Poker night food: More than just pizza delivery

From an article in the Southern Mississippi Sun Herald

Winter weekends are great for having friends over for game night.

Texas Hold Em poker and bunco are games people enjoy playing at monthly gatherings, but you can just as easily get out a deck of cards and play gin rummy, spades or canasta.

Heidi Tobey of Lexington, Ky., said she and her friends started playing poker before it became a big thing. "Most couples you meet play some sort of cards, Uno, Yahtzee, when they're getting together with family and friends," she said. Tobey said she usually serves sandwiches, spinach dip and vegetables, and chips and cheese dip. "If it's just the guys getting together, they order pizza. They don't care about sandwiches, they just want pizza, beer and chips."

Phil Kearns and his group of buddies have been playing poker for about two years. They started when Kearns' wife, Kim, began playing bunco with the wives of three of his friends. "We said if they were going to be out playing bunco, then we should be playing poker," he said. Whoever hosts game night decides on the menu, Kearns said. It includes chili, bean soup, barbecued sausages, country ham sandwiches, hot wings, chicken fingers, sub sandwiches, pretzels and peanuts.

The food served at bunco parties usually is simple. But if it's a special occasion, cooks like Paula Goins will take extra time to make the meal more elaborate. When it's Goins' turn to host the monthly party, she usually gets requests from the players for chili or vegetable soup, and pimento cheese sandwiches. Once a year the group invites husbands, and then it's potluck.

For 30 years, Goins has been part of several bunco groups. "Some are dessert groups or appetizers, or the hostess sticks to dinner. A lot of times I've done lasagna, bread, salad and dessert," she said. She once served roasted duck at a Christmas bunco party. "Some hostesses love to cook like I do, but some are not oriented like that, and they buy lasagna. "It doesn't matter, we just get together and have a good time. It's a fun night."

DORIS' FUDGE PIE
Paula Goins of Lexington, Ky., has been hosting bunco parties for three decades. This recipe and the one that follows are a couple that her friends request.

1 square unsweetened chocolate
1 stick butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Melt chocolate with butter in a saucepan on low heat. Beat eggs, and set aside. Mix sugar with flour. Combine all ingredients and add vanilla. If desired, add pecans. Pour into a well-greased pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Do not overbake.

PAULA'S ANGEL DESSERT
1 10-inch angel food cake
1 pint strawberries, crushed
1 tablespoon milk
1 16-ounce container Cool Whip Light, thawed
1 pint strawberries, sliced
Fresh strawberries and mint leaves for garnish

Cut angel food cake horizontally into three layers. Stir crushed strawberries and milk into 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip. Place one cake layer on a plate. Spread half of strawberry mixture on top of cake layer, and top with half of the sliced strawberries. Repeat layers and end up with cake on the top. Frost sides and top with remaining Cool Whip. Decorate with strawberry slices. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

MINI RACHAELS
Food Network star and cookbook author Rachael Ray suggests serving a mini sandwich buffet for game night, mini versions of such sandwiches as mini grilled cheese and tomato, mini burgers and mini Rachaels. Here's her recipe for mini Rachaels.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
16 slices mini rye bread
1/2 cup sweet red pepper relish
1 pound smoked turkey, thinly sliced
1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1/3 pound sliced sharp cheddar

Suggested accompaniments:
Mini pickles, mini pretzels, mini Chess men butter cookies.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Preheat large griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium heat.
To a small pot over medium low heat, add 1tablespoon vegetable oil. Add butter, and melt it into the warmed oil. Keep a pastry brush on a spoon rest or small plate on hand.
Lay out 8 slices of rye bread. Dot bread with teaspoonfuls of red pepper relish. Top with even amounts of smoked turkey, sauerkraut and thinly sliced cheese. Top cheese with remaining slices of bread. Brush griddle or skillet with oil and butter mixture. Grill and toast sandwiches 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer sandwiches to cookie sheet, and place in oven to keep warm. Makes 8 mini sandwiches.

MINI BURGERS ON TOASTED DISCS
Sandra Lee, on a recent episode of "Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee" on the Food Network, prepared a simple menu for game night. She made mini burgers on toasted discs, poker potato chips, mini chicken pot pies, casino lemon almond cake, and fruity queen of hearts cocktail. Here's her recipe for the mini burgers. Other recipes can be found at www.foodnetwork.com.

8 thin slices white bread
Olive oil cooking spray
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pack (1-ounce) pot roast seasoning
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Toast the bread the day ahead. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take 8 slices bread and cut out 32 circles using a 1-3/4-inch round pastry cutter or an empty, clean 6-ounce tomato paste can. Arrange disks on an unlined sheet pan, and spray lightly with olive oil. Toast rounds for 7 minutes. When cool, store in an airtight container.

To make the burgers, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix ground beef, seasoning, egg and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl. Form 1-inch meatballs using 1 tablespoon of meat mixture per ball. Arrange on a broiling pan, leaving meatballs an inch apart. Using index finger, gently poke holes in the middle of each meatball. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn temperature to broil and cook 5 minutes more. Let stand 7 minutes before transferring to toasts. Gently fill each burger hole with ketchup or mustard. Serve warm. Makes 32 cocktail burgers.