TAILGATING TIME Taking Beef Outside the Box by Ryan Donahue for the California Cattlemen's Association
My approach to tailgating is informed by my experiences in working in restaurants so I figured I'd take some lessons from off-site restaurant catering and apply them to tailgating. There will no doubt be some overlap between the two approaches but perhaps some tricks can be gleaned here.
Mise en place
Mise en place is a French term that translates to 'everything in its place'. In a restaurant setting cooks prepare all of the ingredients they will be using during service. If you were making cheeseburgers you would, pre-cut the buns, slice the vegetables, make the sauces and form the patties. Ideally you would have enough of all of these for your entire shift. In addition to prepared ingredients you would also make sure to have enough towels, pans and utensils on hand. These items, when organized, is your mise en place. Some cooks will go as far as packing away their knives during service to show how confident they are in their preparations. It may sound corny but visualizing your cook space while imagining the cooking you'll be undertaking will help you not forget any essential items. Tailgating should be no different. Your setup should be organized and improved over time. (It's a good habit to photograph your cooking area with your phone for future reference.) In addition to hand tools and the food, you'll need a safe way to store and transport everything. I use restaurant deli containers as they seal well, come in different sizes, are safe for hot and cold food and can either be disposed of or re-used (depending how much you feel like cleaning up). Coolers can be utilized for both hot and cold applications. You can use heated foil wrapped potatoes to provide heat if needed (however do not later consume these potatoes unless you completely heat them through again as they can be a breeding ground for foodborne illness).
Par Cookery
I've seen some tailgating heroes out there swinging for the fences making things like racks of ribs, roasts, even whole animals. While I admire their gumption, I feel such cooking requires so much effort that some of the more pleasant elements of tailgating, like smack talking or cornhole, are missed. One alternative would be to simplify the food by sticking with things like hot dogs or frozen burgers but I think there's a way to provide delicious food while not being a slave to the grill.
20 California Cattleman October 2021
I prefer doing the heavy lifting at home and partially or completely cooking my food the day prior to game day. I'm often surprised how the general public assumes that at a restaurant, meals are ordered and then cooked from scratch as if say fried chicken could be butchered, battered, brined and fried in 10 minutes. A lot of food, even at the finest restaurants, is par cooked and either held hot or cold to shorten cooking time. Smaller cuts like skirt steak or carne asada can be cooked from raw relatively quickly but if you'd like to serve them with caramelized onions a problem is presented. The solution is preparing items prior, at home, where you have all of your tools and ingredients. This method is quite effective for tailgating as you don't have to sacrifice the quality of food for ease of assembly. I've been giving a lot of thought to my go-to tailgating food for the year factoring in that I want something delicious, unique and easily prepared prior. I think I've got it... Pastrami.
Pastrami
Bear with me. Now as far as total time involved in the cook Pastrami isn't saving anyone any time (though the majority of time is waiting around). However, it's delicious and has that portability we discussed and I love to cure and smoke meat. After a five-day cure and five hours on smoke you're a hot plate (or grill) and five minutes away from slingin' reuben sandwiches. The pastrami can live in it's jus in a disposable, aluminum pan on the hot surface where the sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing can stay refrigerated in a cooler. All you have to do is make toast and assemble. (As much as I love butter, I find that aerosolized cooking oil makes for a much tidier cooking situation... just be careful with it around an open flame.) Sandwiches also make cutlery and plates optional. Any unused pastrami can be wrapped and thrown in the cooler and even consumed after the game because it's also delicious cold.
Recipe
Pastrami is a new adventure for me and it would be a mistake for me to pencil out a recipe prematurely. There are plenty of recipes available online that provide a good starting point. Pastrami is a commitment to multiple cooking sessions if you intend on getting it the way you want but with a good brine, the recipes are more or less bulletproof—if you have the time and the appetite(s). If you don't have the time or inclination...carne asada.
