Vanderbilt vs Tennessee

On November 26th we made our FINAL stop of the Tailgate Tour in Nashville,TN where rivals Vanderbilt Commodores hosted the Tennessee Volunteers at home. This rivalry has been jokingly named the “Battle for I-40” or the “Country Music Bowl”. I can’t think of a better ending to Thanksgiving weekend than a Tennessee football game. This was a night game, so we were able to enjoy the day and not feel so rushed, which was very refreshing for our very last stop of the season.

Today’s recipe lineup includes 3-ingredient Crove Party Crackers, Steak Fajita Quesadillas, and Nashville Hot Jalapeno Poppers. While we traveled, all the ingredients stayed cold in our ORCA hard-side coolers. I never have to worry about any food safety issues when using these. ORCA coolers are the perfect on the go “refrigerator.”

My wife made the 3-ingredient Crove Party Crackers ahead of time, so they were already ready for people to snack on while they waited for the rest of the food. We love to serve these as an appetizer. They are always a big hit and would be delicious with Smoked Cream Cheese or on a charcuterie board with meat and cheese.

Recipe for 3-ingredient Crove Party Crackers:

Ingredients:

• 2 sleeves of Saltine Crackers
• 1 cup Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil
• Crove Food Co. Beef Rub & Seasoning, Crove Food Co. Poultry Rub & Seasoning, Crove Food Co. Fajita Rub & Seasoning or Crove Food Co. Pork Rub & Seasoning
• Supplies needed: Baking sheet and 1 gallon Ziplock baggie

Directions:

*Double, triple, or quadruple this recipe, depending on how many crackers you want to make.

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place saltine crackers in a baggie.
3. In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup of oil with 3 tbsp. of your choice of Crove Food Rubs & Seasonings.
4. Pour the mixture into the baggie over the crackers and shake around until the crackers are well coated. Add more seasoning if needed.
5. Spread the crackers out onto a baking sheet.
6. Place in the oven and flip after 10 minutes. Return to the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve and enjoy! Try out all four rubs on these crackers and let us know which one is your favorite!

*Store in an airtight container.

The next thing we got started on were the Steak Fajita Quesadillas. I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like quesadillas. These were quick and easy to make to serve to a large crowd.

Recipe for Steak Fajita Quesadillas:

Ingredients:

Carne Asada:

• 2 Skirt Steaks
• 2 cups Olive Oil
• Juice of 2 Limes
• 1 Jalapeno
• 1/4 cup Cilantro
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp Crove Food Co. Fajita Rub & Seasoning

Remaining Ingredients:

• 1 Green Bell Pepper, sliced
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 package Extra Large Tortillas
• 1 package of Shredded Cheese (we used White American)
• Butter

Directions:

1. Combine all Carne Asada ingredients in a Ziplock bag to create the marinade. Add steak, mix well, and refrigerate for 2-12 hours until time to grill.
2. While that is marinating, slice up your peppers and onions and go ahead and grill those over high heat GrillGrates on the flat side.
3. Next, remove the steak from the marinade. Grill for 3-5 minutes over high heat over GrillGrates on the opposite side (rails up). Use a thermometer to reach your preferred doneness.
4. Remove from heat, let rest for 10 minutes, and slice into bite-size pieces.
5. Then, you are ready to assemble your quesadillas. On one side of an extra large tortilla, layer cheese, peppers, onions, and steak then fold it in half.
6. Flip your GrillGrates back over to the flat side and butter them up. Place quesadillas on the GrillGrates and flip when the cheese starts to melt.
7. Remove from the GrillGrates. Serve and enjoy!

For the last recipe of the day, I chose to make Nashville Hot Jalapeno Poppers. These paired great alongside the quesadillas and use two of my favorite ingredients- Allegro Marinade Nashville Hot and my Crove Food Co. Poultry Rub & Seasoning.

Recipe for Nashville Hot Jalapeno Poppers:

Ingredients:

• Allegro Marinade Nashville Hot
• 4-6 Chicken Breasts
• Crove Food Co. Poultry Rub & Seasoning
• 1 block Softened Cream Cheese
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 12 Jalapenos
• Other: plastic gloves

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken breasts in Allegro Marinade Nashville Hot for 2-4 hours.
2. Put your gloves on to protect your skin from the heat of the peppers.
3. Slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove the membranes and seeds.
4. After 2-4 hours, remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and season chicken breasts with Crove Food Co. Poultry & Seasoning.
5. Preheat your smoker to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. I used Cowboy Charcoal Applewood Pellets on my Traeger.
6. Place chicken breasts on the smoker until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Remove the chicken and shred it in an aluminum pan.
8. Once the chicken is shredded, combine it with cream cheese and shredded cheese. This is the filling for the Jalapeno Poppers.
9. Use a spoon to scoop the filling into jalapeno halves. Repeat until all the jalapenos are filled.
10. Place the Jalapeno Poppers on the smoker for about 60 minutes.
11. Serve and enjoy!

You can find the full recipes on our website at crovefood.com and you can watch me walk you through the day on our YouTube Channel.

A huge thanks to our sponsors GrillGrate, Tennessee River Jam, ORCA, Cowboy Charcoal and Allegro Marinade, we were able to hand out FREE samples to friends, family and strangers who stopped by before the game. We loved getting to show off the products from our sponsors at this stop such as: GrillGrates for our Weber Kettle, ORCA Cooler Hard side to keep all our food cold, Cowboy Charcoal’s Charcoal and Applewood Pellets, Cowboy Charcoal Briquettes and Allegro Marinade Nashville Hot. We also got to showcase and cook with our new line of Crove Food Co. Rubs & Seasonings which include Beef, Fajita, Poultry and Pork and are available to order online. Shop now at crovefood.com.

I cannot believe the Tailgate Tour is over. We have had an amazing time, met some great people, and have absolutely loved having this opportunity of a lifetime getting to travel across the southeast to tailgate at football games. We cannot thank our sponsors enough for supporting us on the 2022 Crove Food Co. Tailgate Tour.