[Molly Yeh] I'm hosting a halftime party.
I mean, football party.
With tons of incredible food.
Score one for my belly.
Like my mind-blowing corndog hot dish,
where casserole meets appetizer perfection.
How could you not smile looking at this?
Crispy fried green beans with spicy ranch mayo.
I don't think there is anything that I would not eat ranch on.
A Midwest classic, easy-peasy pickle roll-ups.
These are gonna be way too easy to eat.
And for dessert, a glitzy, sweet cheese ball
with cinnamon sugar cookies for scooping.
Let the halftime show begin!
-[whistle blows] -[cheering]
Oh, yum!
Yay!
Hey, this is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our home,
our farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border,
the place where I eat, sleep and breathe food.
It's football season!
[crowd cheering]
But of course, the only reason I care
is because of the halftime show,
and the food, obviously.
So I'm throwing a party about it.
For a dessert that is as dazzling
as the halftime concert,
I am making my sweet cheese ball
with cinnamon cookies for dunking.
It's a sugary spin on a classic savory snack,
and come on, you can't play sports without a ball.
I'm starting with a pound of softened cream cheese.
This will be the base.
It's basically a less sweet cream cheese frosting.
But that's flavored really nicely, too.
So it's more than just sweet cheese.
I'll combine this with a stick of softened butter,
half a cup of powdered sugar,
and then a quarter cup of brown sugar
for a little more depth.
And a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.
I'm not using the extract,
because the paste is less liquid-y than the extract,
so it'll allow the cheese ball to firm up.
And also, vanilla bean paste tastes fancier.
I'm classin' up this party.
The zest of an orange will add some great dimension.
I always knew about cheese balls growing up,
but it took me moving to the farm
to actually finally make one.
The standard cheese ball is cheddar,
usually there's some nuts around the outside.
It's definitely a savory thing,
and it's common at holiday parties.
You know, anything in ball shape
is more fun. [chuckles]
And the first time I made this sweet variation
was at this huge New Year's Eve party that we threw.
This was pre-kids, of course.
I was standing in this very spot,
holding the cheese ball.
And that's the only thing I remember about that party.
[clanging]
I was exciting, once.
I'll beat this up to combine.
And I'm just looking to get this smooth and creamy.
Mmm.
The last thing I'll add is some dried currants,
to break up the texture
and add chewy, sweet surprises.
I'm eyeballing in a half-a-cup.
I'll get these combined.
I love currants in this,
'cause they're a little smaller and daintier,
and slightly darker in flavor than raisins.
And that's it for the cheese ball mixture.
Now, since it's so soft and creamy at this point,
I'll have to stick it in the fridge to firm up,
so that it can hold its ball shape.
So I'll cover it up,
and stick it in the refrigerator
for three hours.
My cheese mixture has firmed up,
and now it's ready for its halftime sparkle.
Every cheese ball needs a coating.
It adds crunch, it pulls together the look,
and it also makes it easier
to work with when you're rolling,
so, naturally, I'm using multi-colored sanding sugar.
Kinda looks like a disco ball.
Okay, so I've got this in my tray,
I'm using a lot of it.
And it's to coat a big ball.
I'll use my spatula to nudge this mixture
into a ball while it's still in the bowl.
Kinda loosen it, and then you can get in there with your hands.
It doesn't need to be perfect at this point.
Okay, now that it's in a rough ball,
I'll place it into my tray of sanding sugar,
and I'll roll it around to get it fully coated.
[giggling] It's so pretty.
So, we throw football parties pretty much every year.
And we invite our friends over,
and every year, it seems like
there are more and more little kids.
Well, it not only seems like there are,
there are more and more little kids.
And so by this point, it's honestly a miracle
if we can make it to the halftime show,
but it's so worth it when we do.
The concerts are so great.
The artists have 10 minutes to, like, bring it on,
and the costumes are always as sparkly
as this here cheese ball.
I am focused on the halftime show tonight, not the game.
Does it surprise you that I am more interested
in the costumes, and the music, and the dancing?
No.
If you have any rogue cracks in your ball,
you can just smooth it over...
and cover it with sprinkles.
[giggles] There we go.
It's so plump, and happy, and sparkly.
I'll plop it right in the center of my plate.
Ta-da.
I'll add these little cinnamon cookies for dunking and scooping.
They were really satisfying to make.
I creamed butter and sugar together
until it's light and fluffy.
Add an egg white.
Some vanilla extract for flavor.
Slowly incorporate my dry ingredients.
Flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon,
for those tasty, warm tones.
Wrap it up, and chill.
Then roll it out to a quarter-inch thick.
Punch out cute star shapes.
And bake at 375 for eight minutes.
You could, of course, serve this
with store-bought cookies too,
or Cinnamon Graham Crackers would be really good.
This is enough to make me like sports.
[in sing-song voice] Dee-dee-dee!
It looks so good!
So, I know that all of my party guests
are gonna be way too polite
to be the first one to dig into this,
so I'll get the job done for them.
Mmm!
That's tangy, it's sweet, it's crunchy.
Not to be cheesy,
but this is one all-star party app!
Coming up, the most perfect sports party half dish there ever was.
Get ready, football fans!
There are two words that get me extra excited
about sports games.
Tiny. Hot dogs.
Maybe that's three words.
Whatever,
I'm scoring a touchdown with this one.
It's a beef chili-like mixture,
covered in miniature corndogs.
That's right. It's a corndog hot dish!
It's hearty, it's meaty,
and it'll keep us energized while we cheer.
So to start, I'm chopping up an onion.
I've also got some chopped celery.
And I'll just get these softening in my braiser.
I'll add a drizzle of oil.
I have this going over medium-high.
And I love to build hot dishes
right in this braiser,
since it can go into the oven.
I don't have to transfer it.
But if you don't have something like this,
you can build it in any sort of big skillet or pot
and then transfer it to a casserole dish before baking.
So, I'll add in my onion.
And three stalks of chopped celery.
For that nice, bright crunch. And add a pinch of salt.
And just stir this around,
and allow the vegies to soften.
So, this follows the format of a traditional hot dish.
A hot dish is a type of casserole
that's a full meal in a pot.
It's got veggies, meat,
some kind of sauce to hold it together,
and something fun and frisky on top.
Most famously, tots,
but a while back, when I realized that
mini corndogs sort of resemble tots,
I realized, okay,
a corndog hot dish has got to happen.
So I've been waiting for a long time
to find the right party to make this one for.
And mini corndogs kind of look like footballs,
so of course this is gonna be perfect.
The veggies have softened. I'll add in my meat now.
I've got a pound of 90-10 ground beef.
And this isn't too fatty.
I figure since I'm covering this thing with a blanket
of cheese and corndogs,
I'll give us all a fighting chance.
I'll break it up with my spoon.
And as it cooks, I'll season it.
So, I'll sprinkle in
a half-teaspoon of kosher salt.
Some black pepper.
Crank up the heat with some chili powder.
Cumin, for those woody notes.
Garlic powder.
Half a teaspoon of celery salt.
The nod to my favorite Chicago hot dogs.
And then a quarter-teaspoon of cinnamon
is kind of unexpected,
but I love the warmth that it provides.
And I'll continue cooking this over medium-high
breaking the meat up with my spoon until it's browned,
about six to seven minutes.
This is basically a really thick chili.
Now it's starting to smell like a football party.
All the best football parties have either chili
or hotdogs.
Of course, the really good ones have both.
The beef is cooked. I'll fill my sauce right in my braiser.
I've got a can of tomato sauce.
And then some other hot-doggy elements.
I've got pickle relish.
I'm using the sweet kind
because I love that added sweetness.
Gotta have mustard on a dog.
And the bright tanginess is a good balance
to all these heavy flavors.
And two tablespoons of Worcester sauce
will add more saltiness and really tasty depth.
I'll stir this around,
and then reduce the heat to medium and simmer this
just for a few minutes so that the flavors can meld
and allow the mixture to reduce slightly.
I don't want it to be overly liquid-y
and make my corndogs sink.
This is looking cozy.
Feel like this is what you want
while you're watching football
since football is a cold weather sport.
Okay. Think I'm ready for the best part.
I got the corndogs, but first,
I'm gonna lay down a layer of shredded cheddar cheese
which will sort of act as a barrier
to prevent the corndogs from getting soggy on the bottom,
and also it'll be melty and good.
It'll kind of be the glue that joins the corndogs
and the chili.
I wanna get it all the way to the edge
so you get crispy cheese edges.
And now the corndogs.
So, just like tots, you want these in a thin single layer
all over the top so that they bake up evenly.
I'll do concentric circles since it'll be pretty.
I love these little guys.
This is the perfect choose-your-own-adventure dish
because you can either just have an appetizer
and pick off a corndog,
or you can scoop to the bottom and get the chili, too.
I'll continue on topping this and then stick it in the oven
at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes
until these corndogs are golden and crisp.
That is the smell of happiness.
Mmm!
I mean, how could you not smile looking at this?
I'm smelling the corn from the corndog coating.
The last thing I'll do is finish it off with some chives
just because it's pretty.
It's like football grass.
I'm gonna find an extra-crispy one.
I've got my ketchup on standby
to help cool it down so it doesn't burn my mouth.
I'm getting all the way to the bottom to get some chili.
Mmm!
That is ridiculous.
The sweetness of the corndog is bringing this home for me.
Wow. Score one for my belly.
Next, a party app that's so addictive,
it'll make it hard to focus on the big game.
Since we can't subsist on cheese balls
and corndogs alone,
I figured we better have a vegetable at this party.
So I'm deep-frying some battered green beans
and dunking them in spicy ranch mayo.
They're crisp, satisfying and... a little bit fresh?
For my dip it'll be a base of a combination of
whole-milk Greek yoghurt and mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise for that addicting richness.
-[bottle squirts] -[laughs]
And an equal amount of plain yoghurt
for cooling fluffiness.
I'm basically making a ranch dressing
that's a little bit thicker and heavier on the mayo,
so it's better for dunking.
Ranch has gotta have garlic and onion.
I've got both in powdered form.
And then some dried herbs.
A teaspoon of dried parsley.
I love that herbiness.
Then half a teaspoon each
of dried oregano and dried thyme.
It's to easy to make your own homemade ranch.
I do it all the time.
I'll season with salt.
Then because this is gonna be
a spicy ranch situation,
I'll drizzle in some sriracha.
And this is just to taste.
Now I'll mix it up.
Are you a Midwesterner if you don't eat ranch
at least once a day?
I don't think there is anything that I would not eat ranch on.
Chocolate cake, I guess.
Okay. This looks good.
Tastes good. Ooh, yeah.
That's good and spicy.
I'll set this aside while I batter and fry my green beans.
-[whistle blows] -[crowd cheers]
[fanfare music playing]
-[whistle blowing] -[crowd cheering]
I'm going with some batter-fried green beans
because I really love the taste of it,
and also it's a little bit easier to do than dredging
and breadcrumbing a million green beans.
So for my batter, I'll start with
one cup of all-purpose flour.
A teaspoon of kosher salt.
Three-quarters of a cup of milk.
And a quarter-cup of plain yoghurt.
So this is kinda like an unsweetened pancake batter.
And it'll coat the green beans really well,
and give them this blanket that's crispy on the outside
but still a little soft on the inside.
So you get a variety of textures.
And something green.
It's basically a salad.
And some black pepper.
I'll whisk until it's smooth.
I've got 10 ounces of green beans
that have been trimmed, and they are very dry,
which will allow the batter to stick.
Get these evenly coated.
Salad has no place at a football party
in my opinion, but...
I love sneaking in veggies where I can,
so I figured these would be appropriate.
And Bernie loves French fries,
so maybe I'll convince her to eat a green vegetable
by just telling her that these are green French fries.
I've become a really good mom liar.
Now that these are fully coated,
I'll gently lower them into my oil.
-[sizzling] -I love that sound so much.
Okay, they're starting to float to the top.
I'll continue to let these cook with my oil
at 375 degrees for a few minutes,
until the green beans are golden and crisp.
So while I get the food ready,
Nick usually gets the decor ready
for our Super Bowl parties.
His go-to is usually typing up encouraging words
on to blank pieces of paper and sticking them on the walls.
-[record scratch] -There's one of them.
One year, there was that deflated football scandal,
so he taped a bunch of deflated balloons on the walls.
Too soon?
These are looking crispy!
Look at that nice color.
All right, I'll get these on to a wire rack
so that any excess oil can drip off.
I like how they're lumpy.
You get some textural contrast.
I'll sprinkle with some salt
and then I'll batter up the other half.
I'm doing this in two batches
because I don't wanna overcrowd the pot
and lower the temperature of my oil.
Deep-frying vegetables is the best of both worlds.
You have the junkiness of a fried food
but the vague nutrition of a fried vegetable.
You could deep-fry anything and I would eat it.
Even a deep-fried mushroom.
Maybe not a deep-fried banana, though.
These are golden. I'll get them out.
I'll pour in my ranch.
That'll be enough for me.
And pile these on.
Oh, do you hear how crispy they are?
I am diving in immediately.
Mmm.
They're crunchy on the outside,
soft on the inside.
They make me wanna do my end-zone dance.
Still to come, my pickle roll-ups
come together in a snap for any game day party.
My half-time party is about to begin.
I have just enough time to whip up
one of my mother-in-law's specialties,
pickle roll-ups.
They're small but mighty.
Just like her.
They're tangy and salty
and they could not be easier to make.
I'll start with half a block of softened cream cheese.
And this is your chance to flavor these
and make them your own,
so often times, Roxanne, my mother-in-law,
will add a little cayenne or paprika.
I'm going with some horseradish
for a little sinus-clearing heat
and Passover memories.
I'll season it with a little salt and pepper.
And I'll just mush this up to combine.
Okay, that's combined.
I'll lay up my ham.
I've gotten some deli ham that's cut
on the thicker side so it doesn't fall apart.
Sometimes Roxanne mixes things up though,
and goes crazy with some corned beef.
That's also really tasty.
I'll divide the cream cheese mixture up
between the four slices.
And this will be the glue to hold everything together.
Easy-peasy.
I'll spread it all over.
Like frosting.
And these are a great make-ahead appetizer too,
because you could roll these up and keep them in the fridge
until party time.
All right, time for the pickles.
I'll get some paper towels to dry them off.
I'm using kosher dill spears here.
But you could really go with any kind of pickle.
You're not gonna screw these up.
Sometimes Roxanne even does those little cornichons.
I love the sour snappiness of a dill.
Makes me feel like I'm in a deli.
I'll pat off my pickles.
No soggy pickles allowed at this party.
All right.
I'll place it along the shorter end of the ham...
so that the pickle takes up
the whole length of the piece of ham.
And, you guessed it, I'm rolling it up.
Hence the name, pickle roll-ups.
I'll get them nice and tight.
Place them seam-side down.
I am all about a pickle app at a party.
Something about their briny brightness
cuts the richness of all of the other apps.
And then I'll cut into bite-size slices.
Oh, yeah.
Look at that nice cross-section.
Don't you just wanna pop it in your mouth?
Mmm!
It's creamy and snappy
and sour and salty.
These are gonna be way too easy to eat.
I feel like a true Midwestern lady
slicing up pickle roll-ups.
I'll plate them up.
Oh, yeah. This is a good color palette.
[whistle blows]
[marching drum playing]
[whistle blowing]
Let the half-time show begin.
Costume change!
[crowd cheering]