The final home game of the WVU football season is here. It’s sad that we have not hosted a night game this season, but we’re West Virginians and we’ll tailgate the hardest no matter the kickoff time. For the final tailgate menu of the season, I’m going with a Tex-Mex brunch theme to welcome our guests from Austin. Maybe they won’t think of us of just hillbillies after this weekend. Here is the week 12 tailgate menu:
Breakfast Taquitos
Now, taquito literally means “small taco,” but it’s actually a small, rolled corn tortilla with a filling, usually fried or baked so it is crisp and crunchy. This recipe takes a simple Tex-Mex dish and fits it to a handheld brunch item by using breakfast sausage links, scrambled eggs, and cheese. You can make these the night before and then heat them up at the tailgate, make the individual filling items, fill and roll the tortillas and bake them on your grill.
Let’s assume we’re doing our final cooking on the actual grill. The first two ingredients you’ll want to cook at home and then package for the tailgate. Firstly, cook your sausage links in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil on the bottom. You’ll need one link for each taquito, but make sure you have enough for each person at your tailgate. The recipe calls for one box of frozen links. I’d say you should get a large package from the breakfast meats section. Depending on how many links you make, you’ll probably need to pour out any leftover grease from the pan. You’ll need one egg for every two taquitos, so scramble those up with a little bit of milk. Pour some of the grease back in the pan to cook the eggs in. Scramble them until just not runny. Store the sausage and eggs in separate containers for the tailgate day.
Once you’ve fired up your tailgate grill at a medium heat, lay out your corn tortillas and place a sausage link in each of them. Then lay a spoonful of eggs next to the link. Cover this with shredded cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend) and whatever herb you want (parsley or cilantro would be my suggestion). Now, roll them up and place them seams-down on a baking greased baking sheet. Bake them for about 10 minutes, then check them to see if the tortillas are golden. Once they are, pull them off and serve with salsa, sour cream or another dip.
Tater Tot Skewers
Tater tots and bacon on a stick? There’s something I think we can all get behind. You can make these on your grill by heating the grill and laying these over an aluminum baking dish. The assembly is easy and they’re easy to serve and eat.
Firstly, you’ll need to make sure the tater tots are defrosted, which will probably happen naturally by the time you get to the tailgate. Once you get there, take a slice of bacon it down to the bottom of the skewer, put a tater tot on top of it, then bring the bacon on top of that. Repeat until you run out of bacon. Do this until you have used all your bacon. Then bake them for about 20-25 minutes, then cover with cheese and throw back on the grill for a couple minutes more. These can be served as they are.
Guacamole Crostini
One of the most-loved foods of my generation is “avocado toast.” This is nothing more than the avocado flesh spread on a piece of toast. To make this brunch dish, we’re going to take a simple guacamole and serve it with crostini bread rather than tortilla chips.
To de-flesh an avocado slice it top to bottom, open it and reveal the seed. Take your knife and tap it into the seed until it’s firmly in it. Then, twist and lift to pull out the seed. Next, use the knife to slice the flesh (but not so deep you slice the skin) into a grid. Use a spoon to dig out the flesh into a bowl and mash it. Then, add a diced tomato, half of a diced onion, and a half cup of cilantro and mix it all together with some salt, pepper and lime juice. Serve in a big bowl with toasted French bread slices.
It’s sad that another football season is coming to an end, but we have at least two more tailgates to plan! Make sure to drink your moonshine and cheer on the Mountaineers!