As one of our weekly features, we're going to try to do installments of "What's Cooking at GABA" to provide tips regarding excellent options for things you can eat either at the tailgate before the game or while watching from the comfort of your living room. Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments section.
This week's entry? Buffalo chicken sliders. This is an excellent choice if, like me, you're going to be rushing home from work to catch Thursday night's early start and won't have time to do anything complicated. The crock pot is your ally in this situation. Basically, all you do to prepare the chicken is throw some breasts in the pot along with the buffalo sauce and the packet of ranch dressing and cook on high for several hours. Frank's Red Hot is a classic Western NY choice for buffalo sauce; you might have some other options depending on where you live. You can prep the chicken and sauce the night before and start cooking when you leave for work in the morning. When you come home, your chicken will be ready to shred with forks. All you'll have to do at this point is toast your rolls in the oven, slap some of your chicken on the rolls, top with cheese, and your ready to go. Easy, delicious dish (as long as you like buffalo sauce) that's easy and won't distract you from the game if you're rushed for time. This could easily be used for tailgating, too; just cook the chicken before hand, wrap up your pot, and put the chicken on rolls when you're ready to eat it.
If you're a discerning beer drinker and are wondering what to have with a buffalo-based dish, you have two choices, at least according to my taste buds. (I lived in Rochester, NY for several years and have some experience with this one.) The more delicate flavors of a lighter-bodied beer are easily drowned by the spicy buffalo flavor, but a hoppy, citrusy pale ale tends to "cut" the spicy buffalo flavor well. You'll get to enjoy the best of both worlds by complementing this flavorful dish with a boldly flavored beverage. If you plan to enjoy more than a couple of brews, though, the combination of heavy beers and buffalo sandwiches will have you weighed down sooner rather than later. A flavorful session beer is what you want in this case, such as a microbrewed American lager. These are good for washing down your meal while also providing some flavor, and they're drinkable enough that you can enjoy a few over the course of the game without being too worse for wear.