Chef Emeril Lagasse Shares tips and recipes for hosting a Big Game party Emeril Style with The Cuisineist Test Kitchens.

Its  time for the  Big Game  as fans prepare for the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Chef Emeril Lagasse, owner of Delmonico Steakhouse, Table 10, Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House, and Lagasse’s Stadium, shares his tips for hosting the perfect party  party.

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Emeril’s Tips & Restaurant Recipes for At-Home Super Bowl Entertaining:

Not travelling to New Orleans for the big game? You can still score a touchdown at home with Chef Emeril Lagasse’s tips and recipes for hosting a Super Bowl party. Chef Emeril shares a taste of New Orleans from his three restaurants in this year’s host city—Emeril’s, NOLA and Emeril’s Delmonico—with a crowd-pleasing menu of Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, Emeril’s New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp and a Warm Chocolate Praline Tart.

Follow Emeril’s tips to pull off a game-winning fete:

Plan your play book :

Take time to plan out the menu ahead of time. Spend a few minutes to write a grocery list and a prep list. Plan out your dishes based on cooking time and see if there are any items that you can prepare ahead and just reheat. That way when it comes time to set up for the party you can enjoy the festivities, too.

Consider clock management :

Super Bowl parties are an all-evening outing—and people stay hungry! So prepare dishes that your guests can continue snacking on, such as big pots of gumbo, chili or soups, served with a big piece of crusty French bread.

Chef Emeril Lagasse and Elaine Harris Cuisineist.com Editor-In-Chief

Celebrate the victory.

Whether you’re having a small family gathering at the house, or one of those big parking lot tailgate parties before the game – it’s all about having fun! What really makes a successful Super Bowl party is great food, fun people and some refreshing drinks!

Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, NOLA Restaurant

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, adapted from Louisiana Real and Rustic cookbook, William Morrow Publisher, 1996, copyright MSLO, Inc., all rights reserved

Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo, NOLA Restaurant
Emeril Home Base

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup flour

1 ½ cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped bell peppers

1 pound andouille sausage, cut crosswise into ½ inch slices

1 ½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne

3 bay leaves

6 cups water

1 pound boneless chicken meat, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 teaspoon Emeril’s Original Essence

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

½ cup chopped green onions

1 tablespoon filé powder

Combine the oil and flour in a large cast-iron or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven, over medium heat. Stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and continue to stir for 4-5 minutes, or until wilted. Add the sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves. Continue to stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the water. Stir until the roux mixture and water are well combined. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Season the chicken with the Essence and add to the pot. Simmer for 2 hours, adding additional water if necessary – gumbo should be the consistency of a somewhat thick soup. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface. Remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley, green onions, and filé powder. Remove the bay leaves and serve in deep bowls.

Makes 4 servings

Emeril’s New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp

This recipe by Emeril Lagasse originally appeared on Emeril Live on Food Network, courtesy Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

2 pounds medium-large shrimp in their shells, about 42

2 tablespoons Emeril’s Original Essence

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onions

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 bay leaves

3 lemons, peeled and sectioned

2 cups water

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

12 Petite Rosemary Biscuits, recipe follows

Chopped chives, to garnish

Peel the shrimp, leaving only the last segment of their tails attached. Reserve the shells. Season the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of the Essence and half teaspoon of the black pepper. Toss to combine. Refrigerate the shrimp while you make the sauce base and biscuits. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the reserved shrimp shells, the remaining Essence, the bay leaves, lemons, water, Worcestershire, wine, salt, and the remaining black pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool for about 15 minutes, and strain into a small saucepan. There should be about 1 1/2 cups. Place over high heat, bring to a boil, and cook until thick, syrupy, and dark brown, for about 15 minutes. Makes about 4 to 5 tablespoons of the sauce base.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the seasoned shrimp and cook, occasionally shaking the skillet, for 2 minutes. Add the cream and the entire sauce base. Stir and simmer for 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a warm platter with tongs and whisk the butter into the sauce. Remove from the heat. Makes about 2 cups. Mound the shrimp in the center of a platter. Spoon the sauce over the shrimp and around the plate. Arrange the biscuits around the shrimp. Garnish with chopped chives.

Petite Rosemary Biscuits

1 cup bleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and chilled

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 cup buttermilk, or as needed

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or a fork, or rub between your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the rosemary. Stir in the 1/2 cup buttermilk a few tablespoons at a time. Knead the dough in the bowl just until it holds together, adding additional buttermilk, a tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too dry. Take care not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will be tough rather than light and airy.

On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a circle about 7 inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 biscuits. You can gather up the scraps to roll out more biscuits, but these won't be quite as light.

Place the biscuits on a large baking sheet. Bake until golden on top and lightly browned on the bottom, about 12 minutes.

Makes about  12 biscuits Warm Chocolate Praline Tart, Emeril’s Delmonico

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, adapted from Emeril’s Delmonico cookbook, William Morrow Publisher, 2005, copyright MSLO, Inc., all rights reserved

Chocolate Tart Crust (recipe follows)

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

¼ cup dark corn syrup

¼ cup light corn syrup

1 tablespoon dark rum

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups coarsely crumbled Chocolate Pralines (recipe follows)

Vanilla Ice Cream, for serving (optional)

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out 1/8-inch thick and gently fit the dough into a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, easing the pastry gently into the bottom and sides. Trim the edges of the dough so that they overhang slightly over the edge of the tart pan, then fold this excess dough over the sides so that the outer edges are almost twice as thick as the bottom of the crust. Press so that the edges are flush with the top of the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and position a rack in the center of the oven.

Line the tart shell with parchment paper and pie weights, beans, or rice and bake until set and the edges just begin to firm up, about 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake until 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To prepare the tart filling, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and flour in a large bowl and stir to blend. Add the eggs, dark and light corn syrups, rum, vanilla extract, and salt and whisk thoroughly to combine.

Crumble the pralines evenly over the bottom of the prepared tart shell and pour the filling over the pralines. Bake until the tart is set, 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

To serve, cut the tart into 8 slices. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Makes one 10-inch tart, 8 servings

Enjoy the Big Game Emeril Style