Tailgating at Home

Well, the Super Bowl has come and gone...and not with the outcome we would've liked to have seen...at least not here in the Boston area! Nonetheless, it was an exciting game, and a great opportunity for some good food and great company! I decided to take the route of tailgating recipes. They were easy to make at home and set out for the night, but would be just as easy to bag up and bring to the parking lot of your favorite arena, as well!

I spent the afternoon cooking, and trying to keep the kitchen as clean as possible at the same time. I cooked one thing at a time, and finished up right as our friends arrived. The table was full of goodies, and I was free to enjoy, have a beer, and watch the game!

It wouldn't be a "tailgating" party without chili, so first up on the menu is a very straightforward chili, but what intrigued me about it was the molasses and balsamic vinegar I was asked to add at the end of the cooking process. It added a lot of depth to an otherwise normal chili. I served it in mugs, with some sour cream and grated sharp cheddar garnishes, and the spices were spot-on!

We needed to have some dips so I whipped up some guacamole and hummus to go with the delicate tortilla chips I bought from the gourmet section of the grocery store. I also cut up some veggies (fennel, radicchio, radishes, celery, carrots and broccoli) and paired them with a delicious and tangy Roquefort dip, which I'm enjoying the leftovers of as I write this, right now. Yum!!

While the chili was simmering away, I made some Mediterranean meatballs! Now, these aren't just any meatballs. The seasonings are distinctly Mediterranean, but on top of that, the recipe called for chopped currants and pine nuts to round out the mix. The flavors meshed so well together, and the meatballs had a really nice bite to them, because of the substance of each one. They were simmered in a simple tomato sauce after being browned on all sides in some oil! I'm so happy I've got leftovers of these too!

If you looked at the current menu, you'd see a line mentioning some mini tuna burgers on pita bread, but it's apparently very difficult to find tuna these days. I went to a few different stores, before deciding to scrap this menu item. Don't worry, I will definitely be making them in the future, because I was very much looking forward to trying them! So, all that was left was to make a few side dishes to round out the table. I made a green salad with a red wine-Dijon vinaigrette. I also made an orzo salad with caramelized onions, spinach and shiitake mushrooms. The soy sauce and sesame oil-based dressing gave this salad a nice Asian twist, but still went with the mainstream flavors of everything else on the table!

All in all, a successful spread, I'd say! I enjoyed having everything done in time for kickoff, so I could pick at all the goodies, just like all of my guests! The guests may leave at the end of the night, but we get to enjoy all the leftovers for days to come...and these leftovers, they're delicious!

Crafting a Menu

This weekend, I worked on a menu for the coming weeks, and decided that I wanted to do something a little different this time around. We're going to go on a little trip around the world, with each menu item hailing from a different corner of the globe. Sounds fun, right?! Different cuisines, and different ingredients, and along the way, we'll learn about the traditions of each nationality as well. Obviously, I won't even hit on a small percentage of the different kinds of cuisines out there, but it's a start! I really enjoy learning about new places, and eating the local food is one of the best ways to do it because you learn about local ingredients, the reasons for certain traditions, and more!

from Flickr - by Ben Bunch

We didn't go grocery shopping this weekend, because we'll be leaving for our annual camping trip in a few days! It's us...and 15 of our closest friends, and it's always a great time! I had to come up with a small menu for our trip as well, since I prepare in advance for the first night's meal...a giant potluck where everyone brings different dishes and we all dig in as we set up our tents and crack the first beers of the long weekend! These are friends from near and far, and getting together on this weekend each year is very special to me! This year, I tucked into a magazine that "The Best of Fine Cooking" produced, all about Tailgating, for my menu.

Shrimp Salad Rolls with Tarragon & Chives

Grilled Steak Kebab Pitas with Ginger & Garlic Dressing

Roasted Potato Salad with Shaved Fennel & Salsa Verde

Buttermilk & Herb Cole Slaw

I think this little menu will make for a nice assortment of things to add to the table during the first night of our camping extravaganza. We'll pair the menu with some nice cold, frosty brews from the cooler and that sounds like my kinda night! 

from Flickr - by sew~amy

Check out the Current Menu tab for the trip around the world that will take place when we return from our camping trip! 

Tailgating in the Kitchen

Hello, my fellow culinary creators! It's been a few days, and for that, I apologize. June is going to be a very busy month for us...we've got three weddings in the next three weekends, and then other plans as well! But the good thing about all these events is that I get to experience lots of different epicurean treats, and then, share them with all of you!

Tonight, Oia graduated from Puppy Training, and we are proudly displaying her diploma on our refrigerator...the same refrigerator that I pulled dinner out of tonight! I went for a meal that I took from a magazine that a friend purchased for me at the check-out last summer. It's an entire magazine of tailgating recipes, meant for parking lots and fields, with outdoor grills and beer pong tables...there's nothing better than tailgating before a football game or outdoor concert in the thick of the summer. I use this magazine mostly for camping, BBQs and, well, tailgating...but once in awhile I like to bring the tailgating indoors. It's been a rainy few days, it's gotten much chillier and in order to continue the thought that summer MUST be on its way, I decided to do a little indoor grilling. I opted for the Sausage, Grape, and Gorgonzola Dolce Sandwiches and the Chopped Vegetable and Couscous Salad with Black Olive Vinaigrette.

I got my 2-burner grill pan out, and set it to heating while I prepped all the veggies for the couscous salad. I sliced some eggplant and zucchini, peeled a few carrots, quartered a head of radicchio and trimmed some scallions. I pulled all the other ingredients out of the fridge and lined them up as well. (You can click on the links above for a full ingredient list and instructions).

As I grilled the veggies in batches, I mixed up the vinaigrette for the salad with red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, black olives, olive oil and some black pepper. Check out this emulsion!

Once all of the veggies were grilled to perfection, I transferred them to a platter to cool while I assembled the sandwiches for my panini grill.

I split the sausages almost in half, like the recipe describes, and placed them on the hot grill to cook.

While the sausages cooked, I made my couscous by boiling some water and allowing the couscous to soak in it for 5 minutes, covered. I also chopped all of my cooled, grilled veggies for the salad and placed them into a large bowl. I stirred in the mixed herbs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, couscous, and vinaigrette. Because this salad can be served at room temperature, it can certainly be made in advance but I liked the heat that the veggies added to the mix right after it was made. It's a beauty though, isn't it?

And now, to assemble the sandwiches. I took the cooked sausages off of the grill. The recipe calls for baguettes, but I had some hot dog buns to use so I settled for those this time around. I didn't want to waste what I already had lying around. I placed some gorgonzola dolce on each side of the bun (the buns were small, and definitely would not have held the whole sausage so I split them up into two smaller sandwiches). Into the cheese, I pressed a few slices of red grapes so that they would stay fixed in place. On top of all this, I laid the sausages and then grilled them open-face on the panini grill.

A baguette definitely would have soaked up the melted cheese a little better and made for a sturdier sandwich, but the flavors were incredible together. Everything really popped, and the red grapes added a nice burst of freshness when you crunched down on one. The flavors of these two dishes melded very well together as well. The couscous salad recipe made a very large amount of food, so it's a great one for parties, that's for sure. The sandwich recipe can be altered to accomodate any amount of people...and it was very simple to put together - a great tailgating option!