Tailgating NOLA Style

Not unlike many communities within the United States, we here in Louisiana have a great love for sports, football in particular. Whether you follow college sports or pro football, Louisiana has a huge following. From Saturday Nights at LSU or Tulane Stadium to Sunday at the Louisiana Superdome one thing is for sure, there will be a tailgating party of some description at every event.

Visiting fans enjoy the spectacle of the Saints tailgating experience as they approach the stadium on game day blocks before they even see the Superdome. From sun up to sun down, the tantalizing aromas of local dishes expertly thrown together over a 55 gallon make shift BBQ pit on the back end of a Chevy pick up to local seafood boiled in homemade beer keg boiling pots sets the tone for the unique flavor of the New Orleans tailgating experience. Fans from visiting teams are welcomed by our local Saints fans to enjoy our city and culture and also are invited to taste our parking lot cuisine, which many will tell you could be served in the finest of New Orleans restaurants. We do, however, warn our visitors that our food is not only made with love but with plenty of spice. Most people eat to live, in Louisiana, we live to eat.

From time to time, we would love to share with you all some of our favorite local tailgating dishes so that you can enjoy them for yourselves. Last week we served Cajun jambalaya and grilled jalapeno poppers, who could resist?  Poppers are quite easy to make just a little time consuming. So, we usually prepare them the night before. Here is how it's done NOLA style. First, you need to decide how many jalapeno peppers you will need based on the amount of people you will feed. If you are planning to make a lot, you may want to recruit some help and make an assembly line. Take the Peppers, wash ,cut the stems off, cut in half and devein. Depending on how hot you like your food depends on the amount of seeds you will want to leave inside of each pepper half. Next, spread cream cheese into the jalapeno cavity and then fill the cavity with your favorite type of sausage meat, we like to use hot Cajun sausage! Last, is the best part of all, wrap each jalapeno with a slice of bacon. Grill them on a hot grill until the sausage and bacon are cooked. You can make this fun experience for your guest like we do. We make "jackpot" poppers by randomly leaving different quantities of seeds in the poppers and then sit back and watch the reaction of our friends as they take their first bite!!

Check out these awesome BBQ essentials for your next tailgating event.

Happy grilling!