Eating the Opponent - planning ahead

My Green Bay Packers had a bye the first week of postseason. Depending on the results of two other games (or three?), they knew they would either play the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions, or the Atlanta Falcons. Or was it - Giants, Lions, or Saints? No, I think the Saints are elsewhere in the seeding order. Is that redundant - seeding order?

Meanwhile, back at the O.K. Chorale, we had no opponent last week. We had no definitive direction in which to point our spatulas and whisks. Instead of a menu, I give you The NFL Postseason According to Chuck.

Remember, Chuck is not a football fan. He's been forced to learn the game because 1. he married me and 2. he works for a television station in Green Bay and 3. his kids bleed green and gold like their mother. Despite being uncaring and outnumbered, he has a theory on this year's postseason action and potential results. Here goes:

Chuck believes that marketing drives all. The game that would attract the most viewers and have the most action would be an NFC Championship Game featuring two of the best quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. To get that far, New Orleans has to win again, and Green Bay has to beat the Giants on Sunday afternoon.

That's basically it. New Orleans vs. Green Bay at Lambeau Field on January 22. Are you in, fellow fans? I'll bring the jambalaya.

But first, I'll bring home Jersey bagels for breakfast and grill New York Strip Steak for dinner. Take that, Giants.

As for the AFC, Chuck predicts the Denver Broncos. In his twisted television logic, he reminded me that the networks have groomed us to want the most drama before, during, and after the game. If Chuck's predictions come to pass (no pun intended, and don't you dare say none noticed), we'll see MVP Aaron Rodgers and his entourage up against the God-loving rookie kneeling on the sidelines.

Well, Tebow may be posing for a new version of The Thinker, but he shouldn't forget that Reggie White was evangelizing on the field when little Timmy was still a bobble-headed Pop Warner kid. And Reggie earned his wings, I mean his Super Bowl ring, with the green and gold.

Any questions?

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Eating the Opponent for the Playoffs

I baked pumpkin bread in the bread machine a few days ago and thought, "Ooh! I should post this." Duh. I posted it just before Christmas. By the way, it's delicious with pecans.

As for Eating the Opponent, we're thinking New York Strip Steak and Jersey bagels. Then again, New York pizza has its own style and Lombardi's of Manhattan is reputed to have been the first pizzeria in the U.S. Related to the trophy namesake? My research in that direction has had no results.

On the other hand, there are the famous New York black and white cookies, made from cake, not cookies. They look delicious, but I don't have time to bake a high-maintenance recipe that includes small cakes and two kinds of frosting. I wonder if any local bakeries make them? It might be worth checking. This native New York dish has a roundabout connection to the upcoming game, almost a 6 Degrees type of thing. Here goes.

The last time the New York Giants came to Lambeau Field, there was a big to-do about Eli Manning's favorite TV show being Seinfeld. Not wanting to give comfort to the enemy, our local affiliate refused to run its Seinfeld reruns at the usual time on that Saturday night. Seinfeld has incorporated the black and white cookie into at least one or two episodes. Is that enough for a connection? Well, if I had time to bake, maybe.

My research also turned up New York chili dogs, a.k.a. Coney dogs, but we used those as a tribute to the Detroit Lions. Let's hear it, readers. Can you name a uniquely New York food suitable for Eating the Opponent this weekend?

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Eating the Opponent: Detroit!

Eat our turf, Lions!

I mean - the project continues. La Petite has her lucky jersey (Aaron Rodgers' retro style), Amigo has his touchdown dance, and we have Eating the Opponent. Upon further review, we found that the Coney Dog actually has Michigan roots. To make this in true Detroit style, we'll need the following:

• all-beef weiners, natural casing preferred
• all meat chili (no beans or other additives), a.k.a. Coney Sauce
• diced yellow onions
• yellow mustard (optional)
• hot dog buns, lightly toasted

Readers, I think you can figure out how it all fits together.

In the interests of shopping locally, I'm going to pick up my hot dogs at the neighborhood corner market and find some good buns at a nearby bakery. I think we can handle the chili ourselves.

Now that I'm an owner, Eating the Opponent takes on new meaning. Or does it? We were pretty hard core already. The Packers have a bye the first week of the playoffs. How will I know what to cook?

In other news: Badgers Fans, consider serving Duck on New Years Day. You get the drift.

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Eating the Opponent: Chicago!

Why are you reading blogs? It's Christmas Eve! Oh, yes, it's NFL football day, too. My Green Bay Packers play tomorrow, though. However, Green Bay maintains its popularity in the NFL schedule by playing on the national stage again, this time on a holiday: Christmas Day.

In the Okay By Me homestead, we'll eat the opponent on Christmas Eve. Tonight. After a day of wrapping presents and organizing gifts and cleaning the house, I just don't feel up to cooking something special. Neither does Chuck. It's a good thing the Packers are playing the Chicago Bears. We picked up a Chicago style deep dish pizza yesterday from a take and bake place. Followed by Christmas cookies for dessert, it will be the perfect Christmas Eve supper.

After the presents are unwrapped, the brunch eaten, the naps taken (believe me, I'll need one), we'll gather around the Christmas tree and watch our Packers take the field once again. It's Aaron Rodgers' neighborhood, remember, and Sunday promises to be a beautiful day.

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Banana Bread with Crumble Topping

Recipe from Bakesale Betty: Oakland, CA. This was part of our Eating the Opponent challenge as the Packers prepared to play the Oakland Raiders.

Ingredients: banana bread batter

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed rip bananas - 2 to 3 medium

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil or olive oil

1/4 cup honey (local, of course)

Crumble ingredients:

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

Directions:

Butter and flour 9" by 5" by 3" bread pan or alternative

Whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.

Whisk bananas, eggs, oil, and honey. add dry ingredients; stir to blend. Transfer batter to pan(s). Mix crumble ingredients; sprinkle over batter.

Bake bread at 350 for 1 hour - less if splitting it into smaller pans. Cool bread in pan for 30 minutes (if you can wait that long). Turn pan on its side; slide out bread, being gentle with topping. Turn bread right side up and cool completely.

This might just become my Christmas morning standard. It can bake and then cool while we're opening presents. By the time we've left the wrappings as playthings for the rabbit, we're hungry enough to enjoy a special treat. This banana bread with more could be just the right treat.

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Eating the Opponent - the Oakland Raiders

Sometimes it's the quest. It's the journey, not the destination. When Eating the Opponent, however, the destination matters, too. The Oakland Raiders presented a challenge.

Oakland, CA is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States. Since local foods and signature recipes often come from local culture (see Gumbo or Jambalaya), extreme diversity poses a problem. What to serve? A Raider Nation head on a platter didn't seem, well, tasteful, to tell you the truth.

I tried searches for local foods, local restaurants, and even stadium foods. No luck. I found some fascinating sites and interesting articles, but no foods that could grace our table the weekend the Packers play the Raiders. Finally, a search for Oakland Recipes turned up a list of signature recipes from local restaurants. Chuck wasn't thrilled to try cooking duck, so I opted for downloading a savory chicken recipe from SR24 and a banana bread with Cinnamon Crumble Topping from Bakesale Betty's. Both look delicious on the page; they'll be delectable on our table.

In other news, Chuck found out that in 2009 the Raiders' stadium was named the most vegetarian friendly venue in the NFL. Maybe we'll have Boca Burgers instead of the baked chicken.

Superstitious? No, not really. But we followed this routine last year as we watched our Packers go to the Super Bowl and win it. Why mess with success? Besides, this Eating the Opponent game is a lot of delightful fun.

Hey, Raiders fans? Good luck with the new stadium. You deserve it. Believe me, we Cheeseheads understand your passion for the local team. Maybe Favre would come out of retirement to help you out.... never mind.

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Eating the Opponent - New York or New Jersey?

My Green Bay Packers play the New York Giants tomorrow. In keeping with our tradition, we are planning to serve New York cuisine of some sort tonight to represent eating the opponent. This gets complicated, though. The Giants don't actually play in New York. Their home field, Met Life Stadium, is actually in New Jersey. What to do, what to serve, what to eat?

Amigo suggested New York strip steak. Chuck and I said, "Sure! That'll be delicious." It was almost too easy, though, so we kept going with our research. We settled on bagels for breakfast - not just any bagels, bagels from a local store that calls itself Jersey Bagels. They have great coffees, too. Ahem. Easy decision, that one.

Then Chuck found a site called New Amsterdam Market, saw a picture that inspired him, and started searching for the recipe. He found a pasta dish that incorporates butternut squash and fresh sage, both ingredients we have in the house. We'll have that on the side with our steak tonight.

In other factors, it's lousy weather this weekend in Northeastern Wisconsin. 37 degrees Fahrenheit, steady rain, and that means cold, wet, and colder and wetter. Two cold-weather teams ought to do well in this mess, but neither will enjoy playing. I almost (almost) hope the temperatures go down several degrees and that rain becomes snow. Green Bay Tough means coping with snow is easy. Well, maybe not easy, but within reason. Is New York-Jersey tough the same?

Several years ago when Giants' quarterback Eli Manning came to town, a local television station decided to change its schedule and refuse to air reruns of Manning's favorite show, Seinfeld. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it had no effect on the game. Favre threw one of his patented interceptions (Rodgers will let him keep that record), and the rest is history that ended with the Giants beating the Patriots in that year's Big Game.

Here we go, with the Packers undefeated at 11-0. Can they battle the elements as well as they've battled opponents? Will Manning and company be able to overcome Mr. Rodgers' home field neighborhood advantage? Stay tuned, and eat steak. New York strip steak, with a Big Apple on the side.

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Eating the Opponent - and Michigan's U.P.

We'll be eating a traditional turkey dinner at Grandma's on Thanksgiving Day. Grandma is cooking most of it ahead of time so she can watch the game.

What do you mean, what game??!!??

The Green Bay Packers are playing the Detroit Lions, of course. That's The Game. Turkey Day dinner will be on the table after the fourth quarter clock winds down. In the meantime, our Eating the Opponent project continues. We decided to broaden the definition of Detroit to include the entire state of Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula - da U.P., der hey, to us Wisconsinites. U.P. residents, affectionately known as Yoopers, have their own unique menus.

I stopped at a local pasty cafe and shop -- okay, okay. Stop the snickering in the peanut gallery! That's Pass-Tees. Not pays-trees or pays-tees. Pass-tees. The pasty was a food that miners could carry in their lunch pail and eat with their hands when they had their mid-day break. Traditional filling ingredients are beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions and other good stick-to-your-ribs edibles stuffed inside of a strong crust. Yooper history contends that the pasty was brought to the continental United States by Cornish miners (not minors) who came to work in the copper and iron mines of the mineral rich U.P. Nowadays, locals serve pasties with ketchup (not gravy) or a special sauce that tastes like a spicy ketchup with jalapeno peppers.

Pasties are baked, never fried, never nuked. I bought "breakfast pasties" with bacon or sausage and scrambled eggs inside - 5 for $10, plus one free - to serve Thursday morning. Our official Turkey Dinner will hit the table after the game, so we'll need a solid breakfast. I think Yooper style Breakfast Pasties fit the bill.

Now if any of you doubt that U.P. food is appropriate for Eating the Opponent, I give you this. I asked the cafe staff, both native Yoopers, if football fans in da U.P. are Packers or Lions backers. Without hesitation, they both declared, "Lions!"

I think I'll serve these with a side of Trenary Toast.

Photo credit to Upper Peninsula Now's site for Pasty Recipes.

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Eating the Opponent: Green Bay vs. Tampa Bay

There was a recipe email in my inbox this morning with the subject line: "Plan ahead now for Thanksgiving!" Ahem. If you haven't started planning for Thanksgiving yet, it's not early. In fact, grocery stores will probably be mobbed this weekend with people who really did plan ahead.

Before the harvest celebration next Thursday, the family at Chez O.K. will once again be eating the opponent, Tampa Bay Buccaneers' style. Chuck did a little research and found that the Tampa area plays host to restaurants that serve foods with a Spanish influence, a nod to Florida's history. The menu for tonight features that influence.

Albondigas: Meatballs made from a blend of ground veal and beef with breadcrumbs and jerk seasoning simmered with tomato sauce and carrots and potatoes. No, we're not calling the Buccaneers jerks. We're using seasoning with a Caribbean influence. The tomato sauce will feature some of the last fresh tomatoes, harvested before the final frost and ripened indoors.

Breadsticks warmed with olive oil and cayenne pepper

Fruit salad of Passion fruit and oranges

Key Lime Pie for dessert. I admit it, the Florida Keys are not directly related to Tamp Bay or NFL Football. It is, however, delicious.

Main course alternatives were:

Grilled snapper topped with olive oil, diced tomato, garlic, onions, and artichoke hearts

-or-

Chorizo Espanola: sliced chorizo and onions sauteed in olive oil

We'll save those for next year. Go! Pack! Go!

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Eating the Opponent: Wild Rice Hot Dish

Yep, Green Bay played Minnesota last night. The Badgers played the Gophers, too, for the prize they call Paul Bunyan's Ax. Saturday night Amigo and I had a wild rice dish to invoke the taste of Minnesota.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 cup Minnesota wild rice, uncooked

1/2 lb. fresh muchrooms, sliced (optional)

1/2 cup green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons beef bouillon mix

1 1/2 cup water

Directions:

Rinse and soak wild rice in hot water for up to three hours. Drain.

In a four quart saucepaan, cover rice with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Brown ground beef in a nonstick skillet. Drain any fat or juices. Combine cooked ground beef with remaining ingredeitns in a large casserol dish. Mix thoroughly.

Cove and bake one hour at 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake 15 additional minutes.

Serves 6. Amigo and I had a lot left over.

Daisy's comments: I also added a diced chili pepper, one of the last from my garden. It spiced up the mix considerably. The final result was rather monochromatic. Delicious, but not much to decorate a plate. Next time I'll add something with more color. Various peppers, perhaps, or corn or peas (frozen from the garden or Farmers' Market, of course) would make this look as good as it tastes.

One more addition: this wild rice dish with its flavor and its beef made a great addition to potato soup. Potato and beefy wild rice soup; easy and delicious. I'm packing some in my lunch tomorrow.

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Eating the Opponent - a different angle

Here's a look at the opponent wall in the Packers Hall of Fame from a different angle. This week we took a different angle on our Eating the Opponent project, too.

The Packers played the San Diego Chargers. Normally we'd look up a signature food from San Diego and cook it Saturday night. This weekend was different because the time available for research and grocery shopping was slim to nonexistent and because we visited Amigo on Saturday to watch a Goal Ball tournament. A what tournament? Stay tuned; I'll have a post on it later.

What to do? The tiny bit of research I did named seafood and Mexican food as typical San Diego fare. That's rather general, but it got me started. Most of the seafood in my freezer is Midwestern in origin - tilapia, etc. I did have half a package of shrimp, so I made it with thin spaghetti topped with butter and grated Parmesan cheese. Yes, I know, it's a lame attempt at seafood. Saturday we ate lunch at Taco Bell, but that's far from authentic, so it doesn't count either.

Chuck got a little silly on Sunday. Since we hadn't cooked a good San Diego food, he created the following. Readers, I give you: Sandy Eggs on Charred Jer-sey (beef). Trust me; it was an improvement over the Sandy Eggo waffles he thought of first.

Translation: grilled steak with an egg over easy, topped with finely crushed pecans to resemble sand.

It's a groaner, I know. Next week the Pack will battle the Minnesota Vikings. I have a dish in mind already, and it has no puns whatsoever.

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Packers Bye Week; Racing Sausage Kabobs

Sometimes simplicity is best. Having a good pantry and fully provisioned freezer have gotten us through some busy days and harried weekends. This weekend should have been easy: the Packers had a bye! No opponent dishes to research and create! Instead, there was a feeling of let-down. Our Packers are doing well, but our Brewers didn't win quite enough. We decided to celebrate the Brewers' success, as far as it went, by making Racing Sausage Kabobs.

Here are the ingredients and basic supplies:

A side dish of baked beans - Chuck can never keep himself to just opening a can of beans. He adds several of his own special touches.

Another simple side: a can of fruit with sliced banana creates a fruit salad.

Here we go: Italian, Polish, Bratwurst, Hot Dog (natural casing, of course), and Chorizo - all on a stick for easy eating.

There you go, folks: a taste of Miller Park in our own home. Maybe they didn't make the World Series this time around, but the team did well. Very well.

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Eating the Opponent: Minneso-ta style

It was fried ravioli with Shock Top beer last week.

Amigo had his with Mello Yello.

This week, it's Minnesota. The guys in purple. The Northern team that plays in a (snort) dome. The dome that couldn't handle the snow last year and actually collapsed. No players in purple were injured during the perilous storm, but the Vikes had to play their next home game in an outdoor college stadium. Pardon me while I giggle a little at the irony of the whole disaster.

Back to the topic at hand: a Minnesota staple food. I asked my Facebook friends to help, but the two who live in the Twin Cities remained silent. I blogged a plea for ideas on Monday, and two chimed in. So.... we've narrowed it down.

We haven't decided or shopped for ingredients yet. Well, folks? Wild rice? The ubiquitous Minnesot'n hotdish? Lutheran-style after-church pie?

There is still one Farmers' Market left. I might buy my pie from the Amish baker. She makes delicious - well, everything. And almost next to her booth is the cheese vendor, the one who sells the freshest cheese curds I've ever eaten. Oh, wait. Cheese curds are Wisconsin, not Minnesota. Or are they also eaten west of the Mississippi and the St. Croix?

Meanwhile, let's not forget the whole reason for the Eating the Opponent routine.

Go! Pack! Go!

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Meal planning, Daisy style

A typical week looks like this in the OkayByMe kitchen:

Monday: Chuck works late, Daisy makes an omelet.

Tuesday: something good for two.

Wednesday: something good for two.

Thursday: something good for two. Can you tell we're enjoying the empty nest during the week?

Friday: Crock Pot or other easy dish to accommodate Amigo's pick-up time around five.

Meanwhile, eating the opponent continues on Saturday nights.

St. Louis Toasted (fried) Ravioli was delicious, but high maintenance. Chuck said "Never again." I said, "Let's leave it to the restaurants."

Next week, Minnesota Vikings. Last year we faced this dilemma, too. No lutefisk, I declared, not in my home! So instead, we made a stuffed meatloaf (good hot-dish, Lake Wobegon style) and bought a can of Spam. Breakfast featured turnovers in honor of former Packer turned traitor, er, Viking, Brett Favre.

No one liked the Spam.

But anyway, we'd like to expand on eating Minnesota next weekend. A search through Swagbucks turned up recipes with rhubarb (too easy), wild rice (a strong possibility), and the ubiquitous hot dish. Hot dish, for the uninitiated, is another name for a casserole. Meat, veggies, pasta or potatoes, all in one pan, stirred with a can of cream soup to hold it all together. Many hot dish formulas call for a can of tuna or a pound of browned ground beef.

We could make a ground beef and tater tot casserole using tater tots made in Plover, Wisconsin.

We could make a wild rice dish with fish or other wild game meat.

Turnovers? Not necessary this year. Take that, Brett.

Well, readers, what do you think? Minnesota friends, weigh in, please. What should we serve for Eating the Opponent when our Packers play the Vikings?

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