Take that uneaten food from your Super Bowl party and make these painfully delicious recipes.
Macaroni, Cheese and Mini-Hot Dog Tiramisu
Ingredients:
1 pound cooked pasta (Any kind will work, so whatever you have left over from making macaroni salad or pasta salad will work)
3 cups cubed cheese (Again, whatever kind will work. Just try to pick the pieces no one sneezed on)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup flour
Instructions:
Mix flour into milk with a wooden spoon over low to medium heat. Cut cheese into very small pieces and use your hands to mix it in with the macaroni. Put half of the macaroni mixture into an 8-inch cake pan. Put a layer of mini–hot dogs over the bottom layer of macaroni. Put the rest of the pasta on top of the hot dogs, then poor the milk mixture evenly over the entire thing. Bake for eight to 10 minutes. Add hot dog buns on the outside and red pepper dust to the top for effect. Call 911 and tell them to ready a bed.
The skinny:
Tiramisu is as wimpy as they come when it comes to foods, but when it’s made out of cheese, pasta and meat it gets a lot better. We thought about using mozzarella sticks around the outside instead of hot dog buns to represent the lady fingers, but by then the store was already closed…and we had already eaten most of it.
Nacho Burrito on a Pizza
Ingredients:
1 14-inch premade pizza
1 cup crushed tortilla chips
1 cup grated cheese
1 pound ground beef cooked with taco seasoning
1 1/2 cup sour cream
12 jalepeño poppers
Instructions:
If the pizza is raw, cook it, but don’t burn it. Take fresh nacho ingredients like we did or a plate of old, leftover nachos and make a line right down the center of the pizza. Apply jalepeño poppers. Then carefully wrap the pizza around the filling, leaving one end open for presentation.
The skinny:
Of all the stuff we made out of our leftovers, this was the best tasting and most practical. It has thus made it into the regular dinner rotation. (Up yours, Salad Thursdays!)
Bacon, Cheese and Beer Dog
Ingredients:
1 hot dog
1 slice of thick-cut bacon
1 can of spray cheese (We had half a can of American flavored)
1 can beer (It doesn’t matter what kind, but we recommend something dark. Corona probably isn’t a good idea)
1 cup flour
Oil for frying
Instructions:
This one is a little work-intensive (and somewhat erotic), so be ready to buckle down. First take the center out of the hot dog with an apple corer, if you have access to one. If not, just cut out the middle with a knife or your little cousin’s official souvenir Harry Potter wand.
Fill the cavity with the spray cheese and use the hot dog you removed from the middle as a cap to keep the cheese in. Wrap the bacon around the hot dog and deep-fry for two to four minutes or until bacon is cooked. Dab them dry with a paper towel (so the batter will stick).
Mix the beer with the flour until it reaches a thick, but lump-free consistency. Dip the dogs in the batter, coating the dog completely, and deep-fry on high heat for two to three minutes or until brown and deadly.
NOTE: Don’t fry them too long or all of the cheese will explode out into the oil. That’s very bad. 6,488 people die each year from exploding hot dog cheese…presumably.
The skinny:
This is the most irresponsible recipe of the bunch, but it also turned out delicious. What it lacks in nutrients, vitamins and minerals, it makes up for with sexy presentation, wow-factor and showmanship. It’s the Lady Gaga of leftovers.
We could only manage a few bites. But our uncle, who is a veteran of deep-fried foods of all kinds, managed to put down two without issue. Just make sure to let them cool down first, otherwise you might end up with a mouthful of cheese that’s hot enough to burn your precious taste buds right out of your mouth.
Buffalo Chicken, Blue Cheese and Potato Chip Balls
Ingredients:
1 cup chicken wing meat removed from the bone (Use a knife or your hands and not your mouth. It’ll be better for everyone)
1 cup crushed potato chips (We had the ridgey kind, not the fancy kettle kind)
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
Any cream-based dip (Onion, Ranch, etc.)
Instructions:
Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Debone chicken, and then mix it in a large bowl with blue cheese and potato chips. If the chicken is particularly dry, add a little dip to make the mixture tacky. Roll the mixture into balls and place them three inches apart on a large greased sheet pan. Place in oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Serve with dip.
The skinny:
Look, something that’s not fried! These tasted fantastic, but since we overcooked them a bit they were a little dry. The dipping sauce helped in the chewing efforts and took the spiciness level down a much-needed notch. They ended up sort of like crab cakes, only, you know, with chicken.