3-INGREDIENT SUPER BOWL DIP + AN UGLY DELICIOUS DESSERT
HAPPY THURSDEE! Lots on deck… the Super Bowl (aka Usher, Reba McEntire, and Andra Day concert; aka Taylor Swift viewing party), and Valentine’s Day. For your football watching needs, Elizabeth whipped up some Sausage Dip (aka your new favorite dip!), but we’ve got plenty of football-friendly foods just waiting to grace your party table…
GAME DAY GRUB!
The other big event happening next week is Valentine’s Day. If you’re looking for something sweet, we’ve got you covered! Here are some of our favorites, but you may want to scroll down and try one of Anthony’s all-time childhood favorites, Earthquake Cake!
SWEETS TO MAKE YOUR SWEETHEART!
SUPER BOWL SAUSAGE DIP: TWO WAYS
EK: If ever there was a national Chip and Dip holiday, it would be Super Bowl Sunday. There is nothing like a Southern three-ingredient dip to satisfy those cravings—yes, it has Ro-Tel, and of course, the other ingredient is a block of cream cheese, and naturally the final ingredient is hot bulk sausage like Jimmy Dean or my favorite local North Carolina sausage, Neese’s! This is the North Carolina version of Queso—made with pork instead of Velveeta!
My Aunt Mert made sausage balls, so they are a familiar old friend, but I had never heard of sausage dip until my good friend Matt made it for me one cold fall day in New York.
When I tasted it, I was blown away and had to ask…”What. Is. This?” Matt responded matter-of-factly, “It is sausage dip. Sausage fried up and made into a dip.” Nothing wrong with that!
AU: I will def be making this on Super Bowl Sunday! Will I also make Queso? Yes. All food groups should be represented. :)
EK: It’s another “ugly delicious” dish, served hot and just creamy enough to be able to dip scoopfuls onto a corn chip. The flavor is peppery, as the hot pork sausage with a hint of sage is the main ingredient, and it is a little piquant from the bits of Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chiles. It is a three-ingredient dip that proves that the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.
Matt and I are both born-and-bred North Carolinians and Matt grew up about an hour from where I grew up. It’s interesting that sausage balls were a thing in my hometown, but sausage dip was big in his town. If I didn’t know Matt, I probably wouldn’t have been introduced to sausage dip—one of the many reasons that I am happy to know him!
EK: It’s the simplest recipe, but the flavor is anything but simple. It’s amazing how Ro-Tel and cream cheese can transform hot sage breakfast sausage into something that you can’t stop dipping.
EK: In honor of the Super Bowl, and all those folks out there still eating a low-carb diet, I’ve taken that three-ingredient sausage dip and stuffed mini peppers as a variation on the popular sausage dip and corn chip offering. A thin layer of jalapeño-jack cheese covers the sausage dip, adds some ooey-gooey cheese and keeps the filling in the poppers.
AU: I think this is a stroke of genius!! It’s like making stuffed jalapeños without the hassle! Plus, it’s a little milder which appeals to all palates.
EK: Thank you. I leave the stems on the peppers to use as a “handle.” I pick them up by the stem and take a bite down to the stem and discard the stem. It makes for easy-to-eat finger food, which is exactly what I am looking for on game day!
As much as I love the original jalapeño poppers, these “poppers” are really poppin’!! I can’t stop eating them, and I love the way they add color to the table.
EARTHQUAKE CAKE: THE DESSERT YOU CAN’T F*#K UP
AU: My sweet grandmother, affectionately called “Mama” (that’s ma-MA, not ‘Momma’), would probably not appreciate the profanity, but it’s true!! It’s hard to mess this dessert up, and it will pay off in spades to feed your hungry game goers!
I have no idea where my grandmother got the recipe—it could’ve been on the back of a Duncan Hines box, to be honest, but I’ve never seen it anywhere else (although, nowadays it pops up in many places on the vast interwebs).
Many moons ago, when Elizabeth was doing research for her book, Steak & Cake, she asked what cake we would have at our family gatherings growing up. I told her immediately, “Earthquake Cake!”
EK: And, I instantly asked, “what is that?!?” And, you told me that it’s the best chocolate-y coconutty cake with a top that looks like an earthquake occurred. I was skeptical until I took that first bite! Even though I am a from-scratch cake kinda cook, this and my Bahamian Rum Cake are the exceptions to the rule—they’re better with a boxed cake mix! I have made the Earthquake Cake for so many events—anytime there is a crowd who loves chocolate. It’s easy, to make, it is fast, it is decadently delicious and it always delivers happy praise to whomever bakes it!
AU: I am so grateful that you included my Mama’s recipe in your cookbook, so I have it in print forever! One of my most coveted items from my Mama, is her handwritten recipe card for this cake. If there’s ever a fire or a natural disaster, I’m reaching for it.
AU: The flavor tastes a lot like a German Chocolate Cake, but at its core, it’s a dump cake. You make a chocolate boxed cake mix according to the package directions. Before pouring the batter into a greased 13x9” pan, sprinkle sweetened coconut flakes and chopped toasted pecans on the bottom of the dish. Then pour the batter over the sprinkled accoutrements. We’re not done yet!
Using a mixer (or some elbow grease), combine powdered sugar, a block of softened cream cheese, and melted butter. Dollop that over the top of the cake batter, and swirl it a little (but not too much—you don’t want a marbled cake).
During baking, the cream cheese sinks to the bottom while the chocolate cake rises to the top. The result is a craggy and cavernous cake that looks like its been through an EARTHQUAKE! But the real magic is that when you cut into it, there are three distinct layers: a bottom “crust” of chopped pecans and coconut, a layer of gooey cream cheese, and the fluffy chocolate cake. I always joke that it’s so decadent, you need some vanilla ice cream to cut the richness. ;-)
The sausage dip is sooooo good. I’ve got a note to make a double batch when I take it to work for an office potluck. And a friend of mine serves it over baked potatoes for a meal.