Tailgating Ideas – Don't Just Tailgate, Tailgate Better

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, melted
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 or 4 drops hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Horseradish
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Original recipe by The BBQ Grail can be found HERE.

Larry Gaian is the founder of The BBQ Grail. Follow him on Twitter @BBQGrail.

Ingredients

• 4 cups finely shredded WHITE cabbage
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and marinate in refrigerator overnight. Drain off excess liquid before serving.

Original recipe by The BBQ Grail can be found HERE.

Larry Gaian is the founder of The BBQ Grail. Follow him on Twitter @BBQGrail.

Watercooler talk in North Carolina during the month of March is usually dominated by College Hoops.  Considering 5 teams from the state made the men’s tournament this year it’s no surprise why it’s such a hot topic.  Well it turns out that the good folks over at Johnsonville also get into the March Madness spirit, so they reached out to us on the Big Taste Grillers Panel about coming up with a new recipes to have on game days.

Since I’ve had a bit of fascination with BBQ lately I decided to combine a little of the North Carolina BBQ flavors with the already proven deliciousness of Johnsonville Bratwurst.   For those of you who may not know, NC BBQ varies quite a bit depending on where you’re at in the state.  From my own experiences I’ve found that most of the natives are quite protective of their regions take on the food.  However in the “Triangle”, where Duke, NC State, and UNC Chapel Hill can be found, the regions overlap a little.  Because of this I decided to put my spin on a BBQ sandwich combining a little of both styles of NC ‘cue. Below you’ll see my recipes for the condiments of this particular sandwich.

Eastern Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

• 1 1/2 Cups Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 1 tsp Hot Sauce
• 2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
• 2 tsp Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients together and keep in sealed container.  Best if made at least 24 hours in advance.  I like to shake it up periodically, just whenever I think about it.  Not sure if that makes any noticeable difference, but it’s worked well for me.

Western Carolina (Lexington) Style Red BBQ Slaw

• 1/2 Lbs Cabbage
• 3 Tbsp Ketchup
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 TBsp Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flake

Chop cabbage into fine pieces.  I’ve found a food processor makes life much easier.  Mix all ingredients together well.  Again best if made at least 24 hours in advance.  I would estimate that this makes about 2 cups of slaw.

To prepare the Brats I wanted to try something new.  To get a little more of that BBQ feel I decided to smoke the sausages a little to see what would happen.  Basically all I did was to get some charcoal started,  for this project I used Kingsford Blue Bag, and set up my grill for indirect cooking.  Once the coals were nice and hot I set the sausages on the indirect heat side of the grill, threw a handful of wood chips on the coals, and shut the lid.  After about 10 minutes I flipped the brats over and added a little more wood if the first batch had already burned off.  At the 20 minute mark they had taken on a nice reddish color and the casings had gotten nice and crisp.  All that was left was to put them over the fire for a second to get a little char on there and that was it.  Once they were done I split them down the middle, gave them a few good squirts of the BBQ sauce, threw them on a bun, and topped them with a spoonful of the slaw.

While no one is likely to confuse this for a more conventional NC BBQ sandwich you do get some elements of them.  The meat is completely different but it does work very well with these flavors.  The slaw has a little sweetness and the acid from the vinegar cuts through some of the richness of the brat.

If you’re not a fan of smoked sausage I’m sure these would be just fine on a brat that had been cooked more conventionally.  The recipes for the sauce and slaw would also be good to keep around if you decide to cook up a pork butt someday.

Ingredients

• 4 broiler-fryer chicken quarters
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup bottled brown steak sauce
• 2 tablespoons prepared Russian dressing
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Instructions

In medium bowl, place chicken and pour vinegar over all. Cover and marinate in refrigerator at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. In small bowl, mix steak sauce and Russian dressing. Pour off and discard vinegar; sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Place chicken on prepared grill, skin side up, about 8 inches from heat. Cook, turning and basting with sauce every 7 minutes, about 45 minutes or until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease.

Original recipe by The BBQ Grail can be found HERE.

Larry Gaian is the founder of The BBQ Grail. Follow him on Twitter @BBQGrail.

By the looks of the above photo and the name of the recipe, you would think this chili recipe would burn a hole is a cast iron pot. Well, not quite that bad but if you like a spicy chili that will give your sweat glands a run for their money, you should try this one.

Before we get to the ingredients and instructions, some history on this recipe. I was invited to tag along with an old college friend of mine who is big in the home brewing circles here in Southern California. He was going to the Super Bowl party of a friend of his who just happens to be the brewmaster of none other than Stone Brewery. Yes, that Stone Brewery that is famous for Arrogant Bastard Ale. My friend told me that Mitch and his wife Kathleen have been hosting a Super Bowl party for years and that it has grown to include a chili cook-off contest of sorts. Not wanting to make a bad first impression I emailed my sister who is the keeper of the recipe boxes from our parents and asked her to send me the recipe.

This recipe made its way into my family by virtue of when I was a kid. The step-dad of one of my childhood friends came up with this chili recipe. Not sure why this recipe is “No Mercy 2″ and not quite sure what was not perfect about the “No Mercy 1″ recipe. But as it stands it its current form, it will make a lot, feed a lot and will cause a few people to wipe their brow.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs stew beef, cubed
• 1 1/2 lbs hamburger (Preferred to use “chili ground” beef because it is it’s a courser ground beef.)
• 1 lb pork sausage, bulk
• 1 lb pork chorizo, casing removed
• 2 TB seasoned salt
• 8 diced onions or grind in food processor
• 2 garlics (full heads) peeled and ground in food processor
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 8 tsp chili powder
• 1 TB New Mexico chili powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp cumin
• 5 tomatoes ground in food processor (can use canned and juice)
• 2 tsp Accent (MSG)
• 1 can Coors Light
• 10 yellow jalapeno peppers
• 3 jalapeno peppers (or could use serranos)

Instructions:

Toast yellow jalapenos and jalapenos in frying pan without oil. Place in hot towel in covered pot. Let steep then peel and crush in food processor. Longer the toasting, easier to peel. If you don’t want to go to this trouble, just food process the peppers raw but don’t de-seed. Food process well to the point the peppers are ground up so well they are more like a paste or a milk shake consistency.

Brown cubed beef. Towards end of browning, add seasoned salt. Add hamburger, pork sausage, and chorizo. Add onions, garlic and broths. Simmer.

Add tomato sauce, chili powders, oregano, cumin, and tomatoes. Let simmer. Add yellow peppers and jalapenos, Accent, and Coors Light.