I'm still relishing that the Ravens beat the Pats and are this year's AFC Champions. Since I live in Maine, the smack talk was pretty ramped up this past week (my facebook wall was covered in demeaning Ravens photos - especially that stupid Ray Lewis retirement billboard).
Everyone up here seems to want to move on quickly and forget their team's pitiful performance in that game - although there are plenty of good sports who congratulated me - and I'm already looking forward to the meal at the Super Bowl.
I love to make food themed to whichever teams are playing and thrilled to host a Baltimore themed Super Bowl party this year.
I'd love to have steamed crabs and Natty Boh, but neither are available up here. Maybe some crab cake sandwiches, but that would get pretty pricy when crabmeat is $22/lb.
My sister makes sure to stock crab dip when I come home for the holidays, but I'm thinking that might not be the best showcase for crab meat (don't get me wrong, I love creamy crab dip!).
So I think I'll make my mom's Maryland crab soup. For those of you not familiar, it's a spicy (spiced with Old Bay), tomato-based vegetable soup with big pieces of lump crab meat and whole crab claws, if you have them.
My mom makes it after a crab feast, saving a few crabs to picking for the meat, and boiling the crab claws in the soup to flavor it. My favorite veggies to include are peas, green beans, corn and potatoes. Rather than drench the crab meat in creamy ingredients, the tomato-based soup will show off the crab meat without being too heavy.
Also, chicken and waffle wings!! Last year, I made Buffalo chicken cupcakes, and I've enjoyed a chicken and waffle cupcake, so this seems like the next logical step. If I cave and buy a waffle maker in the next two weeks, I will definitely make these.
This HarBowl will be epic - Jim vs. John, Dungeness vs. Blue crab, chowder in a bread bowl vs. MD crab soup, San Francisco Bay vs. Chesapeake Bay! I could go on, but I won't - you obviously know my preference. Let's go, Ravens!