RBR Tailgate: Smoked Trout Salad

That’s right. Fish salad for a tailgate. Fight me.

Did you ever suddenly find out you had a pet peeve? It was festering and doing its best to catch your attention, but there were streaming shows and kids spilling things and people absurdly talking about indented prose as if it were poetry so you missed it until someone brought an annoyance to the fore.

I was watching the Florida vs. Georgia game with my brother and father and my dad made a comment about GA quarterback Bennet. “What is with these Roman numerals on the jerseys?”

The passer in question is Stetson Bennet IV and I suspect there is a four-time repeated middle name in there somewhere. I’m Ben, first of his name, but my brother is an IV to my dad’s III and neither of them have ever answered to a roll call of any sort where the last name has been called with a number. At least to my knowledge.

It’s weird.

“Next series I want to start with a wildcat to pick up a few but then let’s get Bennet in for a second and manageable.”

“Coach, Bennet’s in line to get his wife a hot dog. He might be ready in a few, but we won’t have him right away.”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh. You meant Bennet the IV who’s on our team. I was thinking Bennet the III who is in the stands. We should put Roman numerals on our jerseys to avoid such confusion.”

“Agreed. We dodged a bullet there.”

Aside from that, I have the bulk of Baton Rouge descending on, not my, but my Baton Rouge-born mother-in-law’s house for the weekend. We do this every year. We go there or they come here.

I’ve heard the complaints of how Bama fans are treated in corndog midst but I can’t confirm misanthropy on the Tigah side. I’ve always been treated well.

It may be that they have a single cornerback in attendance or that their coach is a lame duck but I’m reconciliatory this year. What’s a 28.5 point spread between friends? I love these guys.

This is the end of warm weather. I have my sweaters out from under the bed and my short sleeves tucked in their place. I love winter. I’m a firm believer that you can keep putting on clothes but you can only take so much off. But still, I like the warm for a while.

This is my last gasp recipe that doesn’t favor the cold. I’ll have chili and braises and such as soon as need be, but this is my last fresh and crisp cry to arms.

You can set this up in an assembly line at a tailgate like you would a taco table.

Start with a mix of arugula and green leaf lettuce. An extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinaigrette with salt and pepper is ideal. Lay out options to add. Key is smoked trout. Have walnuts, chevre, and sliced apple on hand and you will do well.