Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Who dat? Dat is the best chicken jambalaya! In the "Supperbowls" of Nawlins-style jambalayas, this is a winner!

To honor the New Orleans Saints today, I made a pot of jambalaya with lots of spice to hope they heat things up against Indiana. I took a chance on a recipe that I actually found on a website for a northern city covering the topic of Louisiana. I am not sure how authentic it is according to anyone living in Acadia, but I can assure you that it is absolutely delicious with quite a depth of spice! I do not use chili powder from the average supermarket, and I hope you don't, either. The chili powder I use is from the Indian market, Patel Brothers, and is the finely ground powder. It is ten times spicier than the supermarket kind, thankfully!

I have been trying to play around with effects on my camera to start taking better food photos! I like how the photo came out, but I have a long way to go. Speaking of a long way to go, Geaux Saints! Lets hope they get lots of yards and plenty of touchdowns to make laissez les bon temps rouler!

Chicken Jambalaya (courtesy of Courant.com)

Ingredients

4 strips bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 sweet red pepper, cored, seeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 green onions, white and green parts, diced

4 large chicken thighs (skinless or skin on)

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried marjoram

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon medium-hot to hot chili powder

2 bay leaves

3/4 cup long-grain rice

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Brown bacon pieces in large skillet. When crisp, add sweet red pepper, garlic and green onions and saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken thighs and brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Spoon out excess fat.

Add thyme, marjoram, salt, chili powder and bay leaves. Mix gently. Add rice and chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until rice is tender, liquid absorbed and chicken is done, about 25 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

(Note: double if cooking for a crowd and cut up chicken in bite size pieces)

Goddess In the Kitchen!

The New York Times published a wonderful guide to great snacks to prepare for Superbowl Sunday! Although tomorrow's dish that I cook will be Chicken Jambalaya in honor of the New Orleans Saints, I had to make something to snack on as well! There was a fantastic recipe for Greek Goddess Dip. After reading the recipe just yesterday, I knew I had to make it; the number of herbs in it was just irresistible. It took me all of ten minutes to make from start to finish. Although the dip itself does not contain traditional tailgating flavor, it is still absolutely delicious and would go wonderfully with any kind of pilsner beer. I made a few changes to make it a little healthier, so enjoy!

Greek Goddess Dip (courtesy of The New York Times)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh packed dill

1/2 cup fresh packed parsley

1/3 cup fresh packed basil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 scallions, white and green parts only

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

pinch of Kosher salt, to taste

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (I used 1/4)

1/2 cup of crumbled feta (I used lowfat)

1/4 cup mayonnaise, optional (I used lowfat mayo and added 1 cup for extra creaminess)

Directions:

1. Place dill, mint, parsley, basil, garlic, scallions, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and process until finely chopped.

2. With motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until incorporated. Add feta and process until smooth; pulse in yogurt. Taste dip and add more salt, if desired. If you like a creamier, richer dip, add mayonnaise and pulse to combine.

3. Serve dip immediately with vegetables or pita chips or cover and store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tailgating At Home!

I am a huge football fan and a die hard New York Giant's fan.

Although the Giants did not make it to the playoffs, I still love football enough to watch the playoffs and Superbowl, each game start to finish. I truly enjoy cooking on Sundays during football season and like to stick to some traditional tailgating foods. I love Buffalo wings, but rarely eat them since they are so fattening!

However, I was determined to figure out an alternative, and that came in the form of meatballs! After reading various recipes for Buffalo chicken meatballs, I came up with a recipe that combined details of a few delicious sounding ones and came up with this one. Instead of dipping them in blue cheese sauce, which you can do as a great appetizer, I decided to make blue cheese mashed potatoes and make it into a meal with carrots on the side. As far as beer, I was sipping Michelob Ultra and miserable. I don't know why I bother with that beer. The lack of flavor is just not worth the lack of calories.

The meatballs were rich tasting and nice and hot with the sauce on it. The mashed potatoes had a great sour tang to them that complimented the meatballs well. I love fresh parsley and decided to keep it coarsely chopped since I enjoy biting into pieces that have tender leaves cooked into them.

My cheers go to the New Orleans Saints! I hope they win the Superbowl! What team are you cheering for? Hopefully fellow food bloggers will have some great tailgating recipes in the next few weeks leading to the Superbowl!

• Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
• Ingredients:
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2) Combine chicken, onion, garlic, parsley, bread crumbs, egg, and salt and pepper to taste

3) Mix with your hands and cut into 4 equal portions - this should yield 16 meatballs

4) Arrange meatballs on a nonstick baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil

4) Bake meatballs until golden brown (about 12 minutes)

5) Heat butter and hot sauce in a saucepan and spoon over meatballs in a serving platter.

Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

1/3 cup light blue cheese dressing

1/2 cup milk (or more depending on what consistency you like)

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender, mash

2) Add milk, blue cheese dressing, butter, and salt and pepper to taste.