Review by Rebecca Sodergren
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette If Ed Bartko and Steve Long could make their own food to sustain them through the hard labor of football games (watching them on TV, that is), then any man can do it. After all, these are just two regular guys. These neighbors from the Toledo, Ohio, area got together to watch every Monday Night Footbal" game and assorted other games during the 1998-'99 season. The first week, they had chips, dip and sodas. The next week, they had chips, dip, sodas and chicken wings.
The next week it was chips, dips, sodas, chicken wings and sausage balls. By the end of the season, they could have fed a whole football team. If they couldn't compete on the football field, they could at least compete in the kitchen. Finally, they hatched a plan to pool their recipes and publish 2 Regular Guys Cookbook.
The recipes are all easy to prepare. Desserts use a lot of Cool Whip and instant-pudding mix. They're a cinch even for kitchen newcomers, and as Long puts it, "There's no such thing as fat-free in our recipes, so they all taste good."
The book is arranged into 17 menus--enough for one per week of the regular football season--with an appetizer, main dish and dessert for each week. The book is available through bookstores or Internet booksellers such as amazon.com.
Steve's Super Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
24 large mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onions
pinch of garlic salt
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Preparation:
Wash and drain mushrooms. Remove stems and save caps off to the side. Chop up stems, to make a cup. In a saucepan cook stems, onion and garlic salt in butter until tender. Stir in bread crumbs and cheese. Spoon mixture into mushroom caps. Place in a 15 by 10-inch baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.
Texas Blow-Out
Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger, browned and drained
1/2 lb. bacon, fried and drained
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 Tbs. dry mustard
one 14.5-oz. can pork and beans
one 14.5-oz. can lima beans, drained
one 14.5-oz. can kidney beans, drained
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and bake for an hour. Serve in bowls with bread of your choice.
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Ingredients:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
one 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 tsp. flour
one 6-oz. ready-made chocolate piecrust
1 jar chocolate sauce
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a mixer, beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Toss chips with flour and then stir them into the cheese mixture. Pour mixture into crust. Bake for 35 minutes. Let cheesecake stand and cool, then top with chocolate sauce.
Resources 2 Regular Guys Cookbook: Menus and Other Tidbits for the Football Season
by Ed Bartko, Steve Long
Summit Publishing Group, 2000
Order this title from Amazon.com.
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