Tailgating tips?

I just bought some season tickets to the local University's Football games. Tailgating pre-game (and maybe post game) seems like a fun thing to do. Any tips suggestion on gear/recipes would be most appreciated as well as things to avoid. Thanks.

I just bought some season tickets to the local University's Football games. Tailgating pre-game (and maybe post game) seems like a fun thing to do. Any tips suggestion on gear/recipes would be most appreciated as well as things to avoid. Thanks.

You got a mobile BBQ pit you can hitch to your vehicle? That'd be my choice for gear.

Mark Lipton

No, but I have thought about taking some smoked goodies and using some device to warm them up while tailgating.

Weber makes a great portable gas grill - folds up and fits in the trunk easily and has good grill space. Starts easily - no staring at it wondering if it's lit or if it is leaking gas and preparing to explode! We bring it all the time to the beach in Nantucket. We don't try to do anything fancy on it - but it's great for burgers, dogs, kielbasa etc - I'm sure you could do plenty of damage with it at a tailgate

...Any tips suggestion on gear/recipes would be most appreciated as well as things to avoid. Thanks.

Grilled Italian sausage with onions and peppers (skillet with lid required), shrimp cocktail, macaroni or potato salad. If you have one of those turkey fryers, you could use it to do steamed clams or corn on the cob. Finger foods - chips, pickles, olives, cheese, crackers, etc.
Things to avoid - beans (especially before the game), soup, expensive stemware.

But Howie, baked beans are a staple for picnics, so why not for tailgating? Especially if your tickets for the game are in the opposing fans' section.

[Jenise]

Greg, forgive me for plugging one of my own recipes, but here's a great wine-oriented recipe for chicken drummettes (or even drumsticks) that would be PURRfect for tailgating.


Topic: RC: Wine-apple-herb oven-fried chicken/best FC I ever made
Author: Jenise
Date: Tue May 15 09:25:01 2001
About 20 years ago, I made some fried chicken from a recipe in the LA Times Home Magazine supplement. It was wonderful, very crisp and unusually elegant in its wine-apple-herb flavor, but I lost the recipe and never made it again. As best I recall it, in that preparation, the chicken was marinated in wine and actually cooked with apple juice in the pan. Superb results, but one heckuva mess to clean up after the apple juice literally turned to caramel in the bottom of the pan.

Driving past a KFC the other day, I suddenly remembered that chicken and imagined just how to recreate it as an oven version. When I got home, I pulled a bag of chicken wings out of the freezer and went to work.

The result was, as my title promises, the best fried chicken I''ve ever had. The chicken absorbs enough apple juice to approximate the caramelization effect, the corn meal makes a very tasty crust, and the wine and herbs give the chicken a very sophisticated flavor.

The following recipe has a lot of steps, the chicken isn''t hard to make but you must allow yourself enough time to follow all the steps. That it cooks in the oven is a big bonus--no slaving over a hot stove, no stove mess to clean up later!

1. Marinate the chicken for 4-8 hours:

2 dozen chicken wing drummettes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 tsp dried dill
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons EVOO

2. About an hour and a half before dinner, remove chicken from marinade and coat well with a mixture of:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

3. Place coated chicken on a wire rack to "dry". This sets your crust. Leave for about 30-45 minutes.

4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put sheet pan in oven to heat up, then add 3 tblsp. corn or olive oil, and set chicken in oven, best/top side down. Place in oven. Leave rack out, you're going to use it again.

5. After 20-25 minutes, chicken should be done on the first side. Check and decide if now's the time to turn. If it is, turn. DO NOT TURN CHICKEN MORE THAN ONCE OR YOU'LL TOTALLY FUTZ UP THE CRUST. Finish cooking, about ten minutes.

6. When chicken''s done, remove and set on wire rack to rest for five to ten minutes, then serve.

The Weber Smoky Joe is another time-honored tailgating essential. The gas grill would mean you wouldn't need charcoal, but with the Smoky Joe you have the option of hickory, mesquite, etc. Don't know how it works at other parks, but when we used to tailgate in Oakland, we'd just dump the ashes behind the car immediately prior to entering the game. They'd be cool by the time we'd leave and the parking lot crew would dispose of them. I suppose someone could step into the hot ashes on their way in, but we'd make sure they were not in an area people were likely to walk through and we never had a problem.

If your vehicle has a jack in back you can eleminate the problem of hauling along a grill of any sort. Just plug in your favorite crock pot recipe that you prepared at home and just kept warm on the trip the stadium.

I just bought some season tickets to the local University's Football games. Tailgating pre-game (and maybe post game) seems like a fun thing to do. Any tips suggestion on gear/recipes would be most appreciated as well as things to avoid. Thanks.

Some friends and I did that for an entire season a few years ago and it was a ton of fun. Especially in the early fall when it was still warm out.

What size is your group? The Smokey Joe may be a little small depending upon how many people are with you and what you are grilling. Especially if you are grilling steaks. The SJ is nice though because they have a very low center of gravity. Nothing will ruin your day like some drunk stumbling through the parking lot and accidentally knocking over your full sized grill.

As far as food we kept it very simple...Picnic food basically. Brats, hamburgers, steaks, Italians, Polishs, pasta salad, cheeses, chips, fruit salad, chilli, baked potato bar, etc. For a couple of the games we even grilled pizzas. That can be a little tricky though on a coal fired grill. Beverages were also simple. Beer, wine and scotch. One thing about the beer is to always take about 30% more than you think you will need. Same with the cigars. You never know who you will run into at the game.

Ask everyone to bring their own chair. You will probably need a few card tables as well. Be sure you have a big flag or some other way for people to find you if necessary. If you can, park in an end spot so you have more room to spread out. I know we are all suposed to do our part to be "green" these days but we went with paper plates and plastic utensiles to keep clean up to a minimum. Avoid anyone in Chicago Bears attire at all cost.

Have a fun season and remember that your team might lose a game, but no one has ever lost a tailgate party.

Y'know, if you really want to go upscale tailgating, why not do a paella? They were originally done over open fires anyway, and you could just do one over any grill that you had. If you've got a big enough pan, you could feed a dozen easily.

Mark Lipton