10 Dishes for Your ‘Big Brother’ Premiere Party

Big Brother premieres tonight, and chances are that some of you are holding viewing parties. This then begs a very important question: what food to serve the guests? Well, in the interest of being creative, I’ve compiled ten culinary suggestions — some better than others — for your Big Brother premiere parties.

Ideas after the jump…

Robata
In honor of the Chenbot, why not fire up the grill and attempt Japanese robata? Gourmet.com actually has a pretty interesting recipe for momoyaki, which is essentially Japanese grilled chicken. It may be a touch involved, but I’m sure quite rewarding for those who attempt it.

Pock Marked Mother Chen’s Bean Curd (Ma Po Do Fu)
If Robata is a bit too much for you, feel free to honor Julie Chen and her heritage by whipping up this famed Chinese dish instead. It’s supposed to be delicious, and quite frankly, I’m not sure how any culinary tribute to Big Brother could forgo something with the phrase “Mother Chen” in its name. Recipe here.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Y’all better get started on this one soon if you want to be ready for the premiere tonight (especially you East Coasters who have three less hours of cooking time). Pulled pork sandwiches are perfect because almost all recipes call for pork shoulder. And what’s another term for pork shoulder? Pork butt. See where I’m going with this? That’s right: Pulled Pork Butt FIRST Sandwiches. Here’s Tyler Florence’s recipe.

Birthday Cake
@kristenvandine tweeted this great idea to me: a cake that says “Happy Birthday Keesha” in honor of one of the greatest birthday celebrations in reality TV history. If you don’t remember the incident, check out this clip. Once you’ve watched it, either pick up a cake from the supermarket or attempt Ina Garten’s famous “Beatty’s Chocolate Cake” and have an awkward birthday celebration of your own.

Key Lime Pie
An equally clever dessert suggestion comes from @machadojen1, who proposed key lime pie in honor of the keys the houseguests yearn to keep around their necks. Not a bad idea.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Finger Sandwiches
Back in the day, food competition losers were saddled with a week of PB&J, a fate I would be more than happy to embrace. Why not pay tribute to Old Skool Big Brother by serving up a variety of PB&J finger sandwiches? It’s certainly the easiest thing to put together on this list.

Oatmeal Cookies
Many people have suggested serving “slop” at a party, but truth is that no one will eat more than a few spoonfuls, and then you’ll be stuck with just a bunch of, well, slop. Not fun. Instead, why not pay homage to slop — which is basically just oatmeal — by baking up some oatmeal cookies? I know that’s what I’m going to do tonight — with chocolate chips, natch.

Hummus and Tzatziki (or Baba Ghanoush)
This season is all about Dynamic Duos, and what better duo of dips are there than Hummus and Tzatziki? Baba Ghanoush can also be swapped in, or quite frankly, any two dips would work: salsa and guacamole; spinach & artichoke alongside French onion; crab and cream cheese alongside seven bean layer — the list goes on. Just serve two dips and call them dynamic. Lazy? Perhaps. Tasty? Most certainly.

Cupcakes with Mystery Fillings
Whip up a batch of cupcakes and fill each one with something different (and palatable). It’s the ultimate tribute to Expect the Unexpected.

Vito’s Pizza
If you live in Los Angeles, order a pie from Vito’s Pizza on La Cienega. Get it? Vito – Veto? If you don’t live in LA, just eat pizza and say someone named Vito made it. Then praise his golden powers.

BONUS: Sun Gold Zinger
In honor of the Zingbot 3000, make yourself a tasty and zippy Sun Gold Zinger. Recipe here.

I’ve run out of ideas.

What are some of your food suggestions?