What a DIP!

Mike Ditka Dyczko acting a fool while coaching in New Orleans. and probably how he felt after predicting a 49er win last night.

But no, I'm not talking about Mike Ditka and his MNF predictions.

hhmmmm...here we are in New Orleans, "Living the Charmed Life of Champions" thank you very much! and there you are, Mr. Dyczko, with all the sock shopping at your disposal in whatever hole you crawled to after being FIRED and you are still trying to relive your glory and appear that you are relevant somehow. (Ditka Dyczko infamously said he wouldn't even buy socks in New Orleans and that it was "the worst three years of his life." The feeling IS mutual!!! Your restaurant sucked and you clearly were not the man to lead our fabled "Yat Rennaisance" currently underway).

Anyways enough with Mr. D, so with Tulane having a bye week and the Saints deferred to Monday night I experimented making chili and cornbread. Lesson: Do not use beer in lieu of stock when stewing up your chili. Even after bringing to a boil and simmering for an eternity it leaves this weird "hoppy" after taste, which Coach Hullabaloo didn't mind, but which I did not care for at all.

What was a complete success was this OMG-I-am-totally-addicted-to-it fabulous cornbread recipe


SIMPLY FABULOUS CORNBREAD
box of jiffy cornbread mix
1/3 cup of cream
1/4 stick of room temperature butter
one stalk chopped green onions
1/4 stick of cheddar cheese shredded (4-6 oz)
1 egg
1/2 can of creamed corn
a crack or so of ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all your ingredients into a mush, just don't over mush or it will get tough. grease a muffin pan. spoon the mush about 2/3 up each cup. Cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

It is SO good!!! My new favorite recipe.

I also ran across these wonderful dip recipes that I want to try, and will share with you.

Everybody knows that Jalapeno Poppers are THE gameday food. It's just impossible to deal with at Tulane Tailgating at the dome: where do you fry them? How do you keep them crispy? uhh, the issues that just keep us tailgating hostesses up at night!

Well here voila, is perfect solution: The Jalapeno Popper DIP! We can totally do chaffing dishes. Genius!!!!


JALAPENO POPPER DIP
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can diced pickled jalapeno peppers, drained
2 seeded and sliced fresh jalapenos
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese - divided
1/4 cup bread crumbs (regular or panko)

Stir together cream cheese, half parm, and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in jalapeno peppers. Pour mixture into an oven safe serving dish, and sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly. Serve in a warm chafing dish.

Mrs. Hullabaloo also loves her some vegetables. It's always nice and refreshing to have fresh Spinach Salad or Vietnamese Chicken Salad at tailgatings, something light and low carb.

So thought this was a genius combination of yum-o and veggies!

HOT n SPICY ZUCCHINI DIP
3 c Zucchini; Shredded
2 ea Eggs; Large
1/4 c grated Parmesan
2 ts Dried Parsley, crushed
1/2 ts Dried Oregano
2 tb Fresh Parsley, minced up
1 c room temp Cream Cheese
1/4 c grated Romano Cheese
1/2 c Yellow Onion chopped
1/2 ts Salt
2 tb Milk
dash of creole seasoning

Put shredded zucchini in a colander and squeeze out any excess water. In a separate bowl, beat the room temp cream cheese to a smooth consistency and blend in the milk and eggs. Make sure it's all blended together well. Fold in all the other ingredients, including the zucchini, and then pour into a greased casserole dish. Dust the top with an extra sparkle of Creole Seasoning. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes - should be hot and bubbly. Pour into a chafing dish and serve warm.

Enjoy my little petit choux!