fire up the deep fryer, it's super bowl time again.

Now, those of you that know me know that I don't really follow football too much, but love to do a superbowl party every year. This year, some friends graciously hosted, so I did what I did last year (regrettably unblogged) and deep fried the hell out of some good eats for dinner. Even if your man-crush (or just crush-crush) Tom Brady didn't make it happen this year, you can drown your sorrows in some good food and company.

first up though, WINGS.

I'm pretty particular about my wings, so I just learned to make them and called it a day at that. These got some rave reviews this year (thanks team!) and were actually a snap to put together.

You'll need:

As many wings as you want to make - I did a good solid six pounds here.

Montreal steak spice (trust me) or your choice of a spice mix.

A cup of flour

A cup of corn starch

Two eggs, and a bit of milk.

Franks Red-hot

Butter

Lots of oil (sorry dieters. it's the superbowl)

A big cast iron skillet or something similarly heavy duty

and for your safety, some kind of fire extinguishing apparatus juuuuust in case.

The night before, mix your wings with a generous amount of the spice rub. Leave these in the fridge overnight.

When ready, fill your pot/pan about two or three inches high of oil. I used canola here, peanut is good too. Heat on medium high. You can check this by tossing a bread cube in and seeing how it reacts - if it bubbles up nicely and evenly, it's good. if it goes crazy, it might be a bit high. You're looking for about 425 degrees, if you have a thermometer.

Mix the flour, cornstarch, and some more spiceage. Toss your wings in this until they're all dusted and dry-feeling (they'll be white from the flour, aim for complete coverage).

Whisk the eggs and a splash of milk together, and toss the floured wings in this.

THEN do the flour step again (you might have to make more of this). This is key. Gives you ridiculously crunchy, tasty wings.

Here's the intimidating part.

gently, place the wings in the hot oil. If you have a spider or similar device it's much easier. Just don't drop in, lots of splashing and potential oil-on-hot-element may ensue.

See the joy up there? Do that for four minutes a side, then put on a paper-towel lined plate in the oven at 200 for as long as you want. They won't dry out unless you leave them forever.

I swear before I took this picture, the pile was three times bigger than that. While in the oven, melt equal amounts of butter and franks together to make buffalo wing sauce (the secret is out!). Toss the wings in it or set aside for dipping, whatever you prefer. Serve with blue cheese dressing if you want, or just mow on its own.

Veggos - I'm currently figuring out some reasonable substitute for this. I have a vegetarian friend that has some ideas, I think. Will stay on it.

BONUS extra...

A friend was making pizza too, so we had a lot of mozzarella left.

Well...

First, make a quick beer batter. A cup of flour, an egg, and a bottle of beer should do it. Add flour as needed for consistency (a thin batter, but not liquid totally). Spice if you want (oregano, chili flakes, salt, pepper)

Make mozzarella-stick shapes out of grated cheese, like so:

...and dip in. Drop these in, and act fast (or it will end poorly). Drain on paper towel and serve with marinara. Yep, you just made mozzarella sticks. And yes, it was that easy.

See? First try. Don't think too much about the oil on the paper.

BONUS BONUS extra:

Slice some bananas and toss in the batter. Deep fry THOSE and serve with maple/pancake syrup. Uh, yeah. More of those.

BONUS BONUS BONUS two-part extra (this is exhausting)

First, I saw a shout-out to my favorite redneck beer in a hipster Toronto paper:

Which I feel somehow legitimizes my love for that and Molson Ex.

Second part: there's a German word, kummerspeck, which relates to the weight you gain from over-eating when you're sad. It translates to "sad bacon". If you're a Patriots fan, hopefully this blog post will help you out there.

Enjoy!