City Muse

06 February, 2006

Superbowl Nosh

I'm not exactly a sports freak, so the highlight of this year's Superbowl for me were the ads and the nosh.

Ifilm has posted the ads if you care to watch them. They bordered heavily on the silly, though some were hilarious; the Budweiser Streaker, Fedex Cavemen and Bud Light Office come to mind. Others were just plain silly, like the Whopperettes, Aleve's Mr. Nimoy and Hummer's Lil' Monster. Still others like ESPN's Mobile & Motorola's Pebl were just "huh?".

A few ads were directed towards women; smart move, since women are increasingly watching the Superbowl and its ads. One of them, the Dove: Girls, is one of my faves this year, along with the United Airlines: Knight ad which reminded me of old animated TV movies like The Selfish Giant and The Little Mermaid.

As for the nosh, I planned to make three dishes but skipped the beef fajitas at the last minute; my nachos and shrimp quesadillas were such a hit that people promptly got full on them. The tequila and Chimay beer D. served didn't help, either.

The nachos is my version of a dish we had at Parker's Lighthouse called Nachos Chinois. Instead of regular nacho chips, I used deep fried wonton wrappers that's been diagonally cut in half, drizzled with hoisin sauce and topped with bay shrimp, tomatoes, lots of cheese, green onions and cilantro. It sounds odd but it works; everybody raved about it.

For dessert, I made Choco Hot-o Pots from Nigella Lawson's recipe. It's a souffle-like dessert with a gooey chocolate middle that's sinfully addicting, so be warned. D. absolutely forbids me from making them again. Until the next time he begs, of course.

Nachos Chinois

4 c. canola or vegetable oil
1 package wonton wrappers
1 lb. cooked bay shrimp, thawed & drained
3 medium tomatoes, diced
6-8 tbsp. hoisin sauce
4 oz. grated monterey jack cheese
4 oz. grated cheddar cheese
6-8 stalks green onion, chopped
Chopped cilantro to taste
Diced jalapeno pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Heat the canola oil in a heavy saucepan until very hot. Cut the wonton wrappers in half diagonally. Deep fry the wrappers 2-3 pieces at a time. The wrappers take only seconds to brown; as soon as they hit the oil, turn them once and scoop them out immediately with a slotted spoon, draining out excess oil before transferring to an oven proof platter lined with paper towels. Season the deep fried wonton wrappers with salt to taste.

Preheat the broiler and carefully remove the paper towels from underneath the wonton wrappers. Top the wonton wrappers with the bay shrimp and diced tomatoes. Drizzle generously with the hoisin sauce and top evenly with the monterey jack and cheddar cheeses. Put the dish under the broiler for about three minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Remove from heat and sprinkle with the chopped scallions, cilantro and diced jalapeno pepper before serving. Serves 3-5.

posted at 10:36 PM by City Muse