Game Day - Tailgate Tour

It’s been said a TV’s flickering glow triggers our primordial brains — deep, distant memories of gathering the clan around a fire, of safety in numbers, of war tales told and battles re-lived. Times change, but our paleo nature remains. The mead hall’s now a man cave, the throne a couch, the battle now a big-screen game — but what is football, really, but an exercise in brotherly bonding? And that means a proper feast. This game day, when your tribe assembles, treat them well. Ditch the grab-and-go couch-nosh staples of Doritos and delivery and offer some more warrior-worthy fare. No matter who’s playing, we have you covered with crowd pleasers inspired from the country’s best — or at least most flavorful — teams.

Smoked Sea Salt Flakes // Falksalt // Detroit, MI

Smoked Salt & Hot Honey Dry Rub Chicken Wings Recipe Here

Smoked salt is the chiseled veteran pinch hitter of the pantry. It can come through in the clutch, on a moment's notice, to elevate almost any piece of meat or vegetable to glory. 

5 Fast Uses:

1. Fold it into room temp butter to make a quick smokey butter (smeared on a warm baguette/bread = happiness).
2. Dust it on bacon roasted Brussel sprouts.
3. Sprinkle over sweets (ice cream brownies, cookies).
4. Sprinkle on grilled meat or fish.
5. Toss popcorn in it.

From The Maker:

Bring an unexpected embellishment of flavour to seemingly ordinary foods. Chicken, steaks, hamburger, ribs, or even your own barbecue sauce tastes wonderful with a smoked hickory aroma. Be creative and add our Smoke variety to fries or popcorn for a whole new twist. The adventurous cook should oven-roast leeks with Falksalt Crystal Flakes Smoke to be rewarded with an extraordinary flavor combination.

Orginal Craft Wing Sauce // The Spicy Shark // Portsmouth, NH

Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sub Recipe Here

Wings are the cornerstone of the Game Day spread. Fried, baked or grilled the sauce is the deal-breaker. Thankfully, The Spicy Shark has concocted one of the truly great wing sauces in the country, developing a dairy Free twist on the traditional version. The sauce even placed 2nd in the 2020 Scovie Awards (think the Oscars for spicy foods). In their words “Sweet Red Peppers meet Spicy Cayenne Peppers, with a smooth vinegar and garlic bite.” In our words? Roll some piping hot wings around in this stuff and your guest will be asking for your secret recipe.

Spicy Craft Hot Honey // The Spicy Shark // Portsmouth, NH

If some tailgate traditions must remain unchanged — and when pressed, we’d preserve the stack of steaming delivery pies on the coffee table — at least give them a twist; as in sports, even dynasties evolve. And so, (once you towel off a bit of the grease), skip the tabasco, toss out the stale oregano flakes and tooth-sticking red pepper shrapnel, and drizzle that floppy New-York-style slice with this. You’ve had honey on your brie, and this is a similar idea — sweet and savory — but think of it as the director’s cut, with an extra spicy, cinnamon, kick.

Beyond Pizza — 5 Fast Uses

1. Fried Chicken
2. Granola
3. Ice Cream
4. Grilled Cheese
5. Nachos

Check Out Spicy Shark’s List Of Awesome Hot Honey Uses.

From The Maker:

Our Hot Honey is a 2nd place winner in the 2020 Scovie Awards.

The Spicy Shark Original Hot Honey is a special blend of 100% pure USA Clover, Alfalfa, and Goldenrod Grade A Honey. We steep the honey with a touch of Cinnamon and infuse it with Habanero to add some heat to the sweet.

How To Use Hot Honey

Smokehouse BBQ Grass Fed Jerky // Jerky’s Gourmet // Fallbrook, CA

Cheesy Jerky Garlic Bread Recipe Here

Ahh, tailgating, where the scent of slowly caramelizing meat over open flame wafts through a parking lot full of beer swiggin’ adults swapping barbecue and betting tips. Jerky Gourmet has managed to bag up all those smoky, sweet game day flavors into one jerky experience with their Smokehouse BBQ Jerky. Owners Tim & Dria have also done it using 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef from domestic farms in the Pacific Northwest which makes their jerky healthier, more sustainable and a cut above.

From The Maker:

Bursting with the sweet, smoky & tangy flavors of a backyard barbecue! Tender and juicy, SmokeHouse BBQ uses Jerky’s Gourmet’s unique blend of spices and our signature barbecue taste to assure this flavor’s place as a constant favorite.

Mo’s Chocolate Bacon Bar // Vosges Haut-Chocolat // Chicago, IL

Sundae With Smoked Salt, Bacon Chocolate, Peanuts & Hot Honey Recipe Here

Ask any top pastry chef in the country what the secret to elevating good chocolate is and they’ll most likely say salt. Which explains why Katrina Markoff isn’t just another hack pandering to the bacon craze sweeping the country after all. The graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Paris offers refuge from gutless chocolate to craft what can be described as a perfectly bacon-ized bar, chocolatey, salty and meaty. The only thing that rivals devouring this bar straight up is crumbling it over ice cream.

From The Maker:

Fruitwood smoked, uncured bacon from a beloved sustainable family farm in New Hampshire, finished with a sprinkling of Alderwood smoked salt.

Honey Kissed Virginia Peanuts // Hubbard Peanut Co. // Sedley, VA

Queso Fundido With Hot Honey & Hubs Peanuts Recipe Here

Hubs was started half a century ago by a busy mom with a killer recipe and the country’s best peanuts as an easy homemade snack to sate her peckish kids. Today it’s a mail-order empire spreading the Virginia legume nationwide and curing the plague of all barbecues: the nibbler. Keep your peckish guests occupied with these extra-large Virginia-grown peanuts, mildly spiced with chili pepper, and grill in peace.

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