Get that Party Started with These Authentic Mardi Gras Recipes

Celebrating Mardi Gras at home, in New Orleans or at a party; no Mardi Gras celebration would be complete without the rich flavors of Louisiana and these recipes are no different. Choose from an easy slow cooker recipe for Red Beans and rice to a deliciously decadent Carnival Crab Meat Dip. Each of these recipes features some of the most well know foods of Louisiana from Crab and Shrimp, Beans and Rice and even the French make an appearance in a Mimosa recipe. Each one of them is straight from the some of my favorite Louisianans' kitchen.

Get your next Mardi Gras party started with these easy recipes - which even a Yankee could make!

Carnival Crab Meat Dip

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

3 green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

dash of Tabasco

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 pound lump crab meat, shells removed and flaked

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the green onions, garlic, and Tabasco and mix well. Stir in the cream cheese. Fold in the crab meat gently. Cook over low heat 3-5 minutes or just until heated through (Do not overcook). Serve the dip warm with Melba toast rounds or spoon into small puff pastry shells.

Cold Shrimp Dip

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. mayo

2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs. shrimp, cooked, peeled and chopped

1 bunch green onion, chopped

salt, pepper to taste

Tabasco sauce to taste

Combine the s. cream, cream cheese, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Fold in the shrimp and green onions. Season with salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce, to taste. Chill covered for 8-10 hrs. Serve with crackers.

Bourbon Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup bourbon

1 cup chili sauce

3 lbs. cocktail sausages

Combine the brown sugar, bourbon, and chili sauce in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the sausages. Spoon the sausage mixture into a baking dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hr. or until the sausages are cooked through. Cut into bite sized pieces. Serves 40.

Red Beans & Sausage over Rice

Ingredients:

2 cans Van De Kamp's New Orleans Style Red Kidney Beans

2 cans Chili Hot Beans in Chili Gravy (Kroger brand works fine)

Smoked Sausage diced up ( Your choice, this cook uses Hillshire Farms)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Spoonful of diced Jalapenos to spice it up!

Mix it all in your crock pot, cook on high all day and serve over white rice. You can also add some Tabasco sauce or hot sauce depending on how much spice you like.

Cocktail Slush

Ingredients:

1 (46 oz) pineapple juice

1 liter Sprite or 7 up

1 1/2 c. good Vodka, or to taste

1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks

1 (12 oz) can frozen OJ concentrate

1/2 (8 oz) jar maraschino cherries

Juice of 1 lemon

Combine all in a freezer container and mix well. Freeze covered for 8-10 hours. Let stand at room temperature until slush consistency. Spoon into glasses. You may substitute rum for vodka.

Serves 25.

Mimosa

Ingredients:

2 cups OJ, chilled

2 cups Cranberry juice, chilled

1 (750-ml) bottle sparkling wine, chilled

Mix the OJ, Cranberry, in a pitcher; place in the freezer if desired to get icy cold. Fill stemmed glasses half full with the wine. Pour enough of the fruit juice mixture into each glass to fill; stir.

Serves 10.

So grab your Tabasco sauce, pull on some beads and open your home to Cajun hospitality and amazing food. Let's get this party started!