Tasty Recipes to Bring Along When Football-Watching

This is tailgating season — the time when we gather for football games. There are two ways to look at tailgating. Traditional tailgating takes place in parking lots and other empty spaces where people gather before games, professional and school games to socialize, cook and eat. It’s a wonderful time for fans to share their cooking tips and favorite recipes and to engage in a bit of friendly rivalry.

On the other hand, the cooking and socializing can extend to a game party when friends get together to watch the game. This does not mean that the food is any less important, but the scale and complexity of the offerings may differ. When you have traveled hundreds of miles to watch your team in person, you may not think of making bite size portions. But in your living room in front of the tv, that may be just what you need.

Let’s explore the living room tailgate. Be careful —people may not want to leave. These recipes are designed for all-comers. That means die-hard team stalwarts, who know all the players and all the statistics. But we cannot deny that there are some fans who really come for the food. The recipes here should please both categories of party-goers.

These recipes can be made ahead of time and popped in the oven or taken out of the refrigerator on game day. That means all you have to do is tidy up and have a relaxed time on the big day.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

4 pounds pork butt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces beer
8 to 10 hamburger buns

Sauce

1½ cups ketchup
½ cup grainy mustard
¹⁄₃ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup honey

Cut the pork into large chunks. Place in a slow cooker. Add the spices and mix together with your hands. Add the oil and beer and cook on low for 12 hours or overnight.

Remove the chunks of pork from the cooker. Reserve on a plate.

Reserve a half cup of the liquid left in the cooker. Empty the rest of the liquid into a bowl and reserve for another use. Place the reserved half cup of liquid in a sauce pan. Add the sauce ingredients. Stir well and cook for 10 minutes.

Shred the pork with two forks and stir in the sauce. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Stir again and place a generous portion on each bun. They are ready to serve, but they are also really tasty with your favorite cole slaw piled on top of the pork. Top with the other half of the bun. Makes 8 to 10 servings

Pimento Cheese

This is a little looser than some pimento cheese recipes. That makes it easy to use it as a dip for chips or vegetables. Don’t use pre-grated cheese that comes in a bag. It is coated with cornstarch to keep it from clumping and changes the way the cheese reacts to the other ingredients. Just buy good cheese and grate it yourself. Put some hot sauce on the table for those people who need it.

1 pound of good cheddar, shredded
2 red bell peppers, roasted, seeded and chopped
1 cup good mayonnaise
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup green olives stuffed with garlic, roughly chopped

Place all ingredients except salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon. Don’t use a mixer. Be gentle with your cheese mixture.

Taste. It may be quite salty already because of the olives and the cheese. Adjust the salt level and pepper to taste. Serve as a dip — it’s wonderful with celery sticks and other vegetables. Use with chips, on sandwiches or on hot pasta.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates

20 large pitted dates
½ pound of softened blue cheese (my favorite is Gorganzola)
20 pecan halves
10 slices bacon, cut in half

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Slit each date on one side to enlarge the pit cavity. Be careful not to slice the date in half.

Cut the cheese into 20 equal pieces and stuff a piece of cheese into the cavity in the date. Add a pecan half to the cavity.

Wrap a piece of bacon around each date and secure the bacon with a toothpick. Don’t worry if the ends of the date are not covered by the bacon.

Place the dates, equally spaced, on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven until the bacon crisps, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Serve while warm. Makes 20

Caponata

This has a lot of ingredients and is full of vegetables. Don’t be deterred. It is really tasty and very versatile. If there is any left over, you may find yourself eating it with bread and cream cheese and a fried egg on top for breakfast.

1/2 to ¾ cup olive oil
5 cups eggplant cut into cubes  (about one eggplant)
11/2 cups very roughly chopped onions
1 cup roughly chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots, (½” cubes)
Large can whole plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
Half lemon, seeded and chopped
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dried oregano, optional (I use it, but it is not traditional)
5 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup roughly cut sweet pickles

These proportions can be expanded, depending on the size or the number of eggplants.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot.  Sauté eggplant until soft. Remove from the pot and reserve. Add more, as needed until all of the eggplants are cooked. Sauté onions, celery and garlic until soft.  Remove all cooked vegetables from the pot.

Add the drained tomatoes to the pot, crushing them in your hands.  Reserve the liquid in the can.  Cook the tomatoes and let them caramelize and sweeten.  This may take 15 – 20 minutes. Then add all vegetables and the reserved liquid.  Add capers and oregano if you are using it. Add the vinegar, lemon and bay leaves.  After it comes to a simmer, cook at least twenty minutes, stirring frequently.  Add salt and pepper as needed. Taste and decide whether to add sweetness. (If you add the grated carrot, cook an additional 15 minutes.) Remove bay leaves.

If you are going to put up the caponata, do so now by filling jars and canning them.

You can serve the caponata as an appetizer with crusty bread or eat it like chutney to accompany meat or poultry. Place it in a bowl on the table. Garnish with pine nuts.