Tips for Tailgating on Tour
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Food
Some folks bring all their food in ready to go. I've seen shrimp cocktail, cold cut trays, one antipasto platter, sandwiches, and even just chips and beer. It's definitely a good way to go if you just don't feel like cooking. Last year at Nissan, we rang up a huge bill at the local KFC on multiple buckets of chicken -- but then again, it saved us from dealing with preparation.
If you're only planning on tailgating for a short while, finger food is ideal. Cheese trays, chips and popcorn, a container of black olives -- just make sure to bring napkins.
This also works well if you're coming in from another city, and you don't really have the ability to cook up a storm due to lack of equipment.
Food Preparation
My advice on planning the menu is to know your audience. You're most likely cooking for/with other people -- know what they'll eat and won't eat. Determine how "adventurous" they are. I made the mistake a couple years back of making six pounds of cold marinated shrimp, only to find out that of a group of 20, only 4 people really liked shrimp. Needless to say, the investment went to waste.
I mentioned earlier that I ran a menu online for an event, and people could make their own choices ("reservations," I guess) in advance. If you've got the flexibility to try something like that, go for it. People are much more apt to stop by and hang out and eat if you've got something that appeals to them; I usually go with one meat, one chicken, and one vegetarian. I had another shrimp incident I just won't get into now. Don't attempt shrimp unless you've bought them cleaned. End of story.
I can't stress enough how absolutely crucial, vital, important ZIPLOC BAGS are. I'm saying "Ziploc," but going with any major brand is fine. It's like calling all tissue "Kleenex." Ziploc bags are ideal for storage in general (see "Storage" later on in this article) and are perfect for marinating food. Do not get cheap Ziploc bags unless you've used that brand before! Nothing sucks more than opening a cooler to find your bag of marinated chicken has opened up and now everything reeks of lemon juice.
One brand (Glad, I think?) makes a bag with a pleated bottom, so it actually stands up. If you can snag a box of these, I highly recommend it. They're perfect for standing up food in a cooler.
In the past, I've used a relatively simple marinade for boneless chicken breasts that works out well for sandwiches. Basically, it's:
I'm not giving actual measurements because it's something I generally eyeball. If you're going to go heavier on anything, make it the lime juice, because you don't want the chicken really oily. Plus, you'll want to consider how much chicken you're marinating before you start making the marinade. I also add (sometimes) chopped cilantro and/or diced habanero peppers -- and in some cases, I'll make multiple varying marinades (depending on the amount of people and amount of chicken) so if some folks like it hot, they can have hot...you get the picture. It's insanely easy to put together at a tailgating spot, and takes minimal effort. Which is what you'd want, I'd think.
If you've got time the night before the show, one option is to whip up a dry rub (spices) and prep some meat for the next day's grilling. A good "base rub" for meat or chicken would be something like:
Usually I'll add other spices to this sort of mix; I'll end up tossing in some cumin, perhaps some onion powder -- whatever I've got in the cupboard. I made a container of dry rub for Gorge back in 2002, intended for shrimp -- and instead, it was used for Bloody Mary mix. Dry rubs work well for those who are travelling and want to bring something to the tailgating to help; there's also a bunch of stores that sell their own, including grocery stores that sell multiple brands.
Make sure that once you've finished the dry rub and you've covered whatever you plan to grill that you wrap it up and don't forget it the next day. It'd suck to show up at the event just to realize you left the ribs in the fridge at home.