Double Down on College GameDay: A Tailgating Post presented by The Home Depot

Whole Hog inside of a roasting box, rotisserie chicken, and more delicious eats.

This past Saturday began as a crisp, fall morning in Baton Rouge. Slightly dark at 6:30am, my Chief Confusion Coordinator, Blair Loup, and I loaded up the truck with all of our finds from The Home Depot the day before and various cooking apparatuses, we made our way to LSU's stately oaks. The streets of Baton Rouge were empty until arriving on campus. Tiger fans arrived early, gearing up for a beautiful day of tailgating.

Mike getting the crowd fired up bright and early
on the Home Depot College GameDay set.

Instead of the usual petri dish teeming with clusters of tailgates, the LSU Parade Ground seemed to concentrate its congregation to the bright orange ESPN College GameDay set sponsored by Home Depot. Blair hopped out to enjoy a whirlwind of a day consisting of Mike the Tiger encounters, special VIP treatment from The Home Depot team, and hanging out backstage with the likes of Lee Corso.

A beautiful day for The Home Depot and College GameDay to come to LSU!

While she spent a day in Blair Instagram heaven, I set up camp at Ford Family Tailgating. With a Rougaroux Full Moon Rum Punch in hand, I got my Iverstine Family Farms hog roasting in the La Caja China. At the same time Blair toured the College GameDay production truck, I pulled a new pair of tongs from my Home Depot bucket to turn over some links of smoked sausage. Plenty of Ole Miss fans stopped by to take a look at a tailgating setup different than those in The Grove. Stunned by the whole hog roasting at the same time a chicken was turning over a fire and ribs were grilling on the coals, they had a couple of bites and moved on to the next tailgate party. After an eventful morning at College GameDay, Blair made her way over to our tailgate in time to stir the chili, baste some chicken wings, and yell at Ole Miss fans passing by before heading into what turned out to be a phenomenal night of football in Tiger Stadium. LSU pulled off the upset, and Team Bite and Booze pulled off another great day of tailgating.

Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning goes into a large cast iron pot of Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce Pulled Pork Chili

I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in this coverage of College GameDay. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

On Campus: Tailgating at LSU vs. West Virginia

Yes, I'm a lucky man.  This past weekend we filmed the first installment of our On Campus look at Tiger Tailgating.  I traveled around campus with some of the LSU Athletic Department Marketing staff to film, interview, and taste some of the best that game day tailgating had to offer.

Thanks to the following tailgate groups for hosting us while they tailgated for the LSU vs. West Virginia football game:

Level 3 Tailgaters
SOLA Tailgating
Ford Family Tailgating

Now, without further ado, the video:

Click here for the direct link to the video on LSUSports.net.

Want us to come to your tailgate party?  Let me know where you are and what you'll be cooking!

Schedule:
LSU vs. West Virginia
LSU vs. Tennessee
LSU vs. McNeese State
LSU vs. Alabama
LSU vs. ULM
LSU vs. Ole Miss

Gumbo Saturday at Death Valley

The final tailgate party of the 2009 LSU football season clearly prompted people all over campus to break out their large pots and make a gumbo to feed the loyal fans.  My Gumbo Saturday got off to a splendid start at the Ford Family Tailgating party where Jeremy kindly shared a little Jameson Irish Whiskey with me.  While Jameson isn't my favorite Irish Whiskey (try Powers if you never have had it before), it still tastes just fine on the rocks.  It has a smooth taste and a crisp bite to make for a very refreshing wakey whiskey, or for a nice drink at any other time of day.  

Jameson Irish Whiskey on the Rocks

The day's first gumbo came from Mama and Papa Ford.  In their large pot they cooked up a turkey, chicken, and sausage gumbo that tasted brilliant.  Turkey meat is very seldom found in Cajun gumbos, but this being two days after Thanksgiving, it only made sense.  The gumbo itself had an earthy roux that was more light brown than chocolate in color.  I added a little hot sauce to mine and got after it... two bowls worth of getting after it over the span of an hour, I'm pretty sure.

The Ford Family Tailgating Gumbo in the Pot and in the Bowl

After a few more hours of tailgating at FFT, the time had come for me to migrate around campus before the Tigers kicked off in Death Valley.  My next stop came at the Speyrer and Friends tailgate party where Nick had been cooking up another spectacular pot of gumbo.  Sometimes you just can't get enough delicious gumbo served over Louisiana rice... and this was one of those days!

Speyrer Gumbo in the Pot and in the Bowl

As can be seen from the pictures, the Speyrer gumbo had a slightly darker roux for its base.  Nick used only chicken and sausage in his flavorful gumbo and I scarfed down another bowl and a half at his place before falling into a gumbo coma.  The dark roux made this gumbo richer and thicker than the Ford gumbo, though I certianly wouldn't say that either one was better than the other.  The great thing about Cajun gumbos is that they can all be cooked differently and taste differently, but still be just as good as the others in their own unique way.  If it was a contest, maybe I'd pass some judgement, but since Gumbo Saturday was really about sharing some good food at tailgate parties with some good friends, I'd prefer to say that both gumbos made me very happy.  It's days like this when I'm especially glad to live in Louisiana!

Tequila Night Tailgating Bites and Boozes, LSU vs Auburn

In honor of a great tradition,  I wanted to make sure to write a post on one of my favorite events in Baton Rouge: Ford Family Tailgating's Tequila Night!  For the LSU vs Auburn game FFT held their 11th annual Tequila Night at the front steps of the Electrical Engineering Building.  Before I get into the booze, I would like to give a special shout out to the some FFT desserts.

Mama Ford's Famous Ooey Gooey... One Corner Piece Left.  Dibs!

The most famous FFT dessert is Mama Ford's Ooey Gooey.  This pan of edible joy contains two layers of simple and extremely delightful sweet tooth fixers.  The bottom layer is pretty much yellow cake mix and butter while the top layer has cream cheese and powdered sugar.  I'd hate to give away all the secrets here, but you should know that Ooey Gooey is pretty amazing.  If you ever want a taste, come tailgate at FFT and I'm sure you can get some... but come early if you want a corner piece with a crispy crust around the gooey middle!

Almond Joy Brownies and Triple Chocolate Brownies

In addition to the Ooey Gooey, FFT also provided two trays of scrumptious brownies for the party.  The top brownie pan is an Almond Joy creation complete with chocolate, coconut, and almonds.  On the near side we had brownies with extra chocolate and then even more rich, creamy chocolate on top.  Both were dynamite!

An Ice-Cold Steveweiser

I know it was tequila night, but thirst must be quenched in between shots of distilled agave.  Answer: good old genuine, American (Belgian owned) hops, barley, yeast, and pure spring (tap) water all brewed together in perfect harmony, with tons of rice for filler, oops, I mean "flavor", of course.  Delicious, crisp, clear, refreshing Budweiser... still the King of Beers after all these years.

Assortment of Empty Tequila Bottles Towards the End of the Day

Tequila Night always brings out a fantastic selection of tequila.  Of course, some joker always brings a handle of Cuervo, but its ok because we can distribute it to the minions.  Jeremy Ford always brings the top shelf tequila that I just have to sample.  The shots begin at 10:00 a.m. and continue every half hour until almost game time (which in Baton Rouge is usually around 7 p.m., not noon like the silly people in other parts of the country).  Eric set a new record by consuming 21 tequila shots throughout the day while drinking beer in between and, surprisingly to most, was still standing at the end of the day.   Overall the day was a tremendous success.  Collin Ford gave me a ticket to the game, LSU beat the crap out of Auburn, I got a corner piece of the Ooey Gooey, and the tequila never stopped flowing.  I can't wait until next year's Tequila Night Twelve, the Doce!

Ford Family Tailgating Barbeque, LSU vs Florida

Yesterday, LSU played host to one of the biggest college football games of the year as #1 Florida came into Baton Rouge for a battle on the bayou.  In the spirit of tailgating festivities, I agreed to be the chef for the Ford Family Tailgating party and bring the old Third Row Monstrosity (barbeque pit and smoker made out of a beer keg and full sized aluminum barrel) to do my cooking on.  Charlie Ford was celebrating his 59th birthday, Jeremy Ford made a couple bacon explosions, Mama Ford took care of all the fixings, and Eusebio had helped me out by pre-marinating the meat... all that was left to do was for me to cook!

Chef Jay with the Monstrosity Doing Some Smoking

Our menu was extensive, we were cooking for around 150 people, and I'm pretty sure we had between 75 and 100 pounds of meat to grill and smoke, so it was important that we got started right away.  I lit the first batch of 100% mesquite charcoal in the pit at around 8:00 am and got things started by throwing two racks of ribs and five links of chicken and apple sausage into the smoker.

Chicken and Apple Sausage, Asian Ribs, and Bourbon Sesame Ribs in the Smoker

Throughout the day we cooked chicken breasts, chicken thighs, chicken wings, chicken sausage, pork sausage, elk sausage, venison sausage, a venison back strap, pork chops, pork loins, burgers, ribs, alligator tail, and bacon explosions in 18 different marinades.  The maple-bourbon-pecan chicken breasts were one of the earlier hits of the day.  I made a barbeque-maple-bourbon-hot sauce that was used to baste and flavor quite a few things that came off the pit throughout the day.  Most of the ribs came off the pit and out of the smoker with just a dry rub and no sauce was needed.

Ribs in the Smoker!

All of the food was fantastic.  People were eating it faster that I could cook it and I had to keep the pit stocked with mesquite and keep the fire blazing because there was never any downtime in the cooking.  Jeremy showed up with the bacon explosions around 10:30 am and we proceeded to get them in the smoker right away.  For those that don't know, a bacon explosion contains two basket-weaved lattice works of bacon.  One bacon sheet is laid out flat, then topped with two pounds of italian sausage.  That framework is then layered with any additional toppings or spices that one may desire, and then the other bacon lattice work is placed on top.  The entire thing is then rolled into a giant log that should look something like this:

Jeremy Ford with an Uncooked Bacon Explosion

The appropriate method of cooking is a slow smoke, preferably over a tasty wood like mesquite, hickory, or pecan.  We used mesquite, and boy did that work out well.  The bacon explosions were in the smoker for about six hours.  They were then wrapped in foil and placed on the grill for a little direct heat and to crisp up the outer layer of bacon.  The finished product looked like this:

Bacon Explosion Fresh out of the Smoker

Spicy Bacon Explosion

Mild Bacon Explosion All Sliced Up

The Bacon Explosion was a hit!  What a great experiment.  Thanks to Jeremy for creating it and bringing it to the party to let me cook it.  I think the masses were pleased with the delicious, mouthwatering, succulent log of meat.

The day was filled with cooking on the grill and the smoker... I'm pretty sure I was by the pit from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm, but I loved every minute of it.  The nice thing about being the cook at the tailgate party is that everybody gives you compliments all day long... and they brought me beers!  Lots of beers.  Ah, tailgating!  Here are a few more pictures of the food:

Pork Chops, Five Racks of Ribs, and a Pork Loin on the BBQ

Smoked Venison Back Strap and Grilled Alligator Tail

Grilled Alligator Tail with the Bone Still In

Special thanks to the Ford Family, Brandon, Dustin, and Eusebio for all the help preparing and setting up.  Thanks to Jeremy, Andrew, and Brandon, as well as everyone else who helped, for being my Sous Chefs for the day.  I had a great time, and the food was terrific.  We'll have to do it again some time!!

"Bon Appetit... that's French for good meal!" - The Reverend Brandon Brown