Poker Party Food Items - Texas Style

What better way to host a Texas Hold 'Em Poker than to do it Texas style?

When having poker parties, everyone including the host should be able to have fun. If I were to host one, I would begin by shopping at the Dollar Tree for a tablecloth, napkins, cups, and plates, and a deck of cards, which would cost all of five dollars. Red is more likely the color to be available but some black would accent the red nicely if possible.

I would then take the cards and cut them up into squares and use them for confetti for the table which I would choose to be a buffet style table.

For an appetizer I would serve salsa and chips. The chips can either be store bought or I would make a batch myself.

Homemade tortilla chips:

Oil

20 pk. Store bought Tortillas

Salt

Put oil in a frying pan and heat on medium. While the oil is warming, cut the tortilla chips in triangles. Cut long ways, sideways, then to the right and then left. You will get about 8 tortilla chips per tortilla totaling about 160 chips. Also, you can cut about 4-5 tortillas at once, depending upon the thickness.

After the oil has heated fry the chips until they are golden brown. Then remove the chips from the oil and place them on a paper towel to drain of the excess oil. Immediately add salt to taste. When the chips are done, put them in an air tight container or bag until the party.

Where a bag of Tostitos Tortilla Chips can cost up to $3.50, you may decide to take a cheaper route and find a bag at the Dollar Tree or again, make your own. I can buy a 20 pk. of tortilla's at Food Lion for $1.50.

Sometimes in addition to the Tortilla Chips, Dollar Tree will carry Tostito's salsa. However, you have to be very lucky. If not, you can make your own. While it may be more expensive depending on tomato prices, homemade salsa is awesome. In addition, if you have a green thumb like my husband than you can grow your own "salsa" garden.

Non-Chunky Homemade Salsa:

8-10 Roma tomatoes

1-2 jalapeno's (depends on jalepenos hotness and how hot you want it)

1 lemon

1 tbsp. garlic

Salt

Cut up the tomatoes and jalepenos and put them into a blender along with garlic and salt to taste. Cut lemon in half and squeeze into the blender. Blend on high and taste. If needed, add more salt. If the salsa looks too soupy, it is perfect. Put it in the refrigerator for about an hour so that it can thicken up.

For an entrée, again, I would do it buffet style, and Texas style.

I would make the following to put on the buffet:

Spanish Rice: I am big enough to admit that yes, I can save some money on items and I am very thrifty and a good cook but, I cannot make a good batch of rice to save my life. My favorite all time Spanish Rice is made by Lipton. It is fast, easy, good, and sometimes if your lucky you can get them for $1.00 a package (which yields about 6).

I would also need the following for the main dishes:

For the beans:

2 lb Pinto beans

2 tbsp minced Garlic

Bacon grease, bacon, or fat back

Comino (cumin)

Onion (chopped)

Salt

The package of pinto beans will indicate that they need to be washed and soaked overnight. However, again, I am big enough to admit that with 5 kids and a husband, soaking beans at night is not on my mind nor is it a priority because upon experimenting, there is no difference. I wash the beans well while I bring a large pot of water to boil. After the water comes to a boil, add the beans. Bring the beans to a hard boil for about an hour or two until they are soft. If necessary, add water while boiling.

When they are soft, add 2 tbsp of minced garlic (if using powder add an additional tbsp), 2 tbsp of comino, chopped onion, and approximately 1 cup of bacon grease (If you are using fat back or bacon, add it while boiling the beans) and salt to taste.

Side note: If there are left over beans, they can be squashed with a potato masher and refried for another meal.

For the ground meat:

2 lbs ground meat

1 can rotelli or store brand diced tomatoes and jalapenos

Salt

Comino

Garlic

Fry ground meat with the rotelli and drain. Add comino, garlic, and onion powder or real onion. Then salt to taste.

Additional buffet items that are needed:

Sour cream

Chopped onions

Lettuce

Chopped tomato

Shredded cheese

20 pkg. tortillas

Right before preparing to eat, warm the tortillas in a frying pan on medium heat and place between two sheets of aluminum foil to keep them warm.

Put out the salsa and chips on the table (multi-purpose food), ground meat, beans, rice, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, and onions in separate bowls and your guests will have the choice of weather to eat tacos, burritos, or nachos if they please.

As for drinks, with dinner, I would make ice tea (it is cheap and easy to make in addition to everyone usually liking ice tea) and as for the poker game...I would offer some Corona or another favorite beer (so that I could win the game ha-ha).

If you want to serve a desert than you can make some flan (packaged and in the jell-o aisle) or maybe offer some more salsa and chips throughout and after the meal. If you leave the food out for the guests, they can pick as the night goes on. Just put the ground meat and beans on a hot plate and everything should work out really well.

With a buffet, the guests will not go hungry, it is cheap, and it will enable the host to party with the guests rather than waiting on them all night long.

Happy pokering!