The Smoking Musket Tailgate Menu: Compost Pile Brunch

No matter your college football team, you’re going to experience a noon kickoff at some point in your tailgating. Unfortunately, noon kicks have been incredibly common for West Virginia football recently. The silver lining for noon kicks is a whole tailgate menu dedicated to brunch!

Cafe Berlin’s The Compost Pile

I have exactly one friend I know who went to Mizzou. I asked him where the best brunch would be in town, and he told me Cafe Berlin. Researching their menu, I think I found the best brunch meal to cook up for this brunch tailgate.

The compost pile is appropriately named for a pile of breakfast and lunch items

This dish takes a lot of components, some of which you can make ahead of time, some you can make at the tailgate. There is only one thing I suggest you make the night before, and that’s the gravy. Here’s how you can make everything else on-site.

Canned biscuits on the grill

You can call me crazy if you want, but you can cook canned biscuits right on the grill. These will actually be great to cook alongside the potatoes veggies, as you need indirect heat; you can cook these on the opposite side of the foil packs, at the end of their cook.

Potato and vegetable foil packs

For the number of people you are feeding, you may need to put all of these vegetables in an aluminum pan and cover with foil, but this recipe should stay the same. I’d advise quartering the potatoes (this recipe asks you to halve them) and you can also add diced bacon in the packs and reduce the butter.

Grilled hamburger

OK, the burger patties you’ll definitely want to prepare the night before, but you can cook them at the tailgate. Use your favorite burger recipe or this simple recipe.

Poached eggs on the grill

Simply crack an egg into each hole in a muffin tin and cook for two minutes. I think the runny yolk is a must for this dish.

Black pepper gravy

I highly suggest you make this the night before and heat up at the tailgate.

The beauty of this dish is that you cook each piece individually and then put them out for your guests to assemble. However, there is a distinct way in which the Compost Pile is loaded.

• A split biscuit on the plate (or in a bowl)
• Burger
• Vegetables and potatoes
• Gravy (or cheese)
• Egg

This is a fairly massive undertaking, so this is the cooking process I’d suggest:

1. Cook the foil packets on one half of the grill for 20 minutes, do not light the other half.
2. After 20 minutes, throw the biscuits on the grill. Once cooked, take all of them off the grill.
3. On the lit half of the grill, cook the burgers, on the non-lit half, warm up the gravy.
4. Cook the eggs last.

This will require a lot of cooking from the grillmaster, but I promise this will be a hit for your tailgaters and will certainly fill you and your friends up. Due to the activity you’ll have on the grill, this is the only “dish” I’ve included on this menu. But I highly suggest a strong michelada or mimosa by your side through it all.

Morning tailgates are no excuse to not serve your guests the best. And remember, you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning!