Thrills of the grill

With kickoff just two short weeks away, eager Patriots fans are already getting ready to fire up their grills and bust out their bottle openers for another season of tailgating.

Many football fanatics regard the pregame repast as a sacred ritual, not just another meal.

Patriots fans revel in sitting in crammed parking lots, surrounded by family and friends, steaming charcoal pits, coolers and flimsy condiment tables often in subfreezing temperatures.

If tailgating is a ceremony, corporate chef Scott Philbin is the master pastor.

Philbin hosted a cooking class last week at his restaurant, Stoneforge Foxboro, located on the Walpole-Foxborough line about a mile away from the vast tailgating fields of Gillette Stadium, to give football aficionados and grillers some helpful hints for the upcoming season.

Standing behind a grill set-up on the restaurant's outdoor patio, Philbin taught a crowd of about two dozen how to prepare a variety of grillables from traditional tailgate fare like his all-in-one grilled burger to more unique offerings like fried clams on the grill.

Philbin has tailgaters mix cheddar cheese, bacon roasted pepper and portabella mushrooms with ground beef before grilling to make for a "neater" and tastier product.

In true tailgating form, he recommends avoiding lean meat noting "fat makes everything taste good." Philbin warned his audience not to cook off the nutrients and flavor of the burger by over grilling it past medium rare. For instructions on how to make Philbin's burger see our website: www.dailynews transcript.com .

Representatives of Samuel Adams passed out "beer pairings" for each of Philbin's dishes.

"When it's all said and done, what goes better with a burger than a beer?" asked Deidre Andiorio of Sam Adams, passing out samples of her company's original beer, Boston Lager. "They're a perfect match."

Philbin, however, looks outside the tailgating box of hot dogs, hamburgers and sausage.

"Who's going to think 'hey, let's grill up some fried clams," he said. "Let's do something different. You can get more intricate."

Medium-bellied battered clams are tossed into oil in a stock pot that's placed on a grill to get a fried flavor in a parking lot atmosphere unfavorable for fryers.

All of the food cooked at Philbin's class last Monday night are his own recipes created with tailgating in mind.

"Anybody can do this," Philbin said. "This isn't tough stuff, you know."

Philbin's recipes (which can be found at media.townonline.com/pdf/recipes.pdf ), are not on Stoneforge's regular menus, but they are sometimes offered as specials or seasonal items. The chef encourages patrons to request the food, or any food for that matter, even if they don't see it on the menu.

"There's nothing I can't do with food," Philbin said.

Sam Adams Summer Ale is paired with the clams to complete a perfect New England summer meal that may be more suitable for early season Patriot games before the weather turns cold.

Sam Adams representative Andrew Shetty said he hopes tailgaters choose Sam Adams as their parking lot beverage of choice, but it really suits any occasion.

"It's supposed to be fun, it's supposed to be casual," Andriorio said, explaining Sam Adams has thousands of taste combinations compared to about 800 wine tastes. Many foods naturally go with beer because they're grain based, as well, she said.

Cooking enthusiast Judy McCarron of Rehoboth said she came to the class for the "whole experience" but noted the food would certainly suit pregame football feasts.

"It's perfect," she said. "Look at the pulled pork."

Philbin recommends buying cheap pork butt for his "Pulled Pork Sliders" that "cooks down great."

"If people come to your house and they don't like this," he said about the slow cooked pork, "you need to tell them to leave."

The sandwiches were paired with Sam Adams' Black Lager. Beer representatives accompanied Philbin's chicken & bacon jalapeno poppers with their Boston Ale.

"One of the things I like to do is make (jalapeno poppers) for my friends when we're watching the game or something," said Philbin.

For desert, the chef grilled up a fried candy bar with ice cream cooked with a "messy is good" philosophy.

Stoneforge Foxboro is located at 2 Washington St. in Foxborough. Stoneforge also has locations in Raynham, Easton, and Plymouth. CEOs Bill and Patti Roland will also open a Dartmouth location later in September.