The game of the week at Food and Football is definitely the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field to face off against the Green Bay Packers.
These are two of the most prominent teams in the NFL, for good reasons and bad. Each franchise is rife with storylines and palace intrigue galore.
Let’s start with Seattle. Russell Wilson has been out for several weeks with a finger injury. It’s felt like an eternity—no offense to Geno Smith.
Wilson has supposedly been practicing this week and is expected to return for Sunday’s game. Will he be as good as before, and does that even matter?
These are precisely the questions that are going to be on everyone’s mind come game time.
The answer is that he may be as good as before, but since they weren’t that great even with him, it might not be enough.
Not at Lambeau, where they are also waiting with bated breath on the return of their own quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, though his absence has been of a more ignominious nature, most of it of his own making.
Rodgers caught COVID, and then he caught a you-know-what storm of criticism over some interviews he gave during his convalescence. He is also expected to return this Sunday, and it’s hard to tell right now how his reentry will be received, at least aside from the Cheesehead faithful in Green Bay and beyond.
This brings us to our next topic. This week, we are making Baked Macaroni and Cheese! This is a dual specialty, with Wisconsin being the capital of cheese and all and Seattle being home to Beecher’s Cheese in Pike Place Market, one of the most iconic businesses and brands in the Emerald City.
It’s going to be a cold, stormy day in Seattle on game day, so let’s get after it! You know you want to indulge in a giant pan of gooey, cheesy, baked carby goodness. This is the time of year we are supposed to pack on our winter pounds after all, isn’t it?
Here is a crazy video of how to make an incredible Baked Macaroni and Cheese using a ton of cheese and sour cream and butter (and milk and eggs). Imagine following that recipe using a hunk or two of Beecher’s Flagship Cheddar. You know you want it, Seattle and Green Bay! But since we are no slouches at the stove ourselves, here are our own flourishes from Food and Football:
- If you want to make yours over the top, use a breadcrumb topping! To do this, mix panko breadcrumbs with melted butter until the consistency of wet sand is achieved. Spread it over the top before baking it
- Put out lots of garnishes and mix-ins for game time! Let people pile on from an assortment of pickled peppers, herbs, and sauces. Make it a macaroni bar to go with your Bloody Mary bar. That’s the Wisconsin spirit!
This should be a good game on Sunday. There are reputations on the line. Are Wilson and Rodgers yesterday’s stars, or do they have more gas left in the tank? No matter what happens, make sure you gas up your tank with that most wondrous of uniquely American foods, Baked Macaroni and Cheese.
