Favorite etouffee recipes?

There's an ongoing debate about whether or not to use a roux in etouffee. I'm indifferent, as long as there is some body to it and it is not too thin.

Mine has a blond roux. And you don't see any seasoning in the ingredients due to the stock...but I do adjust seasoning after everything is mixed together and it starts to simmer.

3 yellow onions (chopped)
Half or more of 1 bunch of Celery (chopped)
1 bunch green onion
1-2 bell peppers (chopped)
6 cloves garlic (chopped)
Crawfish Stock (or other seafood Stock) - 64oz or desired amount
1.5 cups flour (or eyeball it)
2.5 sticks of butter.
(Optional) 1/2 can tomato paste for color (if don't have crawfish fat)
2 lbs (or more if desired) crawfish tails

Feeds 15-20 people

Heat stock to a simmer.

While that's heating, make a blonde roux - melt butter and stir in flour (1 heaping tablespoon at a time) until you get a thick roux. Cook til it's an amber / light brown color.

Cut off the heat and add onions, bell pepper, garlic and celery to roux and stir until roux has cooled down and thickened... If you have crawfish 'fat' add it now as well.

Add stock and stir until roux has dissolved. Bring to a strong simmer and let simmer for at least 30 mins. If too thick, add more stock or water. Add salt or creole seasoning to taste (if needed).

If you didn't have crawfish fat, you can add the tomato paste to give the mix a nice orange color. It won't affect the flavor much if you are worried. If adding tomato paste, be sure to simmer for another 15 minutes or more to dissolve it all. Add in your tails and cook for five minutes. Final taste for seasoning and spice. Add green onions when plating.

Acadiana Table has a good one, and I like George's little side-tracked rant.

quote:

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But the time-honored recipe for crawfish étouffée is under assault. There is a most disturbing trend in South Louisiana cooking these days that is gaining acceptability among traditionalists–cream of mushroom soup in crawfish étouffée. This is nothing short of sacrilege, and it must be stopped at all cost.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to experiment. I enjoy an occasional contemporary twist on a classic. A grits and grillades with gator meat recipe is a prime example of how far I am willing to expand the boundaries of Louisiana classics. But this can opener-enabled madness borders on the ruination of the entire culinary heritage of Cajun and Creole culture.

It is not the first time classic Crawfish Étouffée has come under attack. I recall the tomato paste assault some years ago that had to be rebuffed by the true bayou traditionalists. And now, the time-saving, tin-can cheapsters are pouring on the soupy extenders that rob flavor and render a pound of tail meat utterly inedible.

Stop it.

Crawfish Étouffée should always be a centerpiece dish to showcase the unique flavor and texture of Louisiana crawfish. Treated lightly, this buttery mixture envelopes the tail meat with a rich, flavor-filled coating of golden goodness.

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LINK /

Page 82 of the Recipe Book, above....”Another Crawfish Etouffee Recipe “. It’s loosely from “Talk About Good”.

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Your recipe calls for 2 lbs of crawfish and feeds 15-20 people? I usually use 2 pounds for an ettouffe and feed like 4 people.

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That may be a little off. I probably add more than that, but that's something you can easily adjust to whatever ratio you want the meat to be at. When in doubt, buy more than you need. The tail meat only take a few minutes to heat up / cook so you can just add more until you are satisfied.

Thanks for the comment. I adjusted the recipe above as a result.

Tail meat is also pretty expensive in my area, so that may have factored in.

Thanks!

growing up my dad made a dark roux version that was very similar to what the cajun ninja refers to as his crawfish stew. That is my favorite.

he also would make a blonde roux and make traditional etoufee that i love.

now though we cook at a church fair and we do the following as we have to make multiple batches of this per day. usually 1 on friday, 3 on saturday and 1 on sunday. sometimes we make 3 big batches on saturdays and a small 10lbs batch if we get wiped out after saturday afternoon mass.


2 lbs butter
3 large packages of cut up trinity from sams
20 lbs crawfish
1 can of diced tomoatoes
6 32 oz packages seafood broth
3-4 table spoons of minced garlic
flour
season to taste using black & white pepper, salt, cajun seasoning, onion & garlic powder


we cook in huge cast iron pot

1) melt butter
2) saute veggies
3 saute crawfish tails (we buy the frozen louisiana tails)
4) throw in tomotoes(can be eliminated and i prefer without) and the garlic
5) season pretty good- this is the base seasoning.
6) Cover and saute down pretty good and then add the broth and bring to a boil, turn down heat, cover and let cook for about 20 min.
7) after broth is cooked down some, slowly add the flour by sifting into the liquid while someone else stirs constantly. do this until its the thickness you like.
8) taste and season to taste

serve over rice.

personally i think making a blonde roux is better than the above, but that can be a huge pain in the arse when cooking huge pots quickly. this gives very very similar flavor without the risk of burning and the time the roux takes.

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Real crawfish etouffee does Not have flour, roux, cream of mushroom or any base other than BUTTER. Trinity, butter, crawfish and fat. Anything with roux is STEW or GRAVY. Get this right. Cauliflower is not a part of real boudin. Cajun and creole food does not include Jalepenos. Get over it.

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Hush, now. Eat what tastes good and just sssshhhhhhh.

Also, why would anyone ever add water when you could add stock?

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INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds cleaned crawfish tails
1/4 pound butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
½ cup tomatoes, diced
2 tbsps garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup flour
2 quarts crawfish stock
1 ounce sherry
1 cup green onions, chopped
½ cup parsley, chopped
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce
2 cups white rice, steamed
METHOD:
In a 2-gallon stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and tomato sauce and blend well into mixture. Using a wire whip, blend flour into the vegetable mixture to form a white roux. Slowly add crawfish stock, a little at a time, until sauce consistency is achieved. Continue adding more stock as necessary to retain consistency. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sherry, green onions and parsley and cook an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste using salt and cayenne pepper. Serve over steamed white rice using a few dashes of Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce.

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I hope your children are barren.

Crawfish tails
Onion
Butter
Fresh parsley
Crawfish fat
Seasoning

Add crawfish stock as crawfish fat sold separately hasn’t been available for many years, as least to my knowledge