Crawfish Étouffée
from La Bouche CreoleThis is a long one, folks, I can’t lie. But the reward is well worth the time invested.
10 pounds live crawfish, washed well
for the courtbouillon (KOO-bee-yahn):
3 gallons water
1 onion, chopped
3 ribs celery
4 bay leaves
1 lemon, chopped (skin on)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup salt
for the étouffé:
1/4 pound butter
2 onions, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup crawfish water
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons minced parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all courtbouillon ingredients in a large pot on the stove and boil for 15 minutes. At this point, put crawfish in a large pot of cool salt water for 15 minutes to purge. After purging, drain crawfish and boil them in the courtbouillon for no longer than 10 minutes. Drain and cool the crawfish, reserving one cup of the courtbouillon for later. Peel crawfish, reserving the fat with the tails.
Whew! Still with me? OK, now for the étouffée:
Melt butter in a large heavy skillet. Stir in flour and lightly brown. Add onions, celery, garlic, and bell pepper and sauté over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are very soft. Stir in tomato paste, then add the crawfish tails, thyme, basil, cloves, chili powder, lemon juice, crawfish water, and water. Mix well and cook for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the green onions and parsley.
Remove from heat and let stand for about 10 minutes, covered, to allow the seasonings to blend. Serve over rice.
For the original post, click here.
