Super Superbowl Nachos

Happy Superbowl Sunday. No matter who is playing, watching the game with friends and family is a tradition I look forward to every year. Since we're avid Dolphins fans in this house, I'm not very invested in who wins. That means I can sit back and just enjoy the food!

In honor of Superbowl Sunday, Rick and I made some yummy nachos...they are the bomb! Have fun today, wherever you are and whatever you're eating.

Super Superbowl Nachos
1/2 lb venison, grilled and chopped into small bite sized pieces
1/2 can refried beans
1/2 jar hot salsa
black olives (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
guacamole
Blue corn tortilla chips (Garden of Eatin' spicy red hot and blues are best for this)

Mix the salsa and beans together and heat in microwave for 1 minute. Place a layer of chips on a plate, dollop the salsa/bean mixture over chips and sprinkle with meat and olives (if you're having them), then sprinkle with cheese. Repeat the layer process until you have the heap of nachos you want (I do it once for myself, the photo is Rick's serving, which is three layers deep*). Heat in microwave until cheese is melted (time will vary depending on the density of your creation). Removed and put desired amount of sour cream and guacamole on top.

*Yes, Rick ate that entire plate in one sitting. And yes, he had a bit of a tummy ache after.

Venison & Chile Cheesecake

Today was the annual Appalachian Hunting Club holiday party. I thought this would be a good time to try a new appetizer out. I figured with a bunch of hunters, something of the cheese and meat variety would be a likely hit.

I was right.

I turned to my trusty Colorado Collage cookbook for inspiration, and found it on page 33 in the Chile Cheesecake. I made a few modifications (mostly adding ground venison, substituting the sour cream with guacamole, and omitting the green onions and black olives).

It was delicious. This would be a wonderful dish for your Superbowl party...it's a nice change to 7-layer dip.

Venison & Chile Cheesecake
2 cups tortilla chips, crushed
6 tbs butter, melted
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softended
2 eggs
1 4-oz can diced green chiles
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
8 oz colby-jack cheese, grated
1 lb ground venison, browned
1/2 cup qucamole
2 plum tomatoes, diced

Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, combine tortilla chips and butter. Press into bottom of 9-in. springform pan. Bake 15 minutes, remove from oven, and leave oven on.

In large bowl, blend cream cheese and eggs. Add green chiles, jalapeno, colby-jack, and venison. Pour over crust and bake 30 minutes. (Be careful not to overcook.) Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run knife around inside edge and remove sides from pan. Spread guacamole over top and sprinkle with tomatoes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Steak on Stick--the perfect party appetizer

Rick is out hunting in the rain today. That doesn't sound like my idea of fun, but he seemed pretty psyched. At least he decided to skip the morning hunt and stay dry a little longer (often his need for coffee in the morning outweighs his need to sit in the tree). He left mid-morning, after doing part of the prep work for the teriyaki venison skewers we're taking to a party tonight (that is slicing the meat into strips).

The hunting widows reading this may be wondering how I've convinced my husband to go to a party on a Saturday night during hunting season. Trust me, this is unusual. The only reason he is going is because the people upon whose land he hunts are throwing the party. His plan is to come out of the tree at dark, walk up to the house, a
nd join the fun. I'll be getting a ride to the party with a friend.

We're bringing Rick's famous Steak-on-a-Stick, teriyaki venison style. Every time we've made this, it's gone immediately. Even our picky young nephews have told us we can make it whenever we want.

Steak-on-a-Stick—Venison Teriyaki

• ½ lb to 1 lb venison chunks, cut into strips (about ½ inch wide by 3 to 5 inches long) (note: because you are marinating this, you don’t have to use prime cuts of meat. Just make sure you’re using pieces of venison that you can cut to into the strips)
• Teriyaki sauce
• Skewers (we use bamboo skewers if we're taking these to a party)
  
• 1 cup sesame seeds

Cut the venison into strips and place in container with lid. Cover the meat with teriyaki sauce. If the sauce doesn’t cover the meat, add water until all pieces are submerged. Place in fridge and let marinate for at least 4 hours (the longer the meat marinates, the more tender it will be). After marinating, put meat on skewers, threading well enough so the meat won’t fall off when cooking. Clean out the container and put the meat on the skewers back in it. Pour the cup of sesame seeds over the meat, cover, and shake so that the seeds cover all the meat. Heat grill to 350. Place the skewers on the grill. By the time you’ve put the last one down, it will be time to flip. It generally takes 3 to 5 minutes to cook.

For the Teriyaki sauce

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbs minced ginger (fresh or from a jar)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tsp honey
• ¼ cup cold water (if needed to thin sauce)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to allow the sauce to thicken. Once it reaches a boil, take it off the heat and let it cool. If it looks too thick, add the cold water until it’s the consistency you want.

A few notes:

• These are best when cooked on the grill, but they work in the broiler too. Either way, watch them closely because they cook very fast.
• You can probably use pre-made teriyaki sauce, although we’ve never tried it. The homemade sauce is very easy to make and really doesn’t take much time.
• The recipe makes a lot! We usually take it to parties, and we never bring any leftovers home.