Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, there is no reason either in football or in poetry why the two should not meet in a man's life if he has the weight and cares about the words.
Archibald MacLeish

You can't be a real country unless you have beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
Frank Zappa

So much of our culture, traditions, and celebrations revolve around food. "Super Bowl Sunday" is no exception. What would the Super Bowl be without food, fun, friends, and an occasional wardrobe malfunction?

When did the Super Bowl become such a celebrated event? Well, the Super Bowl is a relatively young event. The first Super Bowl ever wasn't until 1967, played between Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. The Green Bay Packers won with a score of 35-10.

Slowly, but surely, the entertainment at halftime, the commercial airtime, and the food served during Super Bowl parties became as much of a focus as the actual game. Throwing a Super Bowl party isn't something to be entered into lightly. It is a great undertaking to have a rowdy group of hungry and excited sports fans at your house. This year, forego the traditional recipes and old stand-bys, and try these elegant, yet hearty dishes!

Super Bowl XLI Menu

Pete's Chili

Ahhh, the great chili debate. There are as many ways to make chili as there are chili lovers. Some like it hot, some like it on the sweeter side. I contend that chili is not enjoyable if it's too hot to taste. The best type of chili is hot enough to feel the burn on the back of your tongue, but not too hot to taste the actual flavor. The recipe that follows is my Dad, Peter Maher's recipe. A recipe that I believe is, like my dad, perfect in every way!

• 5 lbs. chopped meat
• 5 peppers (a mixture green and red, diced)
• 5 large onions (diced)
• 1 cans kidney beans (drained)
• 2 large (12 oz.) cans of tomato sauce
• 2 large (12 oz.) cans of crushed tomato
• 2 packages of chili seasoning
• 1 bulb fresh garlic
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• Chocolate to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot, brown meat until light brown in color. Drain meat and reserve on the side. Sauté the diced peppers and onions, and garlic in the same stock pot used to brown the meat. Once translucent, add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, cumin, chili seasoning, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low heat for two to two and a half hours. Serve as is or topped with shredded cheddar on top. Enjoy over a bed of pasta shells, or alone in a bowl.

Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

This is a delicious all-purpose sauce that can be used for a barbecue sauce, glaze, or basting sauce for poultry, shrimp, and meats. Pour over a block of cream cheese and serve as a dip with club or water crackers. Use as a sauce for meatballs or cocktail sausages for a crowd-pleasing appetizer. It's also great in wraps!

• 1-tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup small diced onion
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons Chipotle chilies in adobo, chopped
• 2 pints fresh raspberries, rinsed
• ½ cup raspberry vinegar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft and slightly caramelized, 4 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for one minute. Add the chipotles and cook, stirring continuously, for one minute. Add the raspberries and cook until soft, two to three minutes. Add the vinegar and stir to deglaze the pan. Add the sugar and salt, and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thickened and reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool before using.

Artichoke and Spinach Dip

What would Super Bowl Sunday be without a great bowl of dip? This year, refrain from using the standard onion soup mix and sour cream, and "wow" your party guests with homemade dip!

• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ¼ cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
• ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese (about 2 ounces)
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 (10-ounce) bag of fresh spinach, stemmed, rinsed, and chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 cans artichoke hearts, julienned
• Salt and cayenne
• 10-15 small corn tortillas cut into fourths
• Vegetable oil for frying

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Preheat the fryer. Combine ¼ cup of the vegetable oil and flour, in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly for 5 to 6 minutes for a blond roux. Whisk in the milk and bring the liquid up to a boil. Season the liquid with salt and cayenne. Simmer the liquid for 5 to 6 minutes or until the liquid is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheeses. Set the sauce aside. In a sauté pan, heat the remaining vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in handfuls of spinach at a time, until all the spinach is incorporated. Add the garlic and the artichoke and sauté for two minutes. Season the vegetables with salt and cayenne. Remove the vegetables from the heat and turn into a mixing bowl. Fold the béchamel sauce into the vegetables. Turn the mixture into a baking pan. Bake the dip for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Fry the tortilla chips, batches at a time, for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the chips are golden and crispy. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper-lined plate. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the chips with the dip.

Elegant Sweet Potato Skins

• 4 sweet potatoes
• Pinch salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 8 ounces brie with rind removed
• 2 cups walnuts in syrup
• Chives, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash and dry the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until tender and nut mushy. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Cut the potatoes in half. Scoop out the flesh of the potatoes and reserve for another use. Season with salt and freshly-ground pepper, and drizzle with melted butter.

Place the skins on a baking sheet and return to the oven to bake for about ten minutes, or until crisp.

Top each skin with one ounce of brie and ¼ cup walnuts. Place the skins on a baking sheet and broil until the cheese is bubbly, about five minutes. Garnish with chopped chives.

Cheese and Rosemary Breadsticks

• ¼ cup grated Parmesan
• 1/3 cup grated Gruyere
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 (11-ounce) container refrigerated breadstick dough
• Finely-ground sea salt, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two heavy large baking sheets with silicone baking sheets or parchment paper. In a food processor, chop the Parmesan, Gruyere, and rosemary together until coarsely chopped. Set the cheese mixture aside. Separate the dough strips. Using a pizza cutter or a large sharp knife, cut each dough strip in half lengthwise to form thin strips. Working with one dough strip at a time, coat each strip with the mixture, pressing very gently. Twist each cheese covered dough strip and place onto prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with sea salt, if you wish.

Bake until the breadsticks are golden brown, about ten to fifteen minutes. Transfer the warm breadsticks to a basket and serve.

Lemon-Ricotta Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar or more needed for sprinkling
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely-grated lemon peel (about two lemons)
• 1-cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1-tablespoon fresh lemon juice.
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1/ 3 cup thinly sliced almonds

Line 12 muffin cups with ten paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixture, beat 1-cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy.)

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the almonds and the remaining one-teaspoon of sugar over the muffins. Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about twenty minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Super Bowl XLI Beer

The importance of beer at a Super Bowl party is something that shouldn't be underestimated. But what should you know about beer before you head out to the supermarket? In the past, when people spoke of "pairing" food, they had wine in mind. These days, finding the right beer pairing for your food is an important undertaking, and especially important when planning a Super Bowl party.

As one might expect, boldness, aroma and flavor, common sense, and personal taste all come into play. Read on to find out how you can serve the perfect pairings for your Super Bowl menu and subsequently become the local beer connoisseur in your neighborhood!

How bold is your beer?

The strength of a beer, or its "impact" on your palate must be taken into account when judging which beer will go well with a particular dish. Most beers can be differentiated using just two major categories: "low-impact" and "high-impact". An example of a "low-impact" beer would be a Belgian witbier, while imperial stout, and most stouts in general, would be considered "high-impact".

As with wine, you need to use your common sense when pairing beer. A stronger beer will overpower a light grilled fish, while a lighter beer will get lost in the robust flavor of a kielbasa and sauerkraut dish.

Sniffing out an appropriate beer

The flavor and aroma of a particular beer matches, harmonizes, or accentuates the flavor in your food. Whether flavors will "harmonize" on your tongue, or create a pleasurable contrast is sometimes unclear, but the more tastings you conduct, the more you will learn about the difference, and which pairings appeal to you.

There are a multitude of flavors that beer pairings can produce, including caramel, coffee, chocolate, bread, bananas, herbs, limes, smoke, or raspberries. There are a lot of flavors to experiment with!

In the case of roasted, sautéed, or fried foods, which develop some level of sweetness or caramelization due to those particular cooking methods, your best bet would be to find a beer with similar caramelized flavors. Amber ales, amber lagers, bockbiers, brown ales, and light porters all have caramelized flavors that will match beautifully.

When matching beer with Mexican, Vietnamese or Thai food, dishes that traditionally are flavored with lime or citrus, look for American pale ales, which usually have some citrus flavor. The Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops usually bear resemblance to the aroma of cilantro and other herbs such as ginger and cumin, found in those types of food.

Any dish with the flavor of char (charbroiled steak), chocolate (chocolate cake), or coffee is a good candidate to pair brown ales, porter, and stouts. Cajun-styled anything will also work well with these beers.

Remember that while it's almost always desirable to pair like flavors, contrasts can sometimes be just as intriguing. For instance, pair an imperial stout with vanilla ice cream, fruit tarts, and cheesecake. For a special treat, try the Oatmeal Stout Ice Cream Shake at Four Peaks Brewery in Tempe !

Surprisingly, fruit beers are not the best choice for fruit-based desserts. The flavors of the beer and the dessert seem to compete and cancel each other out. Again, the contrasting flavor of a stout is the best way to go.

For breakfast and brunch beers, wheat beer is the beer of champions.

Beer and cheese ..perfect together!?!

For many years, wine and cheese have been considered natural partners - but talk with a wine expert, and they rarely agree. Cheese coats your mouth and at the same time, blunts the flavor of the wine. Pairing the two is difficult at best, and sometimes very un natural.

Beer doesn't have any of the issues that make wines a difficult match for cheese. Carbonation allows the coatings to melt in the mouth, and can offer harmonies with flavors of cheese as well as contrasts. Some pairing suggestions include fresh goat cheeses with wheat beers because they both show a great deal of acidity and fruit, a nutty, aged Gruyere can harmonize well with a British brown ale, sharp cheddar with India pale ales, and a beers with strong caramel or malt flavors will be a perfect match for an aged Gouda which also hints of caramel.

Tackle your taste buds!

The best way to get to know what you like, don't care for, and why, is to let your tongue do the work for you. You still have some time before finalizing the menu for your big Super Bowl party .visit one of the many brewpubs in Arizona (See brewpub reviews/profiles below) and do your own research!

Takin' it higher - The Mogollon Brewing Company

Mogollon is a cozy place nestled in the historic downtown district of Flagstaff. Their beers are brewed at 7000 feet and they boast "the Grand Canyon State 's best-selling microbrews."

The ambiance of the bar is warm and friendly with the feeling of an authentic brewpub that means business. Beer production paraphernalia adorns its walls.

There are many advantages to being at an elevation of 7000 feet. The production at that altitude offers fewer impurities. Mogollon is the highest elevated distillery in the United States .

Mogollon beers include: "Hefevenom", "Apache Trout Stout", "Superstition Pale Ale", "Horney Toad IPA", and "Wapiti Amber Ale".

Info>Mogollon Brewing Company 15 N. Agassiz St. , Flagstaff , AZ 86001 Phone: 928-773-8950

From the frying pan into the fire -- The Chili Beer Company/Black Mountain Brewing Company

With a motto like "We drink all we can and then sell the rest", beer lovers have to know that this brewpub is always up for a party. The Chili Beer Garden , owned by local character "Crazy Ed Chilleen" sits smack dab in the middle of Frontier Town in Cave Creek and conveniently right next to Crazy Ed's Satisfied Frog and the Chili Beertos Cantina (which serve up the best charcoal-grilled Cowboy steak and Strawberry Shortcake you'll ever come across.) They also serve a mean mesquite-smoked barbecue.

Local legend has it that Crazy Ed felt that access to a cold beer in the middle of the desert was "pretty damned important." So important, that he felt it shouldn't be left up to city slickers . so he started brewing his own. An entire brewery was delivered to the foot of Black Mountain , and the townsfolk became suspicious . until the first batch was created. People started to come around .including the "yuppies." Whenever one of the yuppies started whining for a wedge of lime in their beer, Crazy Ed dropped a hot Serrano chili pepper into it instead. The rest is Chili Beer history .

Today, Crazy Ed along with Juan Olguin and brewmaster Sam E. Martin brew the original "Cave Creek Chili Beer", "Juanderful Wheat", "South of the Border Porter", "Ocotillo Amber", "Frog Light", and the original "Black Mountain Gold". They also offer two seasonal beers: "Big Horn Bock" (Winter) and "Lemon Lager" (Summer).

Info>The Chili Beer Company, Cave Creek , AZ Phone: 480-488-4742 www.satisfiedfrog.com

Beer with a vision - Four Peaks Brewing Company

If you're looking for a brewpub that is undeniably authentic, The Four Peaks Brewing Company is it. In fact, you can't get to their parking lot without having to first walk (or stumble) through their large production area, complete with monstrous fermenters, mashers, and brew kettles.

Four Peaks Brewing Company is by far, the largest producer in Arizona with more than 10,000 barrels made just last year. Seventy-five percent of their production is for the wholesale market, and you'll see some of your favorite brews in AJ's and Safeway!

"We continue to break production goals both by necessity and pure desire," advises co-owner Andy Ingram. "It's a great feeling to have people approach me and say 'This has really turned into Arizona 's beer!'"

One of my favorite haunts, the Tempe location has an outdoor patio where they serve bar fare alongside their signature brews including "Kilt Lifter Scottish-Style Ale", " 8 th Street Ale", "Hefeweizen", "Hop Knot IPA", "The Raj India Pale Ale (IPA), "Oatmeal Stout", "Sunbru Kolsch", and "Arizona Peach". For a unique treat you won't find anywhere else, try the Oatmeal Stout-Vanilla Ice Cream Shake!

Info> Four Peaks Brewing Company 1340 East 8 th Street , Tempe Phone: 480-303-9967

Newest location: Four Peaks Grill & Tap SE Corner of Frank Lloyd Wright and Hayden, Scottsdale Phone 480-991-1795

Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.

Dave Barry

What is "beer" anyway?

The term "Beer" refers to any beverage that is fermented and made from grain. There are two major distinctions of beer: "Lagers" and "Ales". Lagers are fermented at cooler temperatures by bottom-fermenting yeast. Beers in the lager family need to be conditioned or "lagered" somewhere cool for weeks before they are ready to drink. Alternatively, Ales are fermented at a warmer temperature by top-fermenting yeast strains, and they are ready to drink sooner.

Within each of these families of beer there are many styles. For example, "porter" and "stout" are ale styles and "pilsner" is one of the most popular lager styles. Both families have great ranges of light-to dark-colored beers, and weak to strong alcohol content.

Who invented beer?

The earliest records of beer and brewing have been found in Sumeria, which is modern-day Iraq . They are from more than 4000 years ago. We don't have a name connected with the invention of beer.

What will beer do to my waistline?

There are about 150 calories in a 12-ounce serving of beer, roughly the same amount as a cup of yogurt. A light beer will contain about 100 calories. Some heftier beers such as barleywines contain about 300 calories. There are about 13 carbohydrates in a standard beer and 5 in a light beer. Just watch the Super Bowl snack foods that you pair with beer!

What is the proper way to pour a beer?

A smaller head is formed if you pour the beer slowly down the side of a tilted glass. If you hold the glass upright and pour straight into the glass, a larger head will form. Pour ale so it has about half an inch of head, lagers with a larger one. Allow a wheat beer to have a big pillowy head. Just don't pour beer over ice, which is a mistake I made in my early years!