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 THE TAILGATER
 The Monthly Tailgating Webzine

Spinach Bacon Walnut Salad

Ingredients (Salad):

1 bag spinach

8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

¼ cup chopped walnuts

1 ripe mango, sliced into bite-sized pieces

Croutons (optional)

Ingredients (Dressing):

1 small red onion

2/3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1/3 cup vinegar

1 cup oil

Mix the dressing ingredients in a blender.  To prepare the salad combine spinach, bacon, walnuts and mango.  Serve dressing with salad.  Yields 6-8 servings.

Roquefort Pear Salad

Ingredients:

1 head leaf lettuce – torn into bite size pieces

2 to 3 pears – pealed, quartered, pitted and thinly sliced

5 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled

1 avocado – peeled, pitted and diced

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup pecans

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, stir ¼ cup of sugar together with the pecans.  Continue stirring gently until sugar has melted and caramelized the pecans.  Carefully transfer nuts onto waxed paper.  Allow to cool, and break into pieces.

For the dressing, blend oil, vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoons sugar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper.

In a large serving bowl, layer lettuce, pears, blue cheese, avocado and green onions.  Pour dressing over salad, gently toss, sprinkle with pecans, and serve.

Stuffed Grilled Jalapenos

Ingredients:

1 dozen fresh jalapeno peppers, hollowed and seeded

1 bunch of green onions, minced

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 small package frozen salad shrimp

1 Tbs. steak grill seasoning (or to taste)

7 strips of uncooked bacon

Strong Recommendation:  Wear plastic gloves when handling jalapeno peppers.  Avoid rubbing eyes or you’ll experience intense burning.

Hollow out each pepper by cutting the top cap off and removing all seeds.  Once hollowed, rinse peppers thoroughly, set aside.

Mince the green onions and salad shrimp (pieces need to be small enough to fit into peppers.)  Blend the green onions and salad shrimp with the softened cream cheese.  Add the steak grill seasoning.  Blend together, set aside.

Take one piece of uncooked bacon and chop it into 12 pieces.  Stuff one piece of bacon into the bottom of the jalapeno.  Next, fill the pepper with the cream cheese mixture.

Cut the remaining uncooked bacon slices in half.  Take one half of the bacon strip and drape it over the top of the stuffed jalapeno.  Secure it in place with a toothpick through the bacon and sides of the pepper.  Repeat for remaining jalapenos.

How to grill:  Grill peppers using indirect heat.  You will need to use a jalapeno holder to cook on the grill.  (Jalapeno holders can be found in stores or on-line.)  If a holder of the sorts is unavailable, it is recommended to use some form of cooking device where the jalapenos can stand upright so the bottoms and tops are exposed.  If you own a three-burner grill, try placing the jalapenos on the middle burner and then turn the burners on either side to high.

When grilling bacon it may get smoky.  The jalapeno peppers are done when their bottoms become a darker green to slightly charred.  Careful when removing from grill, jalapenos will be very hot.

BONUS APPETIZER:  You may end up with extra cream cheese mixture.  Try opening a can of crescent rolls.  Cut the crescent dough into little squares and stuff them with the cream cheese mixture.  Fold the dough to make small packages.  Bake according to the directions on the crescent roll can.  Ta-da, another appetizer!

-- Submitted by the Race Track Ladies, San Antonio, Texas  

Daniel's Texas Caviar

Ingredients:
1 15-oz. can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 4-oz. can chopped black olives
½ med green pepper, chopped
¼ med red pepper, chopped
4 scallions, white + 2 green chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ minced seeded jalapeno peppers from jar
1 tsp ground cumin
1 T cider vinegar
2 T fresh chopped cilantro
¼ tsp salt
2 T olive oil

Combine all ingredients, cover, refrigerate at least two hours. Makes approximately 3 ½ cups.  Serving suggestion: Great on grilled brats, also as a side salad or as a dip served with pita wedges or tortilla chips.

-- Larry Fuller, Missouri

PJ’s Tailgating Crab Bisque

Ingredients:
3 Sticks Butter

3 lbs Backfin lump crab meat

3 lbs Claw crabmeat

2 1/2 cups Basil

12 cloves garlic minced

3 cups flour

12 tomato's seeded and chopped (or six small cans diced tomato)

9 cups Clamato juice

6 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1 1/2 cup bottled clam juice

6 tlbs PJ's Secret Spice Blend or Old Bay seasoning

Hot pepper sauce to taste

1 1/2 cup water

Salt and Pepper to taste

12 tbls Lemon Juice

Cooking Sherry to taste

Parsley Flakes (reserve for serving)

On a Coleman stove, melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add basil and garlic, allow to simmer for 1 - 2 minutes.  Add 3 lbs. claw meat and half of the backfin lump crab meat (save the other 1 ½ lbs until serving). Stir in flour for two minutes, ensuring no clumps of flour.

Add the Clamato juice, diced tomato, heavy cream, ketchup, clam juice, water, PJ's or Old Bay, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper, lemon juice and cooking sherry. 

Heat and simmer about 15 minutes.  Serve in bowl, top with parsley flakes and some of the remaining Backfin lump crabmeat.

-- Big Ed, Philadelphia, PA

www.theeaglemobile.com

Twiced Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
Potatoes

Butter – ½ Tbsp. per potato

The cheese of your choice – 1 Tbsp. per potato

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Sour Cream – 1 Tbsp. per potato

Optional (all to taste):

Onion powder

Garlic Powder

Cajun Seasoning

Old Bay Seasoning

Wash potatoes thoroughly. Bake the potatoes until they are “almost” done. This will depend on your method of cooking. The microwave works well and will save you a bit of time.

Scoop out the insides of the potato and combine with above ingredients in a bowl. Have some fun and create your own version by adding ingredients of your choice. Mix well (almost mash) then refill potatoes and wrap in foil for the tailgate.

Cook on your grill until heated through.

Tip:  Place a small amount of butter on top of each potato before placing on the grill. This will keep them from drying out.

Creamy Coleslaw

A GREAT tailgating slaw!  Serves 8.  Make this earlier in the day.

Ingredients:
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. celery seed
¼ tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. sesame seed
½ medium cabbage, finely shredded or chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
1 small onion, chopped

Mix all ingredients, except the last three, in large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  For best taste, refrigerate for several hours or overnight. 

Helpful Tip:  To save time, buy a package of shredded cabbage and carrots.  You can find it in the produce department at your local supermarket. 

Roasted Tailgating Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 medium unpeeled baking potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks (1 1/3 cups -- Yukon or red potatoes taste best)

1 medium unpeeled sweet potato, cut into 1-inch chunks (1 cup)

2 medium onions, cut crosswise in half, then cut into wedges

1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1/3 cup fat-free Italian dressing

Fresh basil and thyme to taste, if desired

Move oven rack to position slightly above middle of oven.  Heat oven to 500 degrees.  Very generously spray 13 X 9 X 2 inches rectangular pan with cooking spray.  Place baking potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions in a bowl.  Add dressing and basil and thyme.  Mix to coat, and then transfer to baking pan.  Cover and bake for 10 minutes.

Stir in sweet red pepper and green bell pepper. If necessary, add more dressing to coat.  Cover and bake five minutes; stir vegetables.  Bake uncovered 10 minutes longer or until to desired tenderness.

This is a cook-at-home prior to the tailgate kind of recipe.  Try preparing this recipe the night before the big event.  Not only will it save you time, but also the ingredients will have more time to blend and therefore enhancing the overall flavor.  This dish taste great heated as well as cold.

Suggestion:  Try adding other vegetables to accent the potatoes.  Zucchini, squash and carrots add an interesting flavor twist.  Enjoy!

Southern Baked Beans

Ingredients:
2 cans (16 oz. each) pork and beans, with tomato sauce, drained

1 small onion chopped

4-6 slices of bacon

1 green pepper, chopped

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar

1Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp. dry mustard

In a skillet cook bacon until crisp. Drain and crumble, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings.

Cook onion and pepper in reserved drippings until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in beans, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and bacon pieces. Spoon into oven-proof casserole or foil pan.

Place in the center of cooking grate. Cook uncovered for about 30 minutes or until heated through and thickened.

-- B.C. Milo, Tonka, Wyoming

Cheese Quesadillas

Ingredients:
10 flour tortillas
10 oz. grated Monterey Jack cheese
Chopped tomato
Chopped green onion
Chopped bell pepper
Hot sauce (optional)

Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
4-6 tomatoes, chopped into squares

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped

1 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into squares

Prepared Italian dressing

Mix all of the above in a large bowl. Add just enough dressing to coat. Mix well and serve at room temperature or chilled.

 -- Fred Farmer, Bordentown, NJ

Tailgating Corn on the Grill Ideas

Ingredients:
Fresh Corn, unshucked

Tin Foil

The traditional way to prepare corn on the cob is to shuck the corn (remove the green outer husks) and plop them into boiling water for 3 – 5 minutes. But out in the parking lot you may not have access to a large pot or lots of water.

So try this: Wrap your cobs (husks and all) in tin foil. Place on the grill over low heat for 15 minutes, occasionally turning. Then remove the foil and the husks. What you’ll have is the most flavorful corn on the cob you’ve ever tried.

Cobs in a Burlap Sack

                                     Ingredients:

                                     Fresh corn, unshucked

                                     Large lobster pot

                                     Boiling water

                                     Burlap sacks

                                     Twine or rope

Here’s a fun way to do corn on the cob together with lobster that New England tailgaters are famous for. This method will require a very large pot of boiling water and a burlap sack.

Poll your tailgating group to see how many lobsters and corn each tailgater wants. Each tailgater gets their own burlap sack. Then take out of the cooler as many fresh, live lobsters that you want to cook. Place them into the burlap sack for each tailgater with as many corncobs as they want.

Securely close off each burlap sack with twine or rope and toss all the sacks into boiling water. (For larger tailgates, get hold off a 55-gallon drum and fill two-thirds up with water. This will require quite a fire to boil, but tailgaters have never been shy with their fire sources!)

Boil the corn-lobster sacks 20 minutes. Remove from water and empty the sacks. 

Take a sharp carving knife and cut off the ends of the corncobs.  The cobs should slide right out of their husk homes with out having to deal without all the little strings!