And The Valley Cooks Fixes Your Super Bowl Party

I’ll be honest: the Super Bowl — hell, the NFL in general — just isn’t what it used to be in my household these days. Once the Saints were eliminated, my only real rooting interest is one last chance to throw a pseudo-tailgate at home.

The commercials aren’t even the stars of the show as they used to be, but there’s no reason your food can’t be. Whether you’re hosting or contributing to a pot-luck, here are some of our best options to impress your friends, and make some new ones:

Molasses-Braised Greens

If you’re bringing a side-dish and mains are barbecue or fried chicken, this will blow people away. Honestly, it may be my best recipe that I’ve done on the site. You may want to play with the proportions somewhat based on the size of your crowd, though.

Bourbon-Brined Chicken

Whether you’re just cranking up the grill or dropping some wings in the fryer, soak it in this brine the night before and you will not regret it. I really recommend it with wings — even baking them extra-crispy in the oven, they retain moisture really well.

Boudin/Pepperjack-Stuffed Pork Pinwheels

An experiment that will take some prep ahead of time, and may not come out all that pretty. But when are you ever going to regret stuffing pork with cheese and sausage?

Creole Chicken & Sausage With Black Beans

Crock pots are incredibly convenient when you’re hosting, and this is is a dish with a different flavor that your guests won’t see coming.

Drunk Pigs in a Blanket

Sausage-stuffed beignets balls. Need I say more?

Jambalayathan

You’re probably not ready. Still, if you want to feed a lot of people for a reasonable price, jambalaya is the way to go and this recipe is a solid start — just take out some of the bolder elements and use green bell peppers instead of jalapenos.

Or, you can be BEAUXLD.

Chili

It’s an old Super Bowl stand-by that nobody’s ever going to complain about. I want to revisit this recipe in the future, but it’s a pretty solid one.