Ideas for hot dips...

I make the buffalo chicken dip a lot. It is easy to make and is always a hit.


LINK

1 brick of Cream Cheese
1 tube of Jimmy Dean sausage
1 can of Rotel

Simple yet delicious...I invented this dip, and it's called "Skillet's World Famous Dip".

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I make the buffalo chicken dip a lot. It is easy to make and is always a hit

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This

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2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained

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Yeah I never use the canned chicken. I just buy a rotisserie chicken from publix and strip that joker down. Much better for slightly less effort

Crawfish Cardinale with French bread toasties.

CRAWFISH CARDINALE

3 green onions, chopped
6 T butter
2 T flour
1 C cream
1/4 C ketchup
3/4 t salt
1/4 t white pepper
1/2 t Tabasco
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 ounce brandy
1 lb. crawfish tails
8 thin lemon slices (garnish)
Paprika (garnish)

In a skillet, sauté onions in 4 T of the butter for about 5 minutes, until wilted. In a saucepan, melt the other 2T of butter. Blend in flour, add cream and ketchup, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. (Do not use high heat. a nice simmer is fine.) Add salt, pepper, Tabasco and lemon juice. In a separate pan, heat the brandy somewhat and then flame it. BE CAREFUL the flame can be somewhat clear and you can't always tell when it goes out. Pour the brandy into the sauce slowly. Flaming the brandy is absolutely necessary to this dish. Then combine the green onions with the sauce , add the crawfish and stir. You may reheat this dish on the stove over low heat, stirring periodically or you can put it in the oven and re-heat, stirring periodically. It can be made ahead of time and refrigerated with no problem. Serve warm with toasted French bread slices. The recipe can be doubled, tripled etc...easily. You may garnish with the lemon slices and a little paprika if you wish.

ETA: I melt butter and brush the French toast slices with it before I toast them in a low oven on about 250, no higher than that. You really don't need them to brown. You just need them to be crispy all the way through like a chip. That's my preference. Make a lot of them, though, because with the butter, people pick them up and eat them like chips. I use them with cups of soups and cold salad meals as the bread, also.

I've always used the one in Plantation, but I make a few subtle changes. I stopped getting Southern Living about 5 years ago when I decided it went a bit downhill. Haven't looked at one since. Has it improved?

I like Garden and Gun, also. I've gotten it from 2 people as gifts, but didn't get it this year. I would renew, but I have too many mags right now and I'm so far behind in reading them that I don't know if I'll ever catch up. My favorite is Louisiana Cookin' and there's a new one coming out in March by the former editor of Louisiana Cookin' called Louisiana Kitchen. I hope it's good because I think I gave 10 subscriptions as Christmas gifts! I get the emails from both of those already. Looks like it's going to be a good one.

I rarely read anything but the recipes in Southern Living, but when I got it, most of the ones I tried were good. I have a few from there that I use frequently. My other favorite is Cuisine at Home.

If you call for a subscription, you can get Louisiana Life, New Orleans Magazine and My New Orleans Homes, all 3, for $25 bucks a year, I belive. A friend of mine told me about it over a year ago, so I called. Got and then, when I renewed, I called to tell them I wanted the same deal I had and they did it. It's not advertised. You have to ask. Don't know if they still do it, but it's a darn good deal. They have a 4th magazine now called St. Charles Avenue, I believe. I haven't seen it, though.