Packer Super Bowl Fare...

Ok, so the Packers are in the Super Bowl, vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I love both teams, but of course am cheering for the Packers as any good Cheesehead would.


Lots of you out there might be planning a Super Bowl party and wondering what to make.  I have no idea what constitutes Pittsburgh Cuisine, but I do know a thing or two about what is traditionally served in Titletown, USA for such an affair.

I offer you three options, all good!

Green Bay Style Chili is a little like Cincinatti chili, but spiced differently.  In Texas, Green Bay Chili would be considered grounds for a hanging in some circles.  Basically, it's a fat-heavy finely diced brisket and spice sauce spooned over spaghetti noodles.  Beans, if you want them, are spooned over the top of that, and optional additional condiments are finely chopped onions, cheddar cheese and a shake or three of malt vinegar.

Supposedly, "Chili John", the man who brought this style of Chili to Green Bay's dockworkers at the turn of the last century, also invented the Oyster Cracker.  He wanted a small cracker for his customers to put on their chili.  John Madden never missed a stop at Chili John's for a bowl when covering the Packers.  More info on Chili John's at http://www.chilijohns.com/   You can also mail order the meat sauce, heat it up and dump it over your own noodles and try to crack the secret yourself.  Lots of people have tried, lots of people have come very close.  The recipe below gets closer than most.

Green Bay Style Chili

2 lbs. ground beef

1/4 lb beef suet

(or use really fatty ground beef...I grind my own so it tends to be leaner than that in stores...this is a greasy chili by design)
1 medium onion, pulverized in a blender.
2 T chili powder

Dash of Nutmeg
1 T cumin
1 T garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 T. cayenne pepper
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cups water

Brown the beef (and melt suet), dice up fine while cooking.  Add the rest of the ingredients, simmer for a bit, adding a little water as needed.  Transfer to a crock pot and put the rest of the water in.  Best if prepared in the morning and allowed to simmer all day on low, or set on high and leave in crock pot for a couple hours before serving.

Serve in a bowl over spaghetti, or beans and spaghetti. I actually like angel hair or linguini myself.  Serve with lots of oyster crackers. Other recommended condiments: more chili powder, malt vinegar, finely grated cheddar cheese, chopped raw onions, sour cream.  Huy Fong Rooster Sauce isn't authentic as a condiment, but damned good.

Booyah is a weird combination of French and Belgian cuisines so unique to Green Bay that most people outside of a 30 mile radius of the town have never heard of it.  It is traditional fare at Catholic church picnics in the Green Bay area, along with lots and lots of beer, bratwurst and polka bands.   Most people I know from 'Da Bay got drunk, high or laid the very first time at a Catholic church picnic, so the festivals are quite...er...secular in nature.  Booyah is a hearty, thick chicken stew, usually served up with "Sheboygan" rolls, which are a hard, chewy Kaiser roll, with butter.

I've never known anyone to make Booyah in a small amount...it's festival or party fare.  Here's a recipe that makes 5 gallons:

Green Bay Booyah

7 lb. chicken, diced

1.5 lb beef, diced

3/4 lb. pork, diced

1 large soup bone

1/2 cup Navy Beans

1 chopped cabbage

1.5 bunches of chopped celery

3 lbs chopped onions

1 qt. wax beans

2 lb. sliced carrots

5 lb. potatoes, cubed

1 16pz bag frozen peas

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 cup corn

1 qt. canned tomatoes

1/2 cup salt

2 T pepper

1/4 cup rice

Put meats, bone and beans in large pot.  Cover with water and salt.  Cook 2 hours.  Add carrots, onions, celery and wax beans.  Boil 2 hours.  Add more water, cabbage, potatoes, peas and rice.  Boil 2 hour.  Add tomatoes, corn, salt and pepper, lemon juice and more water if needed.  Adjust seasonings.  Simmer til done.  Better the next day.  Traditionally done in a big pot over an open fire, but works good in a big tub on a turkey fryer as well.

Finally, the Wisconsin Bratwurst...traditional tailgating fare at sporting events and the backyard favorite all around Wisconsin.  Our state was settled by a lot of Germans, however our bratwurst evolved in a bit of a different direction than the traditional German bratwurst.  This is the kind that they talk about when they mention Brats and Packer games.   There are many commercial brands available, my personal favorite being Klements.  Johnsonville gets the most notoriety, and many local delis, meat counters and supermarkets pride themselves on their own (try Trig's supermarket in Rhinelander, Wausau or Minocqua...state champion bratwurst winner last year).  Pick any you like, just don't get the pre-cooked ones, they're terrible.  And, wonderful as Usinger's sausages are, their bratwurst is the traditional German style, not the good ol' Cheesehead Tailgater.  If you can't buy authentic brats in your area and know how to stuff sausage casings, or just want to make your own brats, here's my recipe for a Klements - style bratwurst.  If you don't know how to stuff casings, you can just make this mixture into brat patties, also.

Wisconsin Beer Brats:

4 lb ground pork (I use lean cuts, but traditionally it's fatty, like a back roast, or you can add fat to it)

2 T salt

2 T sugar

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Coriander

1 tsp Celery Seed

2 tsp Black Pepper

2 tsp Ginger

1 tsp Marjoram

4 T real maple syrup

2 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tsp minced garlic

Grind raw ingredients and stuff casings, spinning links to bun-sized lengths.

To prepare for eating, simmer in a pot filled with beer to cover and float brats, along with one sliced up onion and, depending on how much beer (usually 2-3 cans for 8 or so brats), about 1 tsp garlic salt.  Simmer til cooked, don't over cook.  Then grill on your barbecue grill.  When finished, throw back into the beer bath, let them sit in there and soak for at least a half hour before serving.  Note:  It's also tradition in WI that if you are also serving burgers, the finished, grilled burgers get thrown into the beer bath as well.  :D  Also, brats are served on brat buns, which are a little heftier than hot dog buns, though hot dog buns will work in a pinch...use bakery hot dog buns though.   Ketchup, a good spicy german mustard, raw onions and/or sauerkraut for condiments.


All three of these recipes are in my forthcoming book, "The Cookbook For Guys".  Watch this blog for details!  

Go You Packers GO!!!!