Blue Jays Home Opener Recipes

Dan Clapson's Blue Jays Home Opener Recipes from his cookbook with Twyla Campbell; "Prairie - Seasonal, Farm-Fresh Recipes Celebrating The Canadian Prairies"

High-Low Blue Jay Spritz

This is the ultimate “trashy-chic” cocktail, and one that I make at my event space in Calgary all of the time. It’s part nostalgia (you know that electric-blue non-lemonade lemonade, right?) elevated with the botanical complexity of a Bianco vermouth and richness of frozen berries. It’s a drink of contrasts: the deep, jammy purple of macerated wild blueberries against the neon-blue lemonade, balanced by the floral, vanilla notes of the vermouth. It’s refreshing, surprisingly sophisticated, and the perfect visual tribute to the Jays.

Ingredients

• ¼-½ oz vanilla simple syrup (to taste)
• 1 Tbsp frozen wild blueberries
• 3 oz Blue Raspberry Lemonade
• 1 ½ oz vodka
• 1 oz white vermouth
• 4 oz soda water, chilled
• Lemon slice, for garnish

Directions

1. In a Collins glass, combine syrup, berries, and the blue raspberry lemonade. Let this sit for about 5 minutes. As the berries thaw, they’ll bleed into the syrup, and the colour will be pretty epic.
2. Next, pour in the vodka and the Bianco vermouth. Give it a gentle stir before filling to the brim with ice and topping with soda water.
3. Garnish with a lemon slice and serve…and try not to crush it immediately. ;)

Note: You can macerate a big batch of the blueberries, syrup, and blue raspberry lemonade in a pitcher ahead of time, then all you need to do is pour and top with spirits and soda.

Spicy “Garage Plate” Tater tot Cups

The “Garbage Plate” is the legendary, late-night soul of Rochester, NY, the birthplace of celebrated Jays player Ernie Clement. (Woof!) Traditionally, it’s a chaotic heap of mac salad, fries, and burgers all buried under a spicy meat sauce. It’s glorious, it’s hangover-curing…and it’s also a lot. This is my approach to taking a notoriously messy regional dish, turning it into something a bit more structured. By swapping the traditional home fries for crispy tater tot “cups” (TikTok would be proud), you get that perfect crunch-to-sauce ratio in every single bite. I’ve also opted for macerated white onions here (very me) to help provide a pleasantly acidic contrast to the rich, savoury meat sauce.

Ingredients for Mustard-Macerated Onions

• 1 white onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• ¼ cup pickle brine
• ¼ cup yellow mustard

Directions for Mustard-Macerated Onions

1. In a small bowl, toss the sliced white onion with pickle brine and mustard. Set aside to soften and pickle slightly while you cook the other components.

Note: this can be done the day before, even more tasty!

Ingredients for Tater tots

• 48 frozen tater tots, thawed
• Celery salt, to season

Directions for Mustard-Macerated Onions

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 12-slot muffin tin. Place 4 thawed tots into each well. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Using the bottom of a greased shot glass, press the tots down and against the sides to create a cup-like shape. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes until nicely golden brown and crispy.
2. Let them cool in the tin for 5 minutes to set before removing and placing on serving platter.

Ingredients for Garbage Plate Meat Sauce

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 500 g lean ground beef
• 1 yellow onion onion, finely minced
• 1 cup good quality beef stock
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Tabasco
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions for Garbage Plate Meat Sauce

1. Heat canola oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and onion, cooking until the beef is browned, about 6-8 minutes.
2. Next, stir in the tomato paste, spices, and beef stock. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to low heat and allow to cook until liquid reduces by half, approximately 20-25 minutes.
3. Keep warm on stove until ready to serve.
4. Cook the burgers. While the cups finish, sear your mini-burger patties in a hot skillet until charred and cooked through. If they are slightly larger than the muffin tin wells, just trim them down or “smash” them to fit.

Assembly - Ingredients + Directions

• 1 cup deli-style macaroni salad
• 3 cooked burger patties, cut into quarters
• Yellow mustard, for drizzling
• 12 pickle slices, for garnish

Place a small dollop of macaroni salad into the bottom of each tater to cup. Top with a piece of burger patty, followed by a generous spoonful of the warm meat hot sauce.

Finish each cup with a light drizzle of yellow mustard and some macerated onions. Top with pickle slices and enjoy (immediately while still warm)!

Honey-Mustard Sweet & Sour Beef Meatballs

When you’re hosting a crowd to watch the Jays, you need one-handed food. (I’m not saying a beer should be in the other, but it might be.) You need something that allows your guests to keep one eye on the screen and the other on their plate, with a hand free for enthusiastic gesturing when Vlad Jr. hits yet another home run. Enter these Prairie Honey-Mustard Sweet and Sour Beef Meatballs. I like to think of them as the ultimate utility player for your game-day lineup. They’re reliable, they play well with others, and—if you look closely—don’t they kind of remind you of little edible baseballs too? I digress, they are the perfect toothpick-size, making them incredibly easy to grab during a fast-paced inning without missing a single pitch…hit. Ok, I’ll stop now. These meatballs are guaranteed to be the MVP of the afternoon.

Ingredients for Meatballs

• 1-2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 450–500 g ground beef (preferably medium-fat)
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Pepper, to taste
• Canola oil, enough for pan-frying

Directions for Meatballs

1. Heat 1–2 tablespoons of canola oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the finely diced yellow onion and minced garlic and cook for about 8 minutes until softened. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cooked onion and garlic with the ground beef, bread crumbs, heavy cream, eggs, finely chopped rosemary, finely chopped thyme, salt and pepper. Mix gently until everything is combined. Don’t overmix!
3. Roll mixture into meatballs that are approximately 1.5” in diameter. You should end up with 24 meatballs or so.
4. Heat canola oil in a wide pan over medium heat and cook the meatballs for 12–14 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through.
5. Set aside until ready to combine with sweet and sour sauce. (Recipe below.)

Ingredients for Mustard Sweet & Sour Sauce

• ½ cup tomato paste
• ½ cup good quality beef or chicken stock
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar (or maple sugar)
• 1 Tbsp pickle brine
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup Saskatoon berry or wild blueberry jelly
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions for Mustard Sweet & Sour Sauce

1. Place all ingredients in a large pot on medium heat and stir well.
2. Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce heat and allow to cook for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until glossy and slightly thickened.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper as desired.
4. Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce and gently stir to coat. Simmer together for 10 minutes so the flavours blend.
5. Serve warm as an appetizer or over rice or mashed potatoes.
6. Note: Saskatoon berry jelly adds a subtle berry sweetness and deeper colour but isn’t required.
7. Add an extra teaspoon of vinegar if you want it tangier.
8. Sauce will thicken as it cools.
9. Works well in a slow cooker too! (See slow cooker directions below.)

Slow Cooker Instructions (Optional)

Directions

1. Place the cooked meatballs into the slow cooker and pour the hot sauce over top.
2. Use a spoon to lightly fold the meatballs into the sauce without breaking them apart.
3. Set the slow cooker to “low” for 2–3 hours or “high” for approximately an hour “(I find some slow cookers’ “high” can be more intense than others).
4. Stir halfway through to re-coat everything, and turn to “warm” 30 minutes before serving.