The 10 Best Indulgent Appetizers For The Big Game

The Big Game is here! Forget pizza and cheap queso... be the MVP of the party with these delicious recipes from world-class chefs.

 Sweet and spicy, savor these chipotle BBQ ribs — Photo courtesy of Executive Chef Caleb Lara

Chipotle BBQ Pork Ribs

Recipe by Executive Chef Caleb Lara, Harbor View Hotel, Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

To prepare Chipotle BBQ Ribs: 

• 10 lbs. of pork ribs
• Rub the racks with prepared seasoning rub and refrigerate for 6-8 hours (or overnight) 
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
• Roast the pork rib racks slowly for about three hours or until tender 
• Glaze with chipotle BBQ sauce during the last hour

BBQ Pork Rub

Ingredients: 

• ½ tablespoon ground ginger
• ½ tablespoon ground onion
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup kosher salt
• Whisk together all the ingredients and store in an airtight container

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Ingredients: 

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup butter
• 4 cups ketchup
• 1 1/3 Cups brown sugar
• 1 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 6 chipotles in Adobo
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• Kosher salt, to taste 

Preparation: 

1. In a saucepan, sauté garlic in butter until soft
2. Add all other ingredients and simmer until thickened
3. Puree and season with salt and pepper

A classic game-day dish is reinvented with rich cheese and fresh spicy jalapenos — Photo courtesy of Executive Chef David Haick

Jalapeño Poppers

Recipe by Executive Chef David Haick, Whiteface Lodge, Lake Placid, NY

Yield: 94 halves

Ingredients:

• 6 Boursin Cheese
• 7 cream cheese squares
• 47 large jalapenos, halved and seeded
• All-purpose flour, as needed
• Liquid eggs, as needed
• Fine panko, as needed

Preparation:

1. Combine cheese in mixer. Using a paddle, whip until well combined.
2. Using a piping bag, stuff peppers with cheese
3. Lay on parchment-lined sheet pan in a single layer
4. Place pans in freezer until cheese is fully frozen
5. Once frozen, use standard breading procedure: 

• Dip in flour
• Dip in egg
• Dip in panko
• Dip in egg again
• Dip in panko again

Pro tip: Make sure ALL is covered with breading - no holes!

1. Place on to clean parchment-lined sheet pan and return to freezer. 
2. When ready to cook, deep fry at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until golden brown.
3. After golden brown, place into a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes or until cheese begins to percolate.

As an alternative, poppers can also be brushed with olive oil, baked at 400 degrees until golden brown or until cheese begins to percolate.

Tangy, sweet and indulgent, your friends will love these wings with raspberry horseradish dip — Photo courtesy of Executive Sous Chef Richard Pelliccia 

Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings With Raspberry Horseradish Sauce

Recipe by Executive Sous Chef Richard Pelliccia, Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa

Ingredients:

Jumbo chicken wings

Salt and Pepper (to taste) 

Deep-frying oil

For the raspberry-horseradish sauce:

• 4 cups raspberries
• 2.5 cups sugar
• .25 cups water
• .25 cups red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. ketchup
• 1.5 tbsp. horseradish
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 each garlic cloves, peeled 

Prepare the wings:

1. Preheat oven and fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large mixing bowl, toss wings with generous amounts of salt and pepper.
3. Lay chicken wings flat on a sheet tray. (Make sure wings do not overlap.)
4. After 10 minutes, remove wings from oven and set aside.

Make the sauce:

1. Combine all items in a small sauce pot. Cook on stove top at low temperature until reduced by 25%. Raspberries should begin to break down. 
2. Use a stick blender or a blender to puree the sauce. Set sauce aside and allow to cool.

When ready to serve:

1. Place wings in fryer basket (don't over-fill) and lower into the hot oil.
2. Fry the wings for 5-8 minutes until golden brown and thoroughly cooked.
3. Place wings in a clean bowl and toss lightly with salt and pepper again.
4. Serve wings on a plate with sauce in a separate bowl for dipping.

Rich and indulgent, this luxe mac 'n cheese will wow the crowd — Photo courtesy of Executive Chef Beau MacMillan 

Lobster Mac ‘n Cheese

Recipe by Executive Chef Beau MacMillan, Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, Scottsdale, Arizona

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 whole lobsters, 1 lb. each
• 1 lb. Gemelli pasta cooked 
• 2 oz. olive oil
• 3 oz. butter
• 1 whole shallot chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh green peas
• 8 oz. lobster broth (recipe below)
• 4 oz. Mascarpone cheese 
• 4 oz. Fontina cheese 
• To taste salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 oz. bread crumbs
• Garnish with chopped parsley and shaved black truffle

Preparation:

1. Boil lobster in salted water for 5 1/2 minutes.
2. Remove lobster and submerge in an ice bath.
3. Cook pasta in boiling salted water for 8 minutes.
4. Strain pasta onto a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and let cool at room temperature.
5. Remove lobster meat from shell, set claws aside and roughly chop remaining meat. (Reserve lobster shells.)

Lobster Broth

Yields 12 oz. 

Ingredients:

• Reserved shells from 2 whole lobsters, meat removed
• 32 oz. cold water
• 8 oz. heavy cream
• 2 red ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 2 whole carrots, chopped
• 2 oz. olive oil
• 1 oz. tomato paste
• ½ bunch fresh tarragon 

Preparation:

1. Place a medium saucepan on high heat and add olive oil, lobster shells and tomato paste. Cook for a minute and half, shells should turn dark red. 
2. Add chopped tomatoes, carrots, and tarragon. Deglaze with cold water. Bring water to a simmer and cook until water is reduce to 1/3. Strain shells and reserve liquid. 
3. Add heavy cream and reduce to a desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. 
   
   

Final assembly of the dish:

1. Place large sauté pan on medium-high heat. Add 2 oz. butter and sauté shallots lightly. Add fresh peas and lobster meat.
2. Once lobster and peas are warm, add pasta and deglaze with 8 oz. lobster broth. Cook for 3-4 minutes: sauce should come to a simmer and start to coat the pasta.
3. Add mascarpone, Fontina and salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Place Lobster Mac ‘n Cheese in a buttered casserole dish and cover lightly with bread crumbs. Bake in the oven at 325˚F for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and garnish with shaved black truffle and parsley.  

Chocolate Covered Football Strawberries

Recipe by Pastry Chef Brittani Szczecina, Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa 

Yields 12 pieces

Ingredients: 

• 12 fresh strawberries
• 1 package white chocolate
• 1 package dark chocolate

Preparation:

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt dark chocolate
2. Holding by the stem, dip strawberry in chocolate, shake off excess and place on parchment paper
3. Let the chocolate pool onto the paper and then pick strawberry back up and place in new spot. (This helps prevent formation of little "feet.")
4. Continue with remaining strawberries.
5. Let chocolate-covered strawberries cool and harden.
6. Melt the white chocolate, then pour into a piping bag and cut a very small hole.
7. Pipe a vertical line down the entire length of the strawberry.
8. Let white chocolate cool and harden.
9. Once hardened, pipe five horizontal lines to form the threading on the football and let dry.

Rich and flavorful, these Swiss chard wraps are a treat disguised as health food. Go ahead and indulge — Photo courtesy of Executive Chef Patrick Leibacher

Mediterranean Swiss Chard Wraps

Recipe by Executive Chef Patrick Leibacher, 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel, Clayton, NY

Ingredients for Wraps: 

• ½ cup goat cheese (low fat), crumbled
• ¼ cup black olives, pitted and halved
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted
• 6 medium Swiss chard leaves, blanched
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• pinch sea salt (optional)
  
  

Preparation: 

1. Remove stems of Swiss chard and put aside for relish
2. Cut Swiss chard leaves into six squares, approximately six inches squared. 
3. In a shallow pot, bring two cups of water to a gentle boil. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, dip one square at a time in the boiling water for 15 seconds. In a medium bowl, place the freshly blanched Swiss chard into cold water to stop the cooking process. Repeat with other leaves. Let cool.
4. Place a leaf square on a work surface, tap dry with a paper towel and layer in ½ tablespoon cheese, a few olives, 2 tbsp. of tomato, a sprinkle of pine nuts and one or two basil leaves on top.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of mixture.
5. To create rolls, first fold in the sides of the chard, then roll the leaf up tight until sealed.

Ingredients for Relish:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• Swiss chard stems from above ¼ inch dice
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ½ cup finely chopped shallot
• 1 tbsp. Honey
• ¼ cup chopped mint

Preparation:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet
2. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until softened
3. Add the chard stems and onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until the onion softens, about 4 minutes.
4. Stir in the raisins, vinegar, honey and half of the mint.
5. Cover and cook until the chard is crisp-tender, about 1 minute longer.
6. Transfer to a bowl and let cool, then mix in the remaining mint. 

Photo courtesy of Pastry Chef Evan Sheridan

Booze-Infused People’s Porter Cashew Chocolate Cake

Recipe by Pastry Chef Evan Sheridan, The Umstead Hotel and Spa, Raleigh, North Carolina

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. butter
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup People’s Porter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup toasted salted cashews (chopped)
• Vanilla ice cream (store-bought)

Preparation:

1. Cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed, scraping down the bowl as needed. (Pro tip: do not paddle too fast, or the cake will fall after it is baked.)
2. Add in the eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another
3. Add in the People’s Porter and mix. Scrape down the bowl again.
4. Sift the dry ingredients together and mix until incorporated. (Do not over-mix.)
5. Fold in chopped roasted cashews.
6. Scoop the cake batter into muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean after inserted
7. Finish with whipped cream, toasted cashews, and vanilla ice cream

Potato Broccoli Gratin with Garlic

Recipe by Executive Chef Sylvain Harribey, Sofitel New York, New York City

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 qt. heavy cream
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• Nutmeg, to taste
• 1 oz garlic
• 3 oz Gruyere cheese
• 1 oz Parmesan

Preparation:

1. Peel the potatoes and slice thin
2. Crush the garlic
3. Mix the salt, pepper, nutmeg and crushed garlic with the heavy cream
4. Add sliced potatoes into the mix the then add shredded Parmesan and Gruyere cheese. Stir well.
5. Cut the broccoli in small pieces.
6. In a large dish, spread some melted butter all around the dish to avoid sticking.
7. Place a layer of potatoes (extending about one inch) followed by several pieces of broccoli. Then, layer with more potatoes.
8. Pour the liquid mix on the top of the potatoes and bake in the oven at 325 degrees.
9. Cover for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the dish.
10. Check with a knife to see if it’s cooked properly. As you insert the blade, it should feel soft.
11. Let it rest until slightly cooled.
12. Add cheese and gratiné to the top and slightly warm it in the oven.

Bon appetit!