So here we are at the end of another football season. The hope and dreams of so many teams and fans shattered before us. We look at our teams and say if we did this differently we could have won. So what do we do know?

Now we look forward to Super Bowl XXXVIII, the pinnacle of all sporting events. The hype, the glamour, all the celebrities and in the middle of all the statistics and player interviews there is actually a football game.

The Super Bowl is the one time of the year the many people that don't cook, create the one dish that they do know how to make. This year I am going to ask all our readers to send me their favorite dishes. You don't have to get elaborate with the recipe. Just give me the basic ingredients. I will post your name and recipe in the follow up article. The most original recipe will be given top billing as the most creative Super Bowl recipe. Please send those recipes in as soon as possible.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jen for winning the overall football picks this year. It was a close battle but in the end and even with a victory in the Super Bowl, Jen will be victorious.

This years Super Bowl should be one of the closest battles in many years. I predict the Patriots to win but the Panthers to cover on the points. Sorry Panther fans but I just call them the way I see them.

This brings me to the point in the article that I give you a couple of recipes for your Super Bowl party. Starting in the north I give you Nantucket Smoked Seafood Chowder. You thought I was going to say New England clam chowder didn't you! Well, after I give you this wonderful recipe if you would like to make it into clam chowder just simply substitute diced clams for the smoked fish.

Nantucket Smoked Seafood Chowder

1/4 lb butter
3/4 cup flour
6 oz salt pork, diced
3 stalks celery. Diced
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or fresh, chopped
1 qt chicken stock
2 cups of clam juice
2 large potatoes, diced
1/2 lb smoked scallops
1/4 lb smoked tuna
1/4 lb smoked mussels
1/2 lb diced clams
4 tablespoons sherry
2 shakes of hot sauce
Kosher salt to taste
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
White pepper to taste

Melt the butter and add flour (your roux). Let it cook on low for five minutes, reserve off to the side until needed. Render the salt pork and save the fat, throw out the chunks of pork. (Rendering is simply cooking the meat on a low flame until the fat melts off the meat.) sauté the celery in the pork fat adding the bay leaves and thyme, cook for 2 to 3 minutes add chicken stock and clam juice, bring everything to a boil and let cook on medium heat for 15 to 18 minutes. Add potatoes and bring back to a boil, cooking the potatoes for 8 minutes. Add all the seafood and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Add the roux a little at a time letting it cook into the chowder before adding more. This part takes patience because if you don't take your time the chowder will taste like flour or burn. Make sure you stir the flour each time until it dissolves. Once the flour has thickened the soup cook it for an additional 3 minutes so you know it is dissolved properly. Then add the sherry and the hot sauce taste the chowder and then add the salt and pepper to your taste. Add the cream bring it to a boil until it reaches the proper consistency. Thick but still soupy is what you are looking for. Adjust the salt and pepper at the end if you think it needs more but don't over season because it will ruin it.

South Carolina Seafood Casserole

1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
1 lb scallops
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 lb crabmeat, pasteurized offers the cleanest without having to clean it
2 cups of cooked white rice
1 1/2 cups of V8 juice
1 1/4 cups of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of bell peppers diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Start by preheating the oven to 350. Then over a medium heat sauté the shrimp and scallops in butter until heated through but not cooked all the way. Place all remaining ingredients into an 8x11-inch pan and place in oven until the edges start to the bubble. This will take about 20 to 25 minutes depending on your oven. Make sure you mix all ingredients well before you put it into the oven.

Happy New Year,
Chef Mike