The kickoff of the New Orleans Saints and NFL season is finally here, and we’ll see soon enough which teams are ready to go.
It’s also time to get your own pre-game plans together. No matter what happens on the field, you might as well enjoy yourself, and that means setting out a spread like a pro.
Gambit asked some local chefs and bartenders to share some of their recipes for food and drinks for a game-day watching party, from spicy wings to vegan dips. There also are batch cocktails to round out a game plan. Enjoy.
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
By Sarah Newton
Sarah Newton
Photo provided by Sarah Newton
Sarah Newton is a dietician who runs the Coop’s Table pop-up and catering on the side. She also handles hog roasts for the Sweet Swine O’ Mine barbecue team at Hogs for the Cause. Coop’s Table focuses on smoked meats, her own boudin and more. Find info and her fall schedule on @coops.table on Instagram.
These meatballs are juicy on the inside with a spicy kick from the hot sauce and a savory depth from the cheese and spices.
Yields 12 meatballs
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes
Chicken meatball slider
Photo provided by Sarah Newton
Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1/3 cup of Tabasco Sriracha, and extra for topping once cooked if desired
3/4 cup shredded cheese (white cheddar, pepper jack or a blend)
1 egg
1/3 cup onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
2. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients together. Ground chicken needs to be very cold.
3. Using your hands, gently mix all the ingredients together until they are just combined. Be careful not to over mix, as this can make the meatballs tough.
4. Form meatballs using a scooper or a tablespoon. Should make 12 meatballs, depending on desired size. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them a little bit apart.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through and browned. The internal temperature should reach 165 F (74 C).
6. Serve the meatballs as is or make into a slider with a toasted bun of choice, cream cheese, meatball, pickle and a dash of hot sauce. Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
Tips and variations: For a saucier meatball, warm up some additional hot sauce and butter in a saucepan and toss the cooked meatballs in it before serving.
These meatballs are gluten free with no breadcrumbs, but you can add ½ cup breadcrumbs if desired.
Creole Mustard Honey Wings
By Julie Vaucresson
Julie Vaucresson released the cookbook ‘Creole Made Easy.’
Photo provided by Julie Frederick Vaucresson
Julie Vaucresson and her husband Vance Vaucresson run the Vaucresson Sausage Company and restaurant. They’re known for Creole hot sausage and crawfish sausage and have served their sausages at every single Jazz Fest. Last year, she released the cookbook “Creole Made Easy.” For more information, visit vaucressonsausage.com.
Yields 5 servings
Ingredients
3-4 pounds chicken wings (approximately 20 drumettes and flats)
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup Vaucresson’s Creole Mustard
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
Julie Vaucresson’s Creole honey-mustard chicken wings
Provided photo by Shawn Colin
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together Creole seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Add chicken pieces and toss in dry mixture until coated.
3. Place chicken on a foil-lined pan and bake for 40 minutes.
4. In a small saucepan, combine honey, Vaucresson’s Creole Mustard, and red pepper flakes. Heat over a medium to low fire, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove the wings from the oven and toss in honey-mustard mixture. Return wings to baking pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 400 F.
6. Turn on broiler and broil wings on high for 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely not to burn. Remove wings from the oven and cool slightly before serving.
P-Otis Foods
By Ian Lloyd-Webb
Ian Lloyd-Webb serves elevated bar food at P-Otis Foods.
Provided photo by Taylor Castillo
Ian Lloyd-Webb grew up in the Pacific Northwest and worked in fine dining in Seattle and New Orleans before launching P-Otis, a pop-up and meal prep project. He serves Seattle-style Asian dumplings, Mexican favorites and more at Courtyard Brewery Saturday through Tuesday and does different menus for meal prep and catering. Visit @p.otisfoods on Instagram for more information.
Walking Taco
Ingredients
2 each 1 ounce bag of Fritos
2 ounces curry queso (recipe below)
2 ounces protein of your choice
4-5 slices pickled red onion
1 tablespoon queso fresco
1 teaspoon fried onion
2 teaspoons scallions, cut
2 teaspoons picked cilantro
P-Otis Foods’ Walking Taco
Provided photo by Taylor Casillo
Instructions
Open one bag of Fritos and add 1 ounce curry queso. Add the chips from the second bag of Fritos to the first. Then add the other 1 ounce of curry queso and all other ingredients.
P-Otis Foods Nachos
Ingredients
4-5 bags tortilla chips
1 pint green onions, cut
1 pint picked cilantro
1 cup Thai basil, torn
1 pint pickled red onion (recipe below)
1 pint queso fresco
¼ cup furikake seasonings
¼ cup fried onion
2 quarts curry queso (recipe below)
1 1/2 cups protein of your choice
P-Otis nachos
Provided photo by Taylor Castillo
Instructions
Lay down one layer of chips on a large tray and add 4 to 6 ounces of curry queso and a half cup of your protein. Add second layer of chips and cover with 4 to 6 ounces of curry queso. Evenly spread all other ingredients over chips to desired amount of toppings.
Curry Queso
Ingredients
¼ pound butter
¼ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup garlic, minced
½ gallon heavy cream
½ cup curry paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup rice flour
¼ to ½ lb. of block cheese (shredded will have too much oil)
Instructions
1. Melt butter in 4 quart pot on medium heat with onions for 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic and curry paste and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add flour and whisk to incorporate with curry paste and continue to cook for another 5-8 minutes.
4. Slowly incorporate heavy cream (adding too quick will make it difficult to incorporate the flour/curry paste mixture). Once all heavy cream is added, bring to a low simmer and grate cheese into pot. Do this in 3-4 parts so as to not overload the sauce with cheese — doing it in parts it will give the cheese a chance to melt and incorporate.
5. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce and let simmer, stirring for 5-8 minutes.
Pickled Red Onion
Ingredients
3 red onions, sliced
1 quart water
1 quart rice wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
1. Slice red onions almost paper thin and set in a 4-quart container.
2. Combine water, red wine vinegar, sugar and salt in a 4-quart pot and bring to a boil.
3. Pour over onions. Let steep for 15 minutes and cool.
Creole Crawfish Dip
by Maya Mastersson
Maya Mastersson created Black Roux Culinary Collective.
Provided photo by Amy Toney
Chef Maya Mastersson created the catering and events company Black Roux Culinary Collective. She’s currently pursuing a master’s degree in gastronomy and has started a speakeasy supper club, Whisper. Find information at blackrouxcollective.com.
This creamy and spicy crawfish dip is best served hot but can also be served cold. It’s a hit for tailgating and game-day festivities.
Prep 5 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Total time 30 minutes
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup smoked Gouda cheese, finely shredded
1/4 cup mayo (I prefer Duke’s)
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Crystal garlic hot sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Tony Chachere’s Bold Creole seasoning
2 pounds frozen crawfish tails
1 tablespoon Parmesan, shredded
1/2 tablespoon green onion, chopped
French bread crostini for serving
Ingredients
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Remove thawed crawfish from package, rinse under cold water until the water runs clear and pat dry with paper towel.
3. Mix together all ingredients except Parmesan and green onion in a mixing bowl.
4. Transfer to oiled cast cast-iron skillet or other oven-safe dish.
5. Bake for 25 minutes.
6. Remove from oven sprinkle with Parmesan.
7. Bake for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Sprinkle with green onions and serve with French bread crostini, vegetables, or crackers (or on top of a hot smoked sausage).
Cowboy Caviar
By chef Owen Ryan
Owen Ryan runs the pop-up Catawampus.
Photo provided by Owen Ryan
Chef Owen Ryan worked at Maypop before starting his pop-up Catawampus, which is at Courtyard Brewery Wednesday through Friday. For more information, visit @catawampus_cook on Instagram.
This vegetarian, gluten-free dip is perfect for a game day spread for a couple reasons: You can make it ahead of time, and it provides a fresh contrast to the more
traditional fried foods. This is greatly inspired by a dip that one of my best friends’ mother used to make us while growing up.
Ingredients
2 15 ounce cans black-eyed peas (drained)
1 15 ounce can of hominy
1 15 ounce can Rotel (do not drain)
1 bunch parsley
2 tablespoons Crystal Hot Sauce
1 bunch of scallions
1 green bell pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
salt to taste.
Instructions
1. Dice the green bell pepper; thinly slice the scallions; cut the parsley into small pieces.
2. Combine the vegetable oil and red wine vinegar in a bowl, and whisk until somewhat emulsified.
3. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. It needs to sit at least an hour to get juicy throughout. The vinegar mixture will begin to slightly pickle the ingredients so it becomes a refreshing briny dip.
4. Serve with Fritos Scoops. Fritos aren’t my favorite chip if I’m just snacking, but they are good as a complement to dishes such as chili and this Cowboy Caviar.
Buffalo Wings
by chef Nini Nguyen
Chef Nini Nguyen grew up in New Orleans and has cooked at restaurants including New York’s Eleven Madison Park. More recently, she’s competed on TV cooking competitions, including Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions.” Last year, she released “Dac Biet: An Extra Special Vietnamese Cookbook.”
This riff on Buffalo wings combines double fried Korean-style wings, a spicy Buffalo sauce and home-made ranch dressing
Serves 2
Buffalo wings
Ingredients
1/2 cup hot sauce, Crystal or any other mild hot sauce
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon for wings
2 pounds chicken wings, cleaned
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup potato starch
neutral oil for frying
2 stalks celery, cut into strips
Instructions
1. Add butter, hot sauce and garlic powder to a small pot. Gently heat just until the butter melts, stirring constantly. Take off heat and set aside.
2. Season your chicken wings. In a large bowl with the chicken wings, add in all of the spices (salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika) and mix until each piece of chicken is well coated with the spice mixture.
3. Pour the potato starch into a small bowl. Dip each piece of chicken into the potato starch and fully coat the entire piece. Tap each piece on the edge of the bowl to shake off any excess starch, and lay on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let the wings sit for at least five minutes before frying.
4. Heat about an inch of oil to 325 F in a wide skillet or large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Gently transfer all of your chicken wings into the oil and fry for 8 minutes on one side.
5. Flip each of the wings and fry for an additional 7 minutes. Pull the chicken wings out and place on a cooling rack.
6. Take a small metal strainer and strain out any small bits floating in the oil.
7. Heat the oil to 375 F, and add all of the chicken back in. Fry for 10 minutes.
8. Pull the chicken wings out and let cool on a rack for a few minutes.
9. Whisk the Buffalo sauce so that it is fully emulsified. Transfer about half of your wings into a large bowl and pour half of the sauce over them. Mix just until each wing is well coated with sauce. Sauce the other half of your wings right before you plan to serve.
10. Serve with ranch dressing and celery sticks
Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dill, dried
1 teaspoon fresh chives, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
squeeze of lemon juice
Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix until well incorporated.
2. Chill until ready to use.
Dining and Cooking