Post by BBQ Butcher on Sept 18, 2008 8:59:34 GMT -5
It’s that time of year again…..leaves are getting ready to turn, there is a noticeable crispness in the air, the nights are getting cooler and we realize that Fall is here, or just around the corner. Not to mention that if you turn your TV on during the weekend, you’ll find a myriad of football games. Yes folks, football season IS HERE!!! Whether you are a college or professional fan, the next few months will find you obsessing with your favorite team, the office/bar football pools, fantasy football and food.
Food? Of course! What is football without a ‘tailgate’ party? It doesn’t matter if you are actually at the stadium cooking on your grill, at a friends house, swilling beer at a sports bar, entertaining your own party or just plain sitting on the couch in front of the TV….you will be eating food of some sort.
‘Tailgate’ foods run the gamut, depending on your geography, from Wisconsin Bratwurst, Baltimore style Pit beef, hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, ribs, shrimp, chicken of all sorts, various sausages to soups, chili’s and just plain old potato chips and dip.
As I get older, I find myself getting too lazy to lug the grill and all the required equipment over 125 miles to attend a game, so I ‘tailgate’ at home. My two favorite things to cook for football watching are chili and chicken wings. Both the recipes below are best if made the day before. Not only will the flavors have time to meld, but it will also give you more time to watch the game.
This chili is great at home or even to take to your neighbors or a potluck at your favorite watering hole. Serve with some nice crusty French, Italian or Cuban bread. Don’t forget to make a giant quarter pound Chili Dog with this, as well.
Ask-A-Butcher’s “Grilled Chili”
1 large onion, quartered
5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
3-4 Jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded (seeding is optional)
1 each Red & Green Bell pepper, halved and seeded
6-8 good sized button mushrooms, stem on
1½ lbs of Ground Chuck, formed into a loaf or six patties
1½ lbs of bulk hot or sweet Italian sausage, formed into a loaf or six patties
2 TBS olive oil
1-14 oz can of Italian style stewed tomatoes, drained
2-14 oz (or 1-28 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with garlic, NOT drained
1-6 oz can of tomato paste
1-16 oz jar of your favorite picante sauce or salsa
2 TBS smoked paprika
1 TBS cocoa powder
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS Mexican oregano
1-16 oz bottle/can of beer, as needed for consistency
Salt and pepper, to taste
Hot sauce, to taste
2-3 16 oz cans of red kidney beans, OPTIONAL*
Any left over meat and/or vegetables from your refrigerator, OPTIONAL*
Note: all ingredients and amounts are up to your discretion and tastes at the time of making.
Season the first seven ingredients lightly with salt and pepper. Take them to your grill and smoke them indirect (away from the heat source) for about one hour at 250° with some Mesquite chunks or chips. Remove from the grill and let set until cool enough to handle.
Chop and dice all grilled ingredients and put into a large pot with the 2 TBS of olive oil. Cook on medium until all meat is done. Drain, if needed.
Add the next eight ingredients to the pot, stir well and gently heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Lower heat to a simmer and cook uncovered 2-3 hours.*
If needed, add beer to keep your desired consistency. Taste often and add salt, pepper, hot sauce to your acquired taste.
*Optional: add beans, if that is your thing, and the other left over items, if desired.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the great all time finger foods for football watching is Chicken Wings. It doesn’t matter if you deep fry, broil or grill them, just make sure they are done, at least 180-185° in the thickest part of the meat, with no pink showing. Crispy is good and a batter is up to you, I prefer mine ‘naked’.
I normally just season my wings with simple salt, pepper and garlic and let the wing sauce bring out the flavor. Make sure to serve with plenty of celery sticks and Bleu cheese or Ranch dressing on the side.
Ask-A-Butcher’s “Kickin Wing Sauce”
1- Red Bell pepper, halved and seeded
1- Cubanelle pepper, halved and seeded*
2- Jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded*
2- Habanero peppers, halved and seeded*
5- Garlic cloves, peeled
½ large onion
*seeding is optional, depending on the heat you are looking for
¾ pound of butter or margarine (NOT ‘light’)
3- 12 oz bottles of your favorite hot sauce (I like Franks© Original)
1½ TBS ground black pepper
1 TBS ground cumin
1 TBS smoked paprika
1 TBS horseradish (not the ‘sauce’)
1½ TBS lime juice
¼ cup honey
¼ cup tequila (cheap is fine)
V-8 Juice©: OPTIONAL**
Set your grill up for indirect cooking, 200-225°, with some hickory chunks or chips for added flavor. Place the first six ingredients on the indirect side and smoke for a couple of hours (tip: put the garlic cloves inside the pepper halves to keep them from falling through the grill grates).
Remove vegetables from the grill, let cool, roughly chop into 1-2” chunks. In a blender pour one bottle of the hot sauce, add the vegetables, cover and blend until contents are liquefied.
In a medium to large sauce pan add the other two bottles of hot sauce and the butter or margarine. Heat on medium until the butter/margarine has melted completely. Whisk, or stir, in the pepper, cumin and smoked paprika.
Simmer for about half an hour, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking and clumping. Add the horseradish, lime juice, honey and tequila. Stir and put heat to low. Cook for another half an hour.
**if the sauce needs thinning, add V-8© to desired consistency.
Refrigerate covered sauce for four hours, over night is better. Remove from refrigerator and skim off any fat that has solidified and discard it.
Reheat sauce at medium-low heat. This makes enough sauce for about 4-5 dozen wings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enjoy, eat and drink responsibly and I hope your team wins!
Food? Of course! What is football without a ‘tailgate’ party? It doesn’t matter if you are actually at the stadium cooking on your grill, at a friends house, swilling beer at a sports bar, entertaining your own party or just plain sitting on the couch in front of the TV….you will be eating food of some sort.
‘Tailgate’ foods run the gamut, depending on your geography, from Wisconsin Bratwurst, Baltimore style Pit beef, hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, ribs, shrimp, chicken of all sorts, various sausages to soups, chili’s and just plain old potato chips and dip.
As I get older, I find myself getting too lazy to lug the grill and all the required equipment over 125 miles to attend a game, so I ‘tailgate’ at home. My two favorite things to cook for football watching are chili and chicken wings. Both the recipes below are best if made the day before. Not only will the flavors have time to meld, but it will also give you more time to watch the game.
This chili is great at home or even to take to your neighbors or a potluck at your favorite watering hole. Serve with some nice crusty French, Italian or Cuban bread. Don’t forget to make a giant quarter pound Chili Dog with this, as well.
Ask-A-Butcher’s “Grilled Chili”
1 large onion, quartered
5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
3-4 Jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded (seeding is optional)
1 each Red & Green Bell pepper, halved and seeded
6-8 good sized button mushrooms, stem on
1½ lbs of Ground Chuck, formed into a loaf or six patties
1½ lbs of bulk hot or sweet Italian sausage, formed into a loaf or six patties
2 TBS olive oil
1-14 oz can of Italian style stewed tomatoes, drained
2-14 oz (or 1-28 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with garlic, NOT drained
1-6 oz can of tomato paste
1-16 oz jar of your favorite picante sauce or salsa
2 TBS smoked paprika
1 TBS cocoa powder
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS Mexican oregano
1-16 oz bottle/can of beer, as needed for consistency
Salt and pepper, to taste
Hot sauce, to taste
2-3 16 oz cans of red kidney beans, OPTIONAL*
Any left over meat and/or vegetables from your refrigerator, OPTIONAL*
Note: all ingredients and amounts are up to your discretion and tastes at the time of making.
Season the first seven ingredients lightly with salt and pepper. Take them to your grill and smoke them indirect (away from the heat source) for about one hour at 250° with some Mesquite chunks or chips. Remove from the grill and let set until cool enough to handle.
Chop and dice all grilled ingredients and put into a large pot with the 2 TBS of olive oil. Cook on medium until all meat is done. Drain, if needed.
Add the next eight ingredients to the pot, stir well and gently heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Lower heat to a simmer and cook uncovered 2-3 hours.*
If needed, add beer to keep your desired consistency. Taste often and add salt, pepper, hot sauce to your acquired taste.
*Optional: add beans, if that is your thing, and the other left over items, if desired.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the great all time finger foods for football watching is Chicken Wings. It doesn’t matter if you deep fry, broil or grill them, just make sure they are done, at least 180-185° in the thickest part of the meat, with no pink showing. Crispy is good and a batter is up to you, I prefer mine ‘naked’.
I normally just season my wings with simple salt, pepper and garlic and let the wing sauce bring out the flavor. Make sure to serve with plenty of celery sticks and Bleu cheese or Ranch dressing on the side.
Ask-A-Butcher’s “Kickin Wing Sauce”
1- Red Bell pepper, halved and seeded
1- Cubanelle pepper, halved and seeded*
2- Jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded*
2- Habanero peppers, halved and seeded*
5- Garlic cloves, peeled
½ large onion
*seeding is optional, depending on the heat you are looking for
¾ pound of butter or margarine (NOT ‘light’)
3- 12 oz bottles of your favorite hot sauce (I like Franks© Original)
1½ TBS ground black pepper
1 TBS ground cumin
1 TBS smoked paprika
1 TBS horseradish (not the ‘sauce’)
1½ TBS lime juice
¼ cup honey
¼ cup tequila (cheap is fine)
V-8 Juice©: OPTIONAL**
Set your grill up for indirect cooking, 200-225°, with some hickory chunks or chips for added flavor. Place the first six ingredients on the indirect side and smoke for a couple of hours (tip: put the garlic cloves inside the pepper halves to keep them from falling through the grill grates).
Remove vegetables from the grill, let cool, roughly chop into 1-2” chunks. In a blender pour one bottle of the hot sauce, add the vegetables, cover and blend until contents are liquefied.
In a medium to large sauce pan add the other two bottles of hot sauce and the butter or margarine. Heat on medium until the butter/margarine has melted completely. Whisk, or stir, in the pepper, cumin and smoked paprika.
Simmer for about half an hour, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking and clumping. Add the horseradish, lime juice, honey and tequila. Stir and put heat to low. Cook for another half an hour.
**if the sauce needs thinning, add V-8© to desired consistency.
Refrigerate covered sauce for four hours, over night is better. Remove from refrigerator and skim off any fat that has solidified and discard it.
Reheat sauce at medium-low heat. This makes enough sauce for about 4-5 dozen wings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enjoy, eat and drink responsibly and I hope your team wins!