Sprint Cup racing

Hot Crab Dip

May 31, 2013

Do you love snacks as much as I do? I swear I could eat snacks all day. Not that I mean I’d eat all day, but I could eat snacks for all my meals. I love nosh food and small plates. It makes meal time fun.

And I have my favorite snacks too. Don’t you? We eat chips and dip for a weekend lunch all too often. Or I’ll make a cheese plate with some some sliced fruit and vegetables for dinner. It’s fun, put also practical to help clean the fridge of some random things as well. ha!

Well, while I don’t think this Hot Crab Dip will help you clean your fridge but it would help you fill up your belly. And it is just so perfect to enjoy while watching this weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Dover.

Delaware has so much great seafood right at it’s Atlantic Shores so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use some yummy seafood. I used some lump crabmeat to make this Hot Crab Dip that is so good. It’s great for watching the race since it’s quick to prepare so you can kick back and relax while you watch the race and dig in.

Hot Crab Dip

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon old bay seasoning, divided
8 ounces low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced scallions
juice of a lemon
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked through for shells and cartilage
Ritz crackers or pita chips, for serving

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, 1/2 tablespoon old bay seasoning, salt and pepper. Saute until vegetables are soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set vegetables aside.
Place the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise, parsley, scallions, lemon juice, remaining old bay, cooked vegetables, and salt and pepper in a bowl, mix until smooth. Fold in the crabmeat. Transfer to an oven safe serving dish.
Bake until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve hot with crackers or pita chips.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Homemade Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

March 15, 2013

Oh my gosh! Last week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas was an incredible race to watch. Well, it was awesome if you were a Kasey Kahne fan, like myself, or a Matt Kenseth fan. Kasey Kahne dominated the race leading 114 laps of the 267 lap race and finished 2nd. While I wanted Kahne to win sooo badly, I’m happy for Kenseth for winning on his 41st birthday and happy that Kahne went from 31st in points to 14th. Let’s keep the ball rolling!

This weekend’s upcoming race is at Bristol Motor Speedway. So I was excited that this meant BBQ for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks! But guess what. I don’t really know Bristol so I don’t know what kind of BBQ they enjoy in that area of the state. See, Bristol and Memphis are no where near each other. They reside on opposite ends of the state, a decent 500 mile car drive. So I felt a little weird making Memphis baby back ribs, which is how I came to making a whiskey based BBQ sauce. I love Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey!!!

The moment I saw these Jack Daniels Baby Back Ribs I knew that I had to make the BBQ sauce. Oh my gosh loving all the recipes on Czech in the Kitchen but let’s stay focused on this BBQ sauce. I had never made BBQ sauce before so I liked the aspect of learning something new. And let me tell you a secret… it’s so easy and so good. Plus as the sauce cooked it filled our house up with such a good rich whiskey and hickory from the liquid smoke.

Enjoy this Homemade Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce this weekend or throughout the summer on chicken, ribs, pulled pork, or burgers. It’s quick to make and tastes so fantastic!

Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

1 white onion, diced
½ bulb of garlic, minced
½ cup whiskey, preferably Jack Daniel’s
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke,
½ teaspoon each aalt and pepper

Process

In a saucepan, combine the diced onions, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until onions are soft.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about a half hour.
Blend the sauce together with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender. Place the sauce in jars.

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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

Bristol Motor speedway was built in 1961, and is the 4th largest sports venue in America, and the 8th largest in the world. This allows 165,000 people to watch is known drivers rip around the short track. Because the track is so small there are 2 pit lanes because the 43 cars can’t fit all on 1 side. As well, because the track is much shorter than the super speedways, the cars don’t go as fast, which not all fan enjoy. It can be quite divided! But no matter, everyone can agree on the nickname of Thunder Valley because the noise of the cars on the track is so amplified from the shape of the venue.

Track: .533 mile

Shape: Oval

Banking: 26-30 degrees in the turns and 6-10 degrees in the straights

Surface: Concrete

Capacity: 165,000

Race: 500-lap for 266.5-miles

2012 winner: Brad Keselowski

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Steak Quesadillas

March 1, 2013

Well, we have made it through Race Week and the Daytona 500. While the Daytona 500 was exciting the previous day’s Nationwide Race had a very scary ending with one of the cars becoming airborne and slamming into catch fence. Driver Michael Annett is out indefinitely because of a fractured and dislocated sternum and 28 fans were injured when debris went into the stands. I can only hope that people recover quickly and that this provides valuable information to help NASCAR continue to work on driver and fan safety.

This upcoming weekend’s Sprint Cup race is at Phoenix International Raceway. Since the race is in Arizona I felt that something with a Mexican influence would be fun for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks. I decided on some Steak Quesadillas because I love how they are perfect for snacking but filling for a meal. Plus when you walk by some fantastic looking beef at your grocery store you can’t resist.

I swear I could eat quesadillas every day. They are just so amazing! It’s a twist on a sandwich that I can enjoy. Typically my least favorite part of a sandwich is the bread, either because it is too soft and plain or too hearty and heavy. If I were goldylocks the tortilla would be just right. Plus how can you resist

Besides enjoying these Steak Quesadillas while you watch the race be sure to make them for a party as they make for a great dish to serve as you can prep them right before the party and you can keep warm in a oven at 200 degrees. Or just make and enjoy for dinner with some rice and beans. yum!

Be sure to check back every week to see what Sprint Cup Snacks recipe I have whipped up for the upcoming race. The next race is in Vegas… oh the possibilities. 🙂

Steak Quesadillas

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 pound of beef loin sirloin tip
2 teaspoons adobo seasoning, divided
1 large white onion
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
12 ounces white mushrooms
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 ounces of pepper jack cheese, shredded
8 flour taco tortillas

Process

Coat the sirloin with adobe seasoning. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.
While the sirloin is resting, slice the onion and the mushrooms, slice the peppers into strips. Mix in a large bowl with 1 teaspoon adobo seasoning. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and then add the vegetables to cook until browned and soft.
Grill the steak until it is medium-rare with an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees. Let the cooked steak rest for 5 minutes prior to thinly slicing across the grain.
Assemble the quesadillas by laying out one tortilla, put 1/4 of each the shredded cheese, cooked vegetables, and sliced steak on the tortilla, then top with another tortilla. Repeat the process for the other 3 quesadillas.
Place the quesadillas on baking sheets and broil until tortilla has browned the cheese has started to melt. Flip to brown the other side.
Serve warm with condiments like salsas, guacamole, and sour cream.

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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

NASCAR races at the Phoenix International Raceway for the second and the second to last race of the year. There is a triv oval racing track as well as a 1.51 road course configuration. The stands seat 67,000 fans… consider that is A LOT more fans than these new Baseball Stadiums- Marlins Park (36,742) and Yankee Stadium (50,287).

Track: 1 mile

Shape: “D”-shaped Tri-Oval

Banking: 10-12 degree banking in Turns 1 and 2; 8-9 degree banking in Turns 3-4; 10-12 banking in the Backstretch; 3 degree banking in the Frontstretch

Surface: Asphalt

Race: 312 laps for 500 kilometers

2012 winners: Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick

Bang Bang Shrimp

February 22, 2013

I am so ready for this weekend!!! Why?? Well, the Daytona 500 is this weekend!!! I’ve missed watching NASCAR Sprint Cup racing during the off season and this is the race that is kicking off the new season. So, like people who love to cheer on their favorite baseball, football, basketball, etc team I cheer on a driver in hopes that he drives furiously through the field of cars to win the race.

Since we love to watch each race we really like to make an afternoon, or occasional evening, out of it so we’ve decided to pair our snacks with each race. I was inspired by Pam of The Meltaways since she created a series of recipes called NASCAR Nibbles that paired a recipe with each track in the season. I decided to give this a try with our own spin on recipes for each race of the season based upon the regional favorites of each track. Please follow along every Friday for a new Sprint Cup Snacks recipe for the upcoming race that weekend.

To celebrate the start of the season with the Daytona 500, we decided to make a fun seafood dish called Bang Bang Shrimp. It would be a great way enjoy fresh seafood, which is a seaside and boardwalk favorite. Racing on Daytona Beach is what really kicked off racing that we know today since NASCAR formed at a hotel at Daytona Beach in 1948. I wanted to pay homage to the beach and fresh seafood with this Bonefish Grill restaurant favorite. If you go to Daytona you can even visit their Ormond Beach location and have some Bang Bang Shrimp there.

We’ve enjoyed Amanda’s Bang Bang Shrimp several times before. It does take some time to make as you have to coat the shrimp and then let is chill for 20 minutes and then it is best to fry in small batches so the oil does not cool too much with the edition of the chilled shrimp. It is worth it since these are just so fantastic.

The Bang Bang Shrimp has a spicy sauce is perfect with the crunchy fried shrimp. The original recipe calls for the sauce to coat the shrimp but I prefer it to just be drizzled over the shrimp or served beside it for dipping as I like to control the amount of sauce is on the shrimp. No matter how you like to dress the shrimp I think you will love Bang Bang Shrimp.

Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb. medium shrimp*, peeled and deveined

For the sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the egg mixture:

1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
pinch each of salt and pepper

For the breading mixture:

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried basil

For the sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise
4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For frying:

8 to 12 cups vegetable oil

Process

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and set aside.
Combine beaten egg with milk in shallow bowl; set aside.
Combine flour, panko, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil in another shallow bowl; set aside.
Bread the shrimp by first coating each with the breading mixture. Dip breaded shrimp into the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the breading. Arrange the coated shrimp on a plate and pop them into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. This step will help the breading to stick on the shrimp when they are frying.
Heat oil in deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Use amount of oil required by your fryer.
When oil is hot, fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels.
When all shrimp has been fried, drop the shrimp into a large bowl. Spoon about ¼ cup of sauce over shrimp and stir gently to coat.

*For larger shrimp, reduce the oil heat just a bit more and cook longer. For example, when I used large shrimp (U-15 shrimp), as pictured, I reduced the temperature of the oil to 320 so that the shrimp could cook longer to thoroughly cook throughout in 3-4 minutes without burning the exterior breading.

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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

The Daytona 500 race is the race that really kicks off the new season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing. This is the equivalency of the Super Bowl for racing. There is a week of duels prior to the race where drivers are getting back into the grove of things since the season ended in November. This year there is a new car called the Gen 6, which looks more like a stock car compared to the cars in the past recent years.

Racing at Daytona started on the beach back in the early 1900’s and was vital in the development NASCAR. Racers would come near and far to race the road coarse, but as years went on drivers were getting frustrated in the lack of organization in the racing, promotion, and securing sponsors. William France Sr, worked hard in creating and organizing the races in the 30’s and 40’s, which ultimately resulted in the development in NASCAR on February 21, 1948. Racing on the beach came to an end in 1958 because the new raceway was opening in 1959.

Track: 2.5 miles

Shape: tri oval

Banking: 32 degree banking in the oval turns;18 degree banking at the tri-oval

Surface: Asphalt

Race: 200 laps for 500 miles

Restrictor Plate Race

2012 winner: Matt Kenseth

Driver with the most Daytona 500 Wins: Richard Petty won 7 times