I Ate The Chocodile

Watching football can be a household cultural event much like a Thanksgiving dinner, steeped in tradition. Whenever there’s a big game on television, you can count on a creamy crock of queso piled with spicy Scimeca’s sausage on the table, or a rainbow of kebabs or beer-soaked bratwurst sizzling on the grill. There is often more entertainment for me in the process of preparing, serving, and enjoying food with friends and loved ones than in the outcome of the sporting event at hand. I was determined that this year would be no different, so here is the menu that I prepared for today’s contest between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots:

Crudités

Whole radishes and super-crisp celery sticks, soaked in ice cold filtered water, then plucked out at the last minute and served with a sprinkling of sea salt

Dips

Classic Bleu Cheese for wings: Ken’s Steakhouse Blue Cheese Dressing, Daisy No Fat Sour Cream, buttermilk bleu cheese crumbles and a pinch of kosher salt

Perfect for dipping those drummettes and celery sticks, or potato wedges

Southwestern Chipotle Ranch: Canned Chipotle peppers in Adobo, Hidden Valley Light Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, Daisy No Fat Sour Cream and a pinch of kosher salt

A smoky, spicy alternative to accompany fried mushrooms, also great on a grilled chicken sandwich

Dilled Ranch Dip: Daisy No Fat Sour Cream, kosher salt, Hidden Valley Light Buttermilk Ranch Dressing and a generous portion of dill

A take on the dip that my mother used to serve with carrot sticks, cauliflower and the like… without all of the mayonnaise. Great on raw veggies, chunks of pumpernickel bread, (Who doesn’t love a bread bowl?) and fried dill pickles.

Fritto Misto (Low-Carb style!)

Cream cheese jalapeño poppers

Cayenne-dusted fried mushrooms

Fried zucchini with tomato basil sauce and fresh grated Pepato cheese

Fried dill pickle spears

Deep-fried chicken wings with Buffalo Wild Wings “Wild” sauce

And how did I manage this, you might ask? What is that golden-brown cornflake crumb or Panko-esque breading, and how could it possibly be low-carb? One word: chicharones. That’s right, pork rinds. 0 grams of carbohydrates, and no discernible effect on flavor… just crunchy, wonderful goodness. No one would ever suspect their favorite bar food to be enrobed in fried pork skins… It’s not something I’d do all the time, but while I fudged a lot on fat and calories today, I can at least say that I was able to enjoy some excellent quality game day snacks without knocking myself out of that hard-earned state of Ketosis.

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