etouffee recipe

1 stick of butter
1 large onion - diced
anywhere from a half to a whole pod of garlic(separated and minced or crushed - possibly even sliced with a razor like Paul Sorvino in the prison scene from Goodfellas)
1 stick of celery - sliced, but no razor necessary
1 green bell pepper - diced or cubed (no seeds)
12 ounce can of chicken broth (sounds wrong, but the flavor it adds is so right)
12 ounce can of cream of celery soup (full fat content, not the health conscious shite)
3 ounces of tomato paste or half of a 6 oz can (that small, thin can - and don't get any added seasoning cuz you'll have to compensate with the recipe)
1 TBSP basil (at the risk of being criticized by simple-minded purists)
1 tsp thyme
Tony Chachere's creole seasoning as needed
1 - 2 pounds of crawfish tails (try to avoid the Chinese tails - they're too small and prone to freezer burn) Keep the juice and all that orange stuff - can't waste flavor

Melt butter over low heat in a large skillet and throw onions in. Cook until opaque. Then add garlic, celery, and bell peppers. After they get soft, but before the peppers start to change color, add the cream of celery soup, the tomato paste and add some of the chicken broth with an eye toward thickness. You'll have to find the right balance for your preference, so don't just dump the whole can in. The basil and thyme can also be added. If it gets too watery, dust it with flour and stir. If it gets too thick, add more broth. Get your seasoning down at this point - may have to adjust the thyme or Tony Chachere's. I wouldn't use Tabasco either - it's too vinegary. Add the crawfish only when the sauce tastes just right. If there is more orange stuff in the bag of tails, add a little bit of water to the bag and shake it up to make juice out of everything clinging to the bag. Pour all that new juice in. Kill the heat when the tails start to curl - about 5 minutes later.

Try to cook it a day in advance of your meal and refrigerate it. It's ALWAYS better the second day when the flavors have more time to spend together.

A couple of twists:
I usually add mushrooms (fresh, sliced ones) about the time the broth gets added. Some folks would say mushrooms have no place in etouffee
Serve over "dirty rice" instead of pure white rice. Don't do it if you're going to use a boxed dirty rice mix - it'll be too salty.
There's this stuff called Crab Base or Crawfish Base. It's a highly concentrated stock. It's so concentrated it comes in a gel or paste and can frozen over a couple of years. It's also expensive (about $12-$15 per tub). But about 1 tablespoon in any seafood dish adds a burst of flavor that improves anything it goes in. I prefer it over stock because it takes up less freezer space, is easier to use, and can be used in any type of dish unlike stock which can only be used in dishes that have a high water content. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it anywhere in Houston. I usually get it from a grocery store in Baton Rouge
Try poblano peppers instead of bell peppers. I wouldn't go any hotter - might overpower the crawfish
To make it more southwestern (or much further South), add a bit of chili powder (1 tsp) - just don't tell anyone I mentioned this - they'd lynch me

Walmart's here in LA have frozen Chinese crawdad tails for about $4 for 12 oz.

quote:

---

Walmart's here in LA have frozen Chinese crawdad tails for about $4 for 12 oz.

---

They have them at the stores in NC too so, vatek, you should be able to get them in VA. I use them all the time to make etouffee.

Etouffee

To me any recipe that calls for Tomatoes is not etouffee.. At least that’s what my grandma taught me many years ago.

After many years trying different etouffee recipes I always come back to grandma's recipe.

The problem with making a really good etouffee today is that it would take hours to make it and would be nearly impossible outside of the state of Louisiana.
The problem being the need for Crawfish "Fat"
20 years ago when you bought a pound of crawfish tails, you could ask the market for some crawfish fat, which would come in a separate container (the fat can go rancid quickly causing the tails to spoil, so the fat was packaged separately back in the day). Crawfish Fat can no long be sold over the counter for this reason.
So the only true way to get it today is buy live crawfish, scald the crawfish, peel the tails, save the fat and proceed with the recipe.
The fat is the orange stuff just inside the head of the crawfish "this is where the flavor is people"
A lot of work yes..

The solution ....
Buy a few pounds of boiled crawfish along with the tails for your etouffee.
As you eat the boiled crawfish as an appetizer save that fat for your etouffee.

Heres Grandma recipe..

Etouffee:
1 -1/2 lb. crawfish tails (fresh or frozen)
Crawfish fat
1-1/2 stick butter
1 lg. onion, chopped
1/2 chopped bell pepper
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. chopped green onion tops
Salt, black pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 or 2 tbsp. cornstarch


Season the crawfish tails and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat melt 1 stick of butter then sauté onions, bell pepper, and celery until they are clear add minced garlic. Add crawfish fat and 3/4 cup of water or seafood stock then let simmer 15 minutes. Add the seasoned crawfish tails and cook for 15 minutes over a medium/low heat.
Dissolve the cornstarch in a 1/4 cup of cold water and slowly add a little of the cornstarch mixture to thicken as desired.
Add green onions and fresh parsley and seasoning as desired. Let simmer a few minutes more.
Then remove from heat, cover and let rest for 5 minutes to saok up the seasoning.

Serve over rice with a green salad and French bread.

Enjoy

i agree about tomatoes not going in etouffe....same with gumbo.. here is the prejeans recipe that was mentioned above.. i believe it is the best etouffe i have ever eaten. most people i cook it for say the same.


prejeans etouffe

The one in the Ralph and Kackoo's book is hard to beat. The only better is maybe at the Chimes

I like the cream of celery soup idea as a thickener. But as for tomatoes. John Folse is coming from another region with that crap. Real Cajun country is from Lafayette to Morgan City. And we don't put tomatoes in etouffee.

quote:

---

And John Folse can suck me off.

---

Blasphemy! The guy is one of Louisiana's foremost authorities on cajun and creole cuisine as well as culture. Even the Acadiana Chapter of the American Culinary Federation inducted Folse into their Hall of Fame. He knows a bit more than blueboy and slightly more than Zach (though probably only more about cajun culture and food - but probably far less on everything else).

Also, if you had tasted my etouffee, you'd be sucking me off. Practically everyone who has had mine has requested this honor.

I once used this recipe with angel hair pasta instead of rice for a party my wife was hosting. The women were fighting to lick the bowl. If you saw an arena of women throwing their panties on stage, one of 2 things has just happened. They either just finished listening to Tom Jones, or they all had my etouffee. Me and Tom can single handedly generate the same outcome, we just have a different way of getting there.

I never wanted to use tomatoes in etouffee either, until I took the baby step of adding a small amount of tomato paste for color and thickening to etouffee. My take is etouffee made solely with a roux is really a lighter crawfish bisque.

quote:

---

Walmart's here in LA have frozen Chinese crawdad tails for about $4 for 12 oz.

---

Have to be Chinese crawfish. I eat them sometimes but they're not nearly as good as US ones.

There is also a packet you can buy at wal mart where, per pound, you melt 5 tbs of butter, add 2 cups of water and then crawfish.

It's more like Picadilly's etoufee but I like it sometimes for a change.