Game On!

I love football. As a kid I wanted to be a rock star, a football player or a chef.

I grew up in California and was an Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers fan, because when you live in Northern California, those were your teams. But as a kid, I was also amazed by Houston Oilers player Earl Campbell. He was this young, superstar running back who had these humongous thighs and would just plow over people.

We had Campbell as a guest on Triple D (Diners, Drive-ins & Dives). I think it was the closest anybody has seen me to losing it. We just sat there and talked and I asked him everything.

My first live Super Bowl was the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals in 2009. Now, I’m all about the live game. I will probably go to the Super Bowl until I die. There is so much energy and enthusiasm around it.

Before then, everybody used to come to my house for the Super Bowl because I used to throw these elaborate food events. When I started going to the Super Bowl, everyone was like ‘you’re ditching us?!’ Now all my buddies want to go with me to the game.

But I do miss the experience of the Super Bowl party food. My ultimate goal would be to have a Super Bowl party in a stadium suite — and for me to cook the food.

When it comes to Super Bowl party food, people like to eat with their hands. It’s festive. It’s not sitting down to full meal. Instead it’s eating a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Ribs are really easy to prepare if you just follow the simple basics. And you can add so many different flavors to them. You can put a general rub on them, cook them up, and have different sauces such as a sweet barbecue, a spicy chipotle barbeque, honey mustard or an Asian firecracker sauce. I like the tanginess that comes with a root beer sauce too. It’s that sweet, sticky idea.

Ribs carry a lot of moisture and flavor, and you can hold them warm in a chafing dish. They are very universal, and if you don’t like a lot of sauce, you can go dry.

Also for party food, I don’t have any problems with chips and dip. But let’s just put some work into it. Don’t just open a can. That’s why I suggested the queso fundido recipe.

For this year’s Super Bowl, I’m heading to New Orleans a week before the game to shoot Triple D there first. I’ll spend some time with Emeril (Lagasse) and probably do a fundraising event with him.

I’ll go to some of my favorite food joints and eat at Emeril’s restaurant for sure. New Orleans is one of my favorite food towns — there is such soulful experience about it.