NOLA themed Super Bowl Party

[KateMW]

Not attached to either team, so we're going with a New Orleans themed party...

Mains will be muffulettas and red beans and rice. Ordered a King Cake from my favorite LA bakery for dessert. Help me with sides {besides Zapp's} and appetizers! I'd like things to be low maintenance, such as dips or make ahead. I don't want to be working when I could be watching football!

And rooting against Jim Harbaugh!

[hazelhurst]

Headchees if you can get it. Let some melt and use as a cracker dip. Also, a blockof Philadelphia Brand cream cheese with a botle of Pickapeppa sauce poured over it. Serve with a sturday cracker (tho the cheesecan be softened.) A classic New Orleans side item not much known nowadays.

[ludmilasdaughter]

Excellent ideas here so far. I would add:
- black eye pea salsa (can be a side or an app)
- mini crabcakes
- creole deviled eggs

I tend to agree with making jambalaya or gumbo instead. They're kind of like NOLAs version of chili. But hey, it's your party, do what you want!

[blaireso]

That was a really good point about red beans and rice. Serve with Bean O??? If you have a crowd, gumbo requires bowls, but so does chili so...If you can locate andouille sausage, you can use for jambalaya and also make a frittata and cut it into appetizer portions. If you can't find andouille, use chorizo. Crab or shrimp of any flavor are always welcome! I like the mini crabcake idea, you can make ahead, chill and reheat for an easy appetizer. Cream cheese with pepper jelly, yum!

[Tara57]

Popcorn sprinkled with Cajun spice -- Tony Chachere's or Zataraine's

Tiny new potatoes boiled in crab boil

[pagesinthesun]

+1 for spicy peel and eat shrimp. Spicy crab spread to serve with crackers. Grill up some andouille sausages, cut into bite size pieces serve with lemon and cajun mustard.

[ChrisKC]

How about the recipe for that spicy crab spread? Sounds good

[travelerjjm]

Welllll, raw oysters would work but they're expensive here. I'd go for cold shrimp with a remoluade dipping sauce, spicy peel and eat shrimp or maybe a hot crawfish dip. You can do a lot with crawfish. You can even get the meat frozen.

[Veggo]

boudin, cups of dark roux gumbo made on Saturday, lots of gunfire.

[ChiliDude]

Melt a brick of Velveeta and add a can of Ro-Tel.

I would make jambalaya instead of red beans and rice. It can be made well in advance and reheated just before serving. For those who have a flatulence problem due to beans, jambalaya would be less embarrassing.