I had so many pics from my party I decided it merited two posts! (Go To Part 1) Here are photos and recipes from the food and beverage part of the party. More after the jump!
The Bar: Pat O’Brien’s
It was only appropriate to name the drink area for New Orleans’ iconic Bourbon Street bar. With a wooden plaque from Michaels, some green paint and stickers, I created a Pat O’s sign to identify the bar area. I served green and purple jello shots and mixed hurricanes.
The recipes for hurricanes. I found online looked too complex for me (I do about a 3 ingredient max for cocktails) so I set out searching for hurricane mix. Bacardi makes a pre-mixed hurricane cocktail, but I was disappointed to find out that it is blue! Everyone knows hurricanes are red; I’m just saying. Get with the picture Bacardi. It took several frustrated liquor store clerks (“Why can you just buy the blue?! Ughh, women!”) before I found a red solution made by Finest Call. It was easier for our group to make a pitcher than individual drinks so here’s the not-so-scientific recipe me and my friend Karen came up with:
Pitcher of Hurricanes
1/2 bottle Finest Call Premium Hurricane Mix
6 cups Water
3/4 bottle of rum
The original recipe called for 4 oz hurricane mix, 4 oz water and 1.5 oz rum. This recipe sucked; it was way too sweet and syrupy. Our version didn’t taste like alcohol at all and was not too sweet but it was strong!
WARNING: Don’t drink more than two or you’ll end up looking like this.
The Menu:
Watching Part 1 of the Top Chef finale in New Orleans inspired me to attempt to create a Cajun fare for my party. I’m no Emeril, but a few things I tried turned out pretty well.
Smoked Sausage Medallions << QUICK & EASY!
1 lb. Smoked Sausage
Cayenne Pepper
These medallions are a quick, easy and tasty appetizer! Simply purchase a package of smoked sausage and cut into ¼ thick medallions. Cook over medium heat in a skillet until the medallions are well browned. Add a dash of cayenne pepper to add a spicy kick! Serve with toothpicks.
Microwave Crawfish Au Gratin Dip
Makes: 6 servings
2 tbsp butter
1 bunch green onions- scallions chopped
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp Tabasco or to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
3 ounces Swiss cheese grated
1 pound crawfish tailsSaute onions and butter in a 2 quart casserole in the microwave on high for 3 minutes. Add flour, cream and wine, salt, pepper, Tabasco, and garlic. Cook on High 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Stir cheese into hot mixture until melted. Add crawfish. Cover with wax paper and cook on high 6 – 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes, until crawfish are done. Serve with melba toast or ritz crackers.
TIP: The dip is best served hot. I had to microwave it several times during the evening. It would work best served in a chafing dish that would keep it hot.
King Cake
I can’t take credit for this one. I happily purchased it from Albertsons! But no Mardi gras party is complete without one!
Red Beans and Rice
There are 1.5 billion recipes for RB&R out there. Unfortunately mine turned out really crappy. I’m not even going to post the recipe it was so bad!
See more photos of this party:
Hey! There’s a place called cajungrocer.com! It’s the BEST! For future ref. Pat O’Briens has an online store that sales a hurricane mix in concentrate! So it’s cheaper and it makes a TON! I used to work at a “cajun” food place when I lived in Oklahoma City, and they would use that in trash cans for their Mardi Gras parties. Then I met my husband and moved to Lafayette, LA to be with him. If you ever have a chance serve Richard’s smoked sausage, it’s my husband’s favorite! (The kind he buys is WAY too spicy for me, but i know they have milder versions)Their Anduille is SO good. For red beans and rice just use Zattarains red beans and rice seasoning(not the kind with the beans in the box too), it’s as good as anything else! Just make your own “cajun blend” (recipes are all over or search emeril’s) and it gives it more flavor, my husband makes zattarains jambalaya in the box with the richard’s smoked sausage and he puts his own cajun blend with ALOT of cayenne, and hardly anyone can tell it’s not homemade! Also always make sure your king cake has a plastic baby in it! Whomever gets the baby has to provide the king cake the following year!
These are so awesome! I would LOVE for you to come link this post and any other Mardi Gras post in my Carnival Link up. I’m giving all who link up a pin. I’ve been getting some really good hits from it and would love to add yours to the collection!
Thank yoU! Susie
http://cafescrapper-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-carnival-time-link-up-anything-new.html