Tailgate Food Ideas

“So I am going to the VT v. William & Mary game tomorrow. My kids are students at Tech and they asked me to bring food, i.e., tailgate food. My daughter wants fruit and veggies (smart kid), but my son (the heathen) wants something "good". What does that mean exactly? Any tailgate officionados out there? Ideas?”

“I have never had to feed my tailgate. I have no idea what they eat. :?P”

“Well, you're a big help there Rev! :)”

“hot dogs of course!”

“Brats!

YUM”

“Brats and hotdogs! That will mean cooking. I don't have a grill to haul up there, but I could heat them up using my backpacking stove. Cool! Thanks.”

“If only there was a way to cook pizza in the trunk of a car....

Yeah, Big Help, I know.”

“No, not hot dogs.

Pick up some deli meat, some hogie rolls, get some lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard. A jar of dill pickles, cut into spears.

Before you get there, run by a wing joint and get 4 dozen.

Some chips, salsa, dip is a requirement.

Plenty of beer, plenty.

Now that's how I would do it if I were packing light.

Otherwise, on a more agressive plan, I would take the base to my fish cooker, my 16 inch iron skillet, some onions, bell peppers, a small grill, some bratwurst and buns with spicey mustard.

I would grill the onions and bell pepper in the slillet over the fish cooker. Grill the brats (or if you want to make it simple, use the skillet like a flat grill and do it all in one pan) and serve them up with plenty of beer. As a note, if you boil the brats in beer before grilling, it makes it a lot easier to cook them and you wont worry about burning them up.

On the max plan, I would go with a large grill and knock out some ribs, tenderloin and beer can chicken.

On the ultimate plan I would just cook a whole hog.

But for gods sake, don't show up with hotdogs.”

“My wife does a loaded potato salad. It's basically doing the ingredients of a loaded baked potato in a potato salad format. Dang good.

She also does somethng called Redneck Caviar. It's a dip with chips. It's black eyed peas, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, rotel tomatoes, and a few other things soaked in italian salad dressing and maybe balsamic vinegar. You drain it overnight and then eat with corn chips.

BBQ is always good.

Smoke some beer butt chicken

If it's going to be cool then chili is a winner.”

“Creek -

We are known to tailgate a bit here in Philadelphia for Eagles games. In Philly, "good" would mean lots of buffalo wings, Italian hoagies, cheese steaks, sausage, peppers & onions sandwiches, pasta and "gravy" (red sauce to you) with meatballs , cheese & crackers, potato salad, etc., along with lots of chips and other fun snacks. Appetizers of shrimp and/or steamed mussels work well. We usually bring portable grills and or camp stoves for the hot stuff. In Philly, it would also mean a tanker truck full or beer (and subsequent arrests at Giants and Cowgirls games) so I don't recommend the beer part except in moderation, which for college kids may be a challege. Sodas would probably be better and alcohol might be illegal or prohibited where you are going to tailgate. Check to see if there are rules by the college and/or town about tailgating. Have fun!”

“chili - you snuck in while I was typing.


I can't believe I didn't list beer, though I was thinking in terms of cooking.”

“Here's the recipe. You drain it before serving:

REDNECK CAVIAR




Source of Recipe

DRQ

List of Ingredients




2 (16-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained
2 (11-ounce) cans white shoepeg corn, drained
2 (11-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
2 large green bell peppers, chopped
12 small green onions, chopped
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 (16-ounce) large Italian dressing
Scoop-style corn chips


Recipe




Combine all ingredients except dressing in a bowl, blending well. Pour dressing over all and toss well to coat. Refrigerate overnight. Serve with corn chips.”

“If only there was a way to cook pizza in the trunk of a car....

I thought that's what the air filter hood in the engine comparment was for. It's about the right size....”

“Get a cast iron grill at wallyworld that will fit over a two burner coleman stove.

You can do brats with onions and bell peppers right on it.”

“Dayhiker, we need to take her to a tailgate party during the Iron Bowl.”

“Absolutely.

My partner in Tuscaloosa and her hubby do a good job of tailgating. We were down for a game one time and they smoked a turkey the night before the game. His company does a tent on the Quad now for games. For A-day it was a crawfish boil with open bar. They have us 4 tickets to the UT game. We're going down with the 2 bigger kids.

We'd talked about all the guys in the office grabbing Iron Bowl tickets and going down....until I realized it was Thanksgiving weekend.”

“LOL, okay okay not hotdogs! Brats all the way. Chili, I have any extra ticket. Wanna go? I could use another culinary lesson.

Wings is a great idea, maybe some dip too. The Redneck Caviar will be a big hit. Definately going to make that. Thanks for the recipe dayhiker.

Not sure about the beer. My son isn't old enough to drink anyway and I have to drive.

Sheesh, I am glad I asked you guys! I had chicken salad on croissants and deviled eggs on my menu. Too mamby pamby for this group I bet.

TT'rs simply know everything that is important to know.”

“I saw a guy cook a steak in foil on his manifold once, while driving to Charleston SC for the Spoleto festival.

He wasn't too pleased with the result, though.”

“Smoke some beer butt chicken

dayhiker

Who you tellin' to go smoke beer butt! LOL”

“Oh, yeah, and there is also shrimp crole if you want to go that route.

If they were playing someone other than a cream puff, I would consider going to the game.”

“William & Mary has a football team? I missed that part.”

“Yea, I think they get a lot money for allowing us to pummel them.

Oh geez, I hope we win now.....”

“Cream puffs! Great idea Chili. LOL, I could make green and yellow William & Mary cream puffs for dessert.”

“LOL.”

“We won't be tailgatin' tomorrow - we'll probably grab a bite at the alumni club cafe (http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/dining/index.htm?page=cafe&sec=general - it says they're closed on Saturdays, but they are always open on game days). They usually have a good meal, like BBQ chicken, a salad and bread for 6 bucks or something like that - and they have a decent selection of beer.”

“If you like things spicy, make some bacon poppers.

Take some fresh jalapenos, cut them in half long ways, clean them out, fill them with cream cheese, them wrap with raw bacon, and bake on a broiler pan at 450 till bacon is just getting crisp. Tada! Tasty stuff. Just treat the pepers w respect when cutting them please. no picking your orifaces, or anything like that till you have thoroughly washed with HOT water and lots of soap.”

“There was a camp pizza reciepe from Rainman -
Boboli pizza bread - small size
water to steam in small skillet -1/4 c?
Cover bread with shreaded cheese and sauce.
not necessarily in that order-
Cover - let steam rise, till it stops, check again- if all is good- ready!”