM’S MEATBALL SANDWICH PRESSED SUB

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (or you can do half beef and half ground pork)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
• 1/4 cup bleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle dark/amber beer
• 1 cup water

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground meats, chopped yellow onion, chopped garlic, egg, bread crumbs, Worcestershire, and 1½ teaspoons Creole seasoning. Mix well with your hands and form into meatballs the size of a golf ball or a little larger.

Combine the flour and 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning in a shallow plate. Roll the meatballs evenly in the flour mixture, tapping off any excess. Reserve any remaining flour.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs and brown evenly, using a spoon to turn them. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside. With a wooden spoon scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any brown bits. Stir in the reserved seasoned flour. Stir constantly for 3 to 4 minutes to make a dark brown roux. Add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are slightly soft, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in the beer and water and mix well.

Bring to a boil and return the meatballs to the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour, until the gravy is thick, turning and basting the meatballs with the pan gravy about every 15 minutes.

***This makes a brown gravy. If I want red gravy, I add a jar of basic pasta sauce instead of the water.

Then I spooned the meatballs onto subbread with some cheese on top and put them in a sandwich press. YUM.