On November 5th, we made our sixth stop of the Tailgate Tour in Athens, GA when the Georgia Bulldogs played against my team, the Tennessee Volunteers. My emotions were all over the place leading up to this game. I was so excited to travel to Georgia to see the GrillGrate crew and to visit with some of my wife’s friends that live in Georgia, BUT I was very nervous for the game itself. I had faith in my team and knew they could beat Georgia, but I also knew Georgia had a very good team. So far this season, both Tennessee and Georgia were undefeated, so this gameday is huge for both Tennessee and Georgia fans!

Today’s recipe lineup includes Cheeseburger Sliders, Habanero Peach Glazed Ribs, and Smoked Cream Cheese. 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.”

The first thing we started on were the Cheeseburger Sliders. I have been waiting to make cheeseburger sliders the whole tailgate tour. I was excited to make them because I have not flipped my GrillGrates over onto the griddle side on the tour so far. GrillGrates are my favorite accessory for all my grills because they are so versatile. My GrillGrates have two different surfaces. On one side are the rails and the other side has a flat surface to serve as a griddle. I find myself using the rails side more often because I love the beautiful criss-cross grill marks that they give to my meat, but I also love to flip them over to the flat side when I have an opportunity. Smashburgers are one of my favorite things to make, but making individual smashburgers to feed a lot of people would be very time consuming. Here is how I made cheeseburger sliders to feed a lot of people quickly.

Recipe for Cheeseburger Sliders:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. 80/20 Ground Chuck
• 1 package King’s Hawaiian Sliders
• Sliced Cheese
• Shaved onion
• Butter
• Crove Food Co. Beef Rub & Seasoning
• Optional topping ideas: bacon, burger sauce, mayo, ketchup, pickle, etc. Customize these however you desire!

Burger Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. Crove Food Co. Beef Rub & Seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat your grill and GrillGrates using Cowboy Charcoal Briquettes. Make sure your GrillGrates are flat side up.
2. After the grill is preheated, remove ground chuck from packaging. Rub butter over the GrillGrates. Keeping the ground chuck in a rectangle shape, press down the ground chuck as flat as you can get it on top of the GrillGrates. The more surface area you have, the more crust you will have.
3. Season the ground chuck with Crove Food Co. Beef Rub & Seasoning.
4. Layer shaved onion on top of the ground chuck. Press the onion down into the ground chuck.
5. Using two large spatulas, flip the ground chuck over to the other side.
6. Season this side with Crove Food Co. Beef Rub & Seasoning and then lay sliced cheese on top.
7. When the cheese is melted, remove the ground chuck from the grill.
8. Take the tops off the sliders while keeping the bottoms stuck together in a rectangle. Place them down on the GrillGrates to toast them on the open sides.
9. Remove the sliders from the grill when they are finished toasting.
10. Then, place the ground beef on the bottom sliders. Mix the burger sauce together and spread across the buns. Add whatever toppings you desire, then place the tops of the sliders back on.
11. Cut the sliders apart.
12. Serve and enjoy!

            After we got the cheeseburger sliders finished we moved onto the Habanero Peach Glazed Ribs. Georgia is famous for their delicious, juicy peaches and that flavor pairs perfectly with pork. Ribs feed a lot of people, so I couldn’t wait to make these!

Recipe for Habanero Peach Glazed Ribs:

Ingredients:

• 1 rack of Spare Ribs
• 1 cup Apple Juice
• 1 sliced Peaches or ½ cup canned peaches (canned or fresh)
• 3 sliced Habanero peppers
• 4 tablespoons of Butter
• 1 tablespoon of Honey
• 1 tablespoon of Brown Sugar
• ½ bottle Allegro Original BBQ Sauce
• Crove Food Co. Pork Rub & Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon of Mustard

Directions:

1. Start by removing the membrane from the back of the ribs. Use a paper towel to help you do this. Use mustard or olive oil to act as a binder for the rub to stick to the meat. Liberally apply the pork rub to the meat and let it sit out at room temperature while you prepare your smoker to 250 degrees.
2. Once the smoker is up to temperature, smoke the ribs for 3 hours over your preferred wood. I used Cowboy Charcoal Applewood Pellets on the Traeger. Every 30 – 45 minutes, spray the ribs with apple juice or apple cider vinegar to keep them moist.
3. After three hours, lay out two sheets of aluminum foil. Prepare a bed of butter, brown sugar, and honey on the bottom and lay your ribs over the bed. Add more honey, butter, and brown sugar to the top as well as a spray of apple juice.
4. After 1.5-2 hours wrapped up, remove the ribs from the foil and place on the smoker. Reserve the liquid from the inside of the aluminum foil. Mix in the BBQ sauce, peaches, and sliced habaneros with the juice from the aluminum foil to create a glaze and glaze the ribs. Let the glaze set on the ribs for 15-20 minutes and remove.
5. Let the ribs rest for 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe for Smoked Cream Cheese:

Ingredients:

• 1 block cream cheese
• Crove Food Co. Fajita Rub & Seasoning
• Honey or pepper jelly
• Chips or crackers

Directions:

1. Preheat your smoker to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. I used my HastyBake with Cowboy Charcoal Applewood Chunks.
2. Remove a block of cream cheese from packaging. Set it in an aluminum or cast iron pan (Use whatever you want to serve it out of to cook it in. Once it’s cooked it will be hard to transfer to a different pan). Score it on the top making criss-cross hatches.
3. Season it with your favorite rub. We used the fajita rub for a spicy flavoring.
4. Place the cream cheese on the smoker for about 1.5-2 hours.
5. Remove from the smoker. Drizzle with honey or top with hot pepper jelly. Serve with crackers or chips 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 and Chunks, Cowboy Charcoal Briquettes and Allegro Original BBQ Sauce. 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.

The highlight of this tailgate tour stop was getting to hang out and meet some of the GrillGrate crew in person. We also got to hang out with friends that we had not seen in a long time. The day had a disappointing end when Tennessee lost against Georgia which ended their winning streak. The next stop on the Tailgate Tour will take us to our first NFL game when the Tennessee Titans host the Denver Broncos in Nashville, TN on November 13. Make sure you are following along on our social media platforms where we will announce exactly where we are set up! Stop by to tailgate with us and try out samples, play games and hang out with our team!