Touchdown Taste: 3 Super Bowl appetizers with northern twists

The Super Bowl has a little something for everyone. Football for sports lovers, the half-time show for pop culture enthusiasts, and food for... well, who doesn't like food? Get ready for this year’s Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs on February 11th with the North’s tastiest appetizers!

Here are 3 mouthwatering Northern appetizers, by local chefs, to impress everyone at your Super Bowl party.

1. Arctic Char Ceviche from Nunavut

Inuk Chef Sheila Flaherty, of Sijjakkut ᓯᔾᔭᒃᑯᑦ", created this divine Arctic char tapas while in competition on the show ‘MasterChef Canada’. But you don't need to be a master in the kitchen to win at this Super Bowl snack. This dish requires no flame to cook. Just slice, chop and drizzle with lime.

"Who doesn't like tortilla chips with some kind of dip, watching the Super Bowl? Bring your game to the next level and try my Arctic char ceviche to accompany. So fresh, with some nice twang from the limes and heat from the jalapeno peppers, this will surely be a winning crowd-pleasing touchdown!" - Sheila Flaherty of Sijjakkut, Authentic Inuit Foods

Arctic Char Ceviche

Ingredients

• 227g very fresh Arctic Char fillet, bones and skin removed
• 1 small jalapeño pepper, minced
• 3tbsp lime juice
• 2tbsp shallots, minced
• 2tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1tbsp hazelnut oil, or almond oil
• 1tsp sesame oil
• 1/4tsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Cut Arctic Char into small, even cubes
2. Combine jalapeño, lime juice, shallots, ginger, hazelnut, sesame oil, and sea salt in a medium bowl
3. Add fish and stir
4. Serve immediately, or let it marinate for 15 minutes to allow lime juice to "cook" the Arctic Char

Kitchen tip

The lime juice alters the protein in the char in a process similar to cooking; the result is silky, slightly firm fish. This dish is prepared without heat, so use the freshest fish possible. Ask your fishmonger for Arctic char that’s suitable for raw consumption.

Follow and learn more about Chef Sheila Flaherty, and her company Sijjakkut ᓯᔾᔭᒃᑯᑦ" by visiting her Facebook or Instagram page.

Pictured: Chef Sheila Flaherty ​​​Photographer: Frank Reardon

2. Beer Caramel Smokies from the Yukon

Chef Cat McInroy of Well Bread Culinary School has perfectly engineered a mixture of local Yukon flavours for your Super Bowl tastebuds. With only 4 ingredients, you can send your guests appetites into the red zone.

"Great food does not have to be over-the-top complicated to be fabulous. This simple appetizer is under 5 ingredients and has some terrific wow-factor impact. It's sweet, savoury, meaty and smoky; everything we want in a one-bite appetizer. The unique local flavour of this dish gives you and your guests a true Taste of The Yukon in every bite!" - Chef Cat 

Beer Caramel Smokies

Yield: 5-7 appetizer sized servings (3-4 pieces per person)

Ingredients

• 5-6 locally made Smokies or Kielbasa/Kolbassa type sausage (estimate 1 smokie per guest or 1/4 of a full Kolbassa link per person. This is a great way to introduce wild game Kolbas-style sausage or smokies to someone hesitant to try wild meat)
• 1 can (473ml) Yukon Brewing Red Ale or other local, strong beer (non-alcoholic substitution: equal amount non-alcohol/near beer, kombucha, root beer or ginger beer found in grocery stores)
• 1lb brown sugar OR use equal weight of beer and brown sugar  
• 1tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Slice the smokies or kielbasa-style sausage into bite sized pieces. Set aside. Use a firm smoked sausage for this dish otherwise regular sausage meat will fall apart in the caramel sauce.
2. In a large pot stir together the beer and salt until the salt dissolves. Then add the sugar and stir again.
3. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil while stirring. DO NOT LEAVE THE POT UNATTENDED. When this mixture first boils, the beer and sugar mixture will expand to at least five times its volume when it boils. Make sure your pot is big enough that it won’t boil over; something that can handle 4-6 litres will work great. 
4. Once the mixture boils, reduce heat and maintain a vigorous simmer. Stir occasionally during the caramel process from start to finish.
5. The objective here is to thicken this sauce by reducing the amount of moisture in both the beer and the sugar. That happens by simmering. Cook until thick enough that the caramel will lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon and drips slowly when cool.
6. Once the sauce is thicker (takes anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on how much evaporation has happened), transfer the sliced meat pieces into the sauce and gently stir. Allow the pieces of meat to warm in the sauce before serving.
7. Serve immediately or cool and hold in the fridge until needed. Reheat in a pan over medium heat until the sauce is bubbling, and the meat is heated through.
8. Serve sausage slices on a platter with toothpicks or small bamboo skewers. Hold in a slow cooker on low heat.
9. Leftover sauce freezes well, just warm it up before you need to use it. Cut your meat into smaller pieces if you need to feed more people. Pieces should be one-bite sized so they don’t drip all over you when you eat them. Cooked breakfast sausages rolled in this caramel are also delicious to serve for brunch or breakfast.

Kitchen tip

No smokies or Kielbasa sausage? Use cooked meatballs instead. This beer caramel is so good I’ve poured it over ribs, grilled chicken and grilled pineapple, too.

Follow and learn more about Chef Cat and her company, Well Bread Cooking School by visiting her Facebook or Instagram page.

Pictured: Chef Cat

3. Muskox sausage rolls from the Northwest Territories

Chef Calvin Rossouw from Sundog Adventures concocted the perfect bite size meat pastry packed full of flavour. Guests at your Super Bowl bash will be tackling each other to get to these savory rolls! 

“I put together this recipe because a lot of us here in the north have some ground game meat hiding in our freezers. I had a friend drop-off some ground muskox meat this summer, you can easily substitute any ground meat for this recipe. Sausage rolls are perfect for a Super Bowl get-together, the rolls can be prepared in advance and are great at room temperature. Serve these with any of your favourite dipping sauces. Pictured is a mint yogurt sauce and a harissa sauce.” - Chef Calvin Rossouw  

Muskox sausage rolls

Makes 30 rolls

Ingredients

• 260g ground muskox (or any wild game meat) 
• 200g bacon 
• 100g shallots 
• 24g garlic
• 40g preserved lemon
• 10g fresh mint
• 18g fresh cilantro
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1tbsp coriander seeds
• 1tbsp fennel seeds
• 1tsp peppercorn
• 2tbsp smoked paprika
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1tbsp sumac
• 1tsp Aleppo pepper 
• 1tsp crushed chili flakes 
• 2tsp salt
• 1 sheet of puff pastry (thawed according to the packages instructions)
• 1 egg (for egg wash) 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350f. Prepare a sheet pan with tin foil and a cooking rack. Grease the rack well with a cooking oil spray.  
2. Toast the cumin, coriander, fennel, and peppercorn in a dry pan until aromatic. Allow to cool then coarsely grind the spices. Combine them with the remaining spices. 
3. Using a food processor or a knife, finely mince the bacon, shallots, garlic, preserved lemon, mint and cilantro. Combine this mixture with the ground meat and all the spices. Mix very well until the mixture is fully combined and tacky.
4. Pinch off a small piece of the sausage and cook it in a frying pan. This is your taste test, adjust the seasonings accordingly. Divide the sausage mixture into 3 equal portions.  
5. Evenly cut the sheet of pastry into three long rectangles. Roll the sausage into three logs that are even and are slightly longer than the pastry. Place the sausage logs on the pastry and then tightly roll the pastry around the sausage. Pinch the seam together for a tight seal. 
6. With a sharp knife or a serrated blade, cut each log into 10 equal pieces. With the seam side down, cut two slashes on the top of each roll. Brush the rolls with egg wash and place them on the prepared sheet pan.
7. Cook the rolls at 420f for 12-15 minutes on the top rack of the oven. If you are unsure if the rolls are cooked through, insert a thermometer and check that they have reached 160f. Allow the rolls to cool slightly and then serve. 

Kitchen tip

The sausage is loosely based on a merguez sausage. These spices are simply a guideline. If you prefer it hotter or more mild, then just adjust the seasonings to your liking.  

The bacon is there for additional fat. Fat is essential to sausage making, without it your sausage will be dry. You can substitute other animal fat if you prefer.

Cooking the rolls on a greased rack will ensure that the bottoms do not get soggy. If you don’t have a rack then you can cook them directly on parchment paper, but the bottom of the pastry may get soggy. 

You can follow Calvin on Instagram at @calvinrossouw, @sundogtradingpost, and Facebook at @sundogtradingpost.

Pictured: Chef Calvin Rossouw

Catch the game, the half-time show, and the epic Super Bowl commercials live on Northwestel TV on TSN or CTV.