Kap & Mina's Sunday Afternoon Tailgate: Week 1

After Tom Brady's exoneration and the obnoxious opening-night Patriots pride display that opened the season, it's almost painful for us to make Irish food this week, but you may recall that last year, we made a commitment to cooking foods from each other's ethnic backgrounds this year. 

That means, Kap has to cook dishes that are Irish and/or southern Italian. And Mina has to focus on Ukrainian and Welsh recipes this week. It's an exciting way to connect with our personal histories, and also a fun opportunity to imagine what our ancestors would have made if they were tailgating/couchgating, and . . . you know . . . if football existed.

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"CULTURAL HERITAGE CHALLENGE"
Cooking Each Other's Culture

When we decided to do this challenge, it made a lot of sense for us to team up, given that Irish and Welsh cooking share a few recipes, including the very famous Shepherd's Pie. Of course, it's easier to get ground beef than ground lamb, so we decided to make a cottage pie, infusing our rich gravy with Guinness the way our favorite celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay does. We made our pies in ramekins because it makes them easy to serve and personalize if you're having a lot of guests.

- Kap & Mina

MINI GUINNESS COTTAGE PIES

• 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
• 1 Large Onion, chopped
  
• 1/2 Carrot, shredded
  
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
  
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper, to taste
• 2 Fresh Thyme Sprigs, leaves chopped
  
• 2 Fresh Parsley Sprigs, leaves chopped
• 2 Fresh Rosemary Sprigs, leaves chopped
• Pinch of Dried Marjoram
• 1 plum Tomato, finely diced
  
• 1 heaping TBSP Tomato Paste
  
• 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
  
• 3/4 c. Guinness
• 3 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 shake of Tabasco
• 1/2 + 1/8 c. Chicken Stock
• Mashed Potatoes (I used pre-made Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes)
• 3 TBSP Parmesan Cheese, to taste
• White Cheddar, grated for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook onion and brown beef over medium heat. Drain. Add garlic, carrot, thyme, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Cook 2-3 min. Add tomatoes and tomato puree. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently.

Add Guinness, Dijon, and Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. Boil until reduced by half. Pour in stock and return to boil. Simmer for 30 min. Remove from heat. (You can make the meat mixture and mashed potatoes ahead and assemble the next day.)

Make or Heat mashed potatoes and mix in Parmesan.

Spoon meat into bottom of ramekins. Pipe the potato on top (or spoon the potatoes and and rough up the surface with a fork).

Bake in the oven for 20 min. Grate cheddar over the top. Return to the oven and bake 10 min. more until bubbling and golden brown.

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Being Italian, you'd think I would know all my noodle and pasta dishes.  But until this last week, I had no idea what Haluski was! Lucky for me, Kap's grandmother's recipe is easy enough for even a Paisan (Italian girl) to make, and you can't really mess up butter, noodles, and cabbage. Haluski has the dream-team of ingredients for a tailgate, and it can be made in bulk to satisfy all of your hungry fans. 

- Mina

It's a well established fact by this point on the Tailgate that Kap does not bake. Still, you can't make an Irish menu without soda bread. In this case, I decided to go authentic, making a true four-ingredient Irish soda bread, rather than the sweeter Americanized version. Did you know there's a Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread? Well, there is. And I used their recipe for White Soda Bread.

- Kap

HALUSKI

• 1 bag of Cole Slaw Mix (without dressing)
• 1 small Yellow Onion, chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 stick of Butter
• 1/2 box Miniature Farfalle or Bow-Tie Noodles
• Salt or Garlic Salt

Melt butter in a pan over low heat and add cabbage/slaw mix, onion, and garlic. Cover and cook on low for 40 min.

Cook pasta according to directions on box.

Combine pasta and cabbage mix. Season with salt, and serve.

AUTHENTIC WHITE SODA BREAD

*I used whole-wheat baking flour for this recipe

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This is still a tailgate, which means we need to make a dessert dish that football fans are going to enjoy. I love Tiramisu, but it's a bit delicate for big-game chow. So, I made "Beeramisu" using Guinness, thereby combining both of Mina's heritages in one tasty treat. It's surprisingly simple to make. For easy portability (and to butch things up a bit), I put them in small mason jars.

- Kap

MASON JAR BEERAMISU

• 6 oz. Mascarpone, softened
• 9 TBSP Confectioners' Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 3 TBSP Kahlúa
• 2 TBSP Irish Cream
• 9 TBSP Whipping Cream or Whipped Cream
• 8 oz. Guinness
• A dozen Ladyfingers or so
• A high-quality Chocolate Bar, shaved for garnish

Combine mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, Kahlúa, and Irish Cream in a bowl and mix until smooth. 

In a food processor, blend heavy cream for 2 minutes until stiff peaks form. (As an alternative, you can use store-bought whipped cream.) Fold whipped cream into mascarpone mix.

Pour beer into a bowl or tray. Break the ladyfingers in half and soak them in the beer, flipping once. (Do not over-soak or they will fall apart!)

Layer the lady fingers on the bottom of a small mason jar. Spoon mascarpone mixture over top and smooth out. Dust with chocolate shavings.

Repeat in two or three layers until you reach the top of the mason jar. Screw the lid onto the top of the jar and refrigerate overnight.

I had never made this rye-based drink before, so we used this recipe from Natasha's Kitchen to make this Russian beverage. The result was a surprisingly light, sweet, foamy beverage that smells a bit like yeast, but tastes like rye. If you leave the Kvass in your fridge for longer than a weekend, the yeast will keep eating the sugar and make it stronger and more "beery." But ours was made last Friday night so the sweetness is still strong and it's probably not very alcoholic. Still, it's really tasty!

- Mina

KVASS

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Car Bomb, ready to go--featuring memorabilia from my two favorite places in Athens, OH

Probably the most famous Irish cocktail is the unfortunately named Car Bomb, created in North Ireland in 1973. It's a bomb shot, meaning that you drop the shot ingredients into a pint of Guinness and guzzle before they curdle on you. If that doesn't get the competitive juices flowing between you and your mates, I don't know what will.

- Kap

CAR BOMB

• 1 Pint Guinness (actually, 3/4 is a bit better for splashing reasons)
  
• 1/2 shot Irish Cream
• 1/2 shot Irish Whiskey

Layer a shot glass by floating Whiskey over Irish cream. Drop the shot glass into a pint of Guinness and chug before it curdles.

Celebrate with your friends, and repeat as necessary!

Not every tailgater is going to be a fan of shotgunning beer. So, it's good to have a classy alternative, like this Venetian spritzer.  Unlike the Car bomb, this aperitif is a bit more laid back, good for celebrating the end of summer (or taking a Gondola ride beneath the Rialto Bridge). This is essentially a diluted wine drink enhanced with bitters, and it's damn good for cooling down on a hot afternoon.

- Kap

SPRITZ VENEZIANO

• 2 oz. Prosecco
  
• 1 1/3 oz. Aperol
• Splash of Soda Water
• Half-moon Orange Slice, for garnish

Build this drink in an old-fashioned glass over ice, topping with soda water. Garnish with orange slice.

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PREDICTION

Win vs. Falcons!

The good news for Falcons fans is that the team has gotten some offensive line for Matt Ryan by trading for veteran guard Andy Levitre, they've locked down Julio Jones and can expect Roddy White back a some point this season, they've got a new coach, and they've drafted some help for their anemic pass rush. In all, they should be a better team this season. The bad news is that they still aren't a very good squad. In the Monday Night battle of the birds, expect the Eagles to cruise to an easy victory.

Sorry, Matty, you might be Mina's favorite, but tonight is not your night.

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Tune in next week for our Farm-to-Tailgate!

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All recipes listed above come from our own imaginations unless otherwise indicated. If you try one of these recipes in your own kitchen, leave a comment below and tell us how it goes. And, of course, share your modifications, enhancements, improvements, etc.