September Recipe Challenge: Tailgating Recipes!

[Cookingcom_Tina]

Hey all --

Sorry for the confusion. The team is currently accepting submissions for TAILGATE PICNIC recipes. You can get more info and submit yours here:

http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...Challenge.aspx

Meanwhile...the team is in the midst of TESTING Corn recipes that were submitted last month. And yes, we are all crazy for corn!

Good luck and happy testing!!

-Tina

[Cookingcom_Tina]

This challenge is now in testing! There are about 9 recipes that were entered last month already in process of being tested for this challenge. June may soon be posting more recipes in need of testing for those that would like to participate (but not have to wade through the database yourselves).

Let the Tailgate testing begin!

PS. Remember that *ALL* testing for this challenge should be added as a post within this thread so that we can keep everything in this topic together!

[Cookingcom_Tina]

By the way... Here are a few more recipes that could use some testing! Any takers?


Papa Key’s BBQ Beans Meal
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10000756.aspx

Chuck Wagon Beans
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10001014.aspx

Super Bowl Steelers Ham BBQ Sammiches
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10000974.aspx

June -- please feel free to add to this list!

Thanks!

[peteFL]

Originally Posted by Cookingcom_Tina

By the way... Here are a few more recipes that could use some testing! Any takers?


Papa Key’s BBQ Beans Meal
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10000756.aspx

Chuck Wagon Beans
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10001014.aspx

Super Bowl Steelers Ham BBQ Sammiches
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10000974.aspx

June -- please feel free to add to this list!

Thanks!

Wish we could since we both loved baked beans. However the sodium content is too high for our sodium restriction and reduction to my level would not be a fair evaluation.
Pete

[1stimeCook]

Hi Everyone!

For this month's challenge, I tested the Chuma's Chili.
http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10000985.aspx

Easy to Make - 5
Taste - 3.5
Ingredients - 3, Had to buy everything.

As a first time cook, making chili was a lot easier than I had expected. I basically threw everything in a pot and let it simmer for a while. I thought the taste was great, but many other taste testers thought it was much too sweet for their liking. It was probably the ketchup overkill that made it so sweet. If I were to make it again, I'd probably lose the ketchup and add more tomatoes instead.

[CookingCom_Editor]

Hi everyone! I'm excited to join the recipe testing team. For my debut I tried a tailgating challenge white chili.

Tyra's White Chicken Chili – Tailgating Recipe Challenge Review
Click to see recipe

Easy to Follow:
3 out of 5. Some quantities and instructions in this recipe are unclear. For example, it calls for a "small container" of half and half -- meaning a pint? Or could it have been less? My preparation was thin, so this may have been the culprit.

Easy to Make:
5 out of 5. All of the cooking is basic and easy.

Taste & Texture:
3.5 out of 5. This white chili is very creamy and has a thinner texture, closer to a soup. Most tasters liked the mild flavor and liked it more when passed off as a chowder!

Notes:
The nice thing about chili is that it's easy to adapt to your own taste. If I were to tweak this recipe (I'm a big recipe tweaker), I would make it thicker by using less broth and less cream, not rinsing the beans, simmering for longer and with the lid off, and adding more cheese at the end.

I'd increase the adobo factor, too, and admit to deviating from the recipe by adding fresh basil as my garnish instead of cilantro. (Cilantro and I are not friends.) This fresh touch was key!

Because of the thinner texture of the chili, most tasters felt that this would be best served over rice -- I tried it over brown rice, which was a plus for sure. And wild rice would probably be great with this, if you happen to be having a fancypants tailgate.

[Norm]

Originally Posted by Cookingcom_Tina

This challenge is now in testing! There are about 9 recipes that were entered last month already in process of being tested for this challenge. June may soon be posting more recipes in need of testing for those that would like to participate (but not have to wade through the database yourselves).

Let the Tailgate testing begin!

PS. Remember that *ALL* testing for this challenge should be added as a post within this thread so that we can keep everything in this topic together!

How do you find the recipes? I only see the three you posted. I typed in tailgate in the search and came up with 616 hits.

[Cookingcom_Tina]

Hey Norm --

Your best bet for recipe searching is to refer to the thread I've posted and sticky-ed regarding this topic:
http://forums.cooking.com/showthread.php?t=6558

Of course in this case, there is no "tailgating" sub-category to sort search results by. So in searching for these recipes, I opted to search for all member-submitted recipes and sort by date, looking at all September submissions since that was the month our challenge was running on the site.

Hope that makes sense! Let me know if you have more questions.

[Cooking_Cindy]

I tested the Cheesy Green Chile Casserole. Here is the link: http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10001029.aspx

Easy to make: 5
The hardest part about making this is cooking the rice.

Taste: 3.5
I was not a big fan of the cream of celery soup. I think this would have tasted better with something else in it. What that might be I don't know.

Notes: I don't have an image of this becase I was not a big fan. I might be willing to make this again with a bit of a change. Jalapenos would make a nice addition to the dish and give it some added flavor. I encourage others to give the recipe a try. It was just not one of my favorites.

[ChefJune]

Originally Posted by Cooking_Cindy

Taste: 3.5
I was not a big fan of the cream of celery soup. I think this would have tasted better with something else in it. What that might be I don't know.

Notes: I don't have an image of this becase I was not a big fan. I might be willing to make this again with a bit of a change. Jalapenos would make a nice addition to the dish and give it some added flavor. I encourage others to give the recipe a try. It was just not one of my favorites.

Cindy, if you wanted to use a different "cream of" soup for this recipe, Cream of Chicken would not give you such a pronounced celery taste, which I'm guessing is what you objected to.

[Norm]

Originally Posted by Cookingcom_Tina

Hey Norm --

Your best bet for recipe searching is to refer to the thread I've posted and sticky-ed regarding this topic:
http://forums.cooking.com/showthread.php?t=6558

Of course in this case, there is no "tailgating" sub-category to sort search results by. So in searching for these recipes, I opted to search for all member-submitted recipes and sort by date, looking at all September submissions since that was the month our challenge was running on the site.

Hope that makes sense! Let me know if you have more questions.

OK I tried, I really tried but this doesn't help. I went to member recipes and found 1185 entries, I searched by date and after 7 or 8 pages I did not see one of the recipes listed here for the challenge and no way to determine which other ones might be there for this months testing.

[Cookingcom_Tina]

Norm, it does take a bit of persistence at this point, especially since we've had another challenge running for almost a whole month. But if you look around page 13, you'll see September start to appear.

In general, recipes should be a bit easier to search for when the topics fall more into a clear cooking/baking category. For example, this challenge that is just finishing up will be easy to search by Type of Dish: Cake or Type of Dish: Pie/Tart/Crumble.

Hope this helps!

[Cookingcom_Tina]

PS. This is also part of the reason June and I will be wading through the recipe submissions for everyone else, so that you don't need to trouble yourselves with that part of the process (unless you'd like to).

[Norm]

Never mind Tina, I have given up. I spent hours over the last few months and especially the last couple of days to try to help out but it is just too much for me. 13 pages before it even starts? It is too vague, there are too many, nothing I have tried will narrow it down and I can't tell a challenge from one that isn't.

[peteFL]

Tina, wouldn't it be easier to set up a separate section for the month's recipes? Another option might be to move recipes, no longer being tested, to the main database. It's kinda ridiculous for you and June to have to sort through the entire "member submitted" section to locate a few recipes submitted for testing. By the same token it would be much easier for those of us looking for something we can test.
Pete

[Cookingcom_Tina]

Haha -- thanks for the suggestion, Pete. Believe it or not, it would actually be much more work to create a whole new section of our site. I'm pretty used to the search navigation and can find the recipes submitted under a certain challenge fairly easily. It's just a matter of wading through the submissions.

[Cooking_Barbara]

Hi Everyone-

I tested "Hot and Hearty Steak Heros" By Anna Maria in NY.

http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-M...-10000977.aspx

The recipe was easy to follow, but took some time to complete. You need to marinate the meat overnight to get really good flavor (which I did not). You also need to let the meat cool once you cook it, so that you can slice it for the sandwiches. This took about another 45 minutes. The sandwiches still turned out great since we loaded them up with cheese, but patience and preparation is the key

Image to be uploaded soon.

-Barbara