Alicia Wagner Calzada | 210SA Contributor

Yeah, football is great and all that jazz. But, really, where would the sport be without the game’s most diehard fans — the tailgaters? They’ve been known to slave over mini hibachis for hours to get the perfect brat. They slather paint on body parts that should never see the light of day to urge on their teams. They toss back cold ones (and even lukewarm ones) in the name of all things pregame.

210SA salutes you, the true tailgaters, with a sly glance toward the 10-gallon drink cooler filled with icy Gatorade. Watch your back. To those who would reach their heroic tailgating status, we drafted Joe Cahn, a self-proclaimed professional tailgater and the self-titled Commissioner of Tailgating, to give us a few tips. If tailgating were an Olympic sport, he’d have 14 golds for each year he’s been in the biz. This year alone, the Fort Worth-based legend will have tailgated at about 40 college and pro football games and 19 NASCAR races. The man’s a tailgating machine, and he’s here to get your game up to speed.

The purpose of the tailgate: The fun part about tailgating is you make friends at the stadium that you go to or the track or whatever venue it is. And they really become friends for life. ..... I refer to tailgating as the last great American neighborhood. ..... It’s really replaced the neighborhood block party. It’s replaced the picnic.

Get your money’s worth: It’s value added to the price of the ticket. Instead of being an $80 three-hour ticket, it’s an $80 six-hour ticket. It changes an event to a special event.

This ain’t no picnic: If they’re eating and drinking while the event is going on, it’s not really considered a tailgate. A tailgate has certain parameters: we’re going, we’re anticipating, we go to the game; we go to the event. ..... And then we come back out and maybe wait for traffic to clear.

The main event: Football first. Steeplechase, especially on the East Coast. ..... Jimmy Buffett concerts. That’s non-adversarial tailgating. People go just for the party, but it’s very much a part of the concert. ..... NASCAR, very, very big. ..... Hockey, baseball, basketball don’t translate as well for tailgating.

’Gating grub: Keep it simple. Martha Stewart isn’t coming to your tailgate and, even if she was, so what? ..... A lot of people love to do special things, but in keeping it simple, you get to spend more time with your friends, and that’s what it’s all about. Small bites. Remember reception rather than banquet, everybody isn’t going to come at the same time. ..... More bite-sized portions that you can throw on the grill. ..... (Jambalaya) is great to feed a crowd.

Drink up: I am not an anti-drinker, but I think sometimes people forget, and they think they’re being hydrated with beer. You need to have a lot of water. You need to get hydrated, as well as protect yourself with sun block and a hat. ..... You have to remember that the brewery will be in business tomorrow. You don’t have to drink it all today. Have a designated driver and a designated griller. There’s nothing worse than a drunk on a grill.

Getting ’gate ready: Always have a checklist. At the top of the checklist: food is important, fuel is important and the grill is important. But also, at the top of the checklist, have tickets.
War-drobe: Always wear your team colors. Be a participant rather than observer. Show who you’re for. ..... If you can’t afford the licensed paraphernalia, just go to Goodwill or Salvation Army and get that color T-shirt.

Jennifer Lloyd | 210SA

JOE’S JAMBALAYA

From Joe Cahn, Commissioner of Tailgating: This is my favorite recipe because you can put just about anything in it. If it walks, crawls, swims or flies, it can be thrown into Jambalaya. Everything goes into one pot so cleanup’s a breeze.

6 1/4 cup vegetable oil 5 cups chicken stock or water flavored with chicken bouillon
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp. minced garlic salt and ground black pepper
4 cups long grain rice
1 1/2 lbs. sausage cut in 1/4-inch slices
2 tbsp. Kitchen Bouquet (browning agent)
4 cups chopped onions
2 tbsp. seasoning salt
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped green onions
2 cups chopped green bell pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper; brown in hot oil in 8 quart Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook 5-to-7 minutes. Remove chicken and sausage from pan; set aside. Add onions, celery, green peppers and garlic; cook, stirring 7-10 minutes or until vegetables begin to wilt. Stir in chicken stock, reserved chicken and sausage, seasoning salt and Kitchen Bouquet. Bring to a boil. Add rice and return to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 10 minutes; remove cover and quickly turn rice from top to bottom completely. Replace cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Stir in green onions.
For brown jambalaya, add 1 heaping tbsp. brown sugar to hot oil and caramelize, or make a roux, or use Kitchen Bouquet. For red jambalaya, add approximately 1/4 cup paprika or use 1/2 stock and 1/2 tomato juice or V-8 for your liquid. For seafood jambalaya, add cooked seafood when rice is cooked.
If using an electric stove, reduce cooking time by 3-4 minutes.

Four Tips

Use 1 cup of rice for every 2 cups of vegetables (onion, celery, bell pepper)

Use 1 1/4 cups of liquid for every 1 cup of uncooked rice

1 cup of uncooked rice will make 3 cups of cooked rice, season accordingly
Cook jambalaya for a total of 25 to 30 minutes, stirring well after 10 minutes.

(12 to 15 servings)
(Source: tailgating.com)