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Billy Boy's Crawfish Étouffée

Source of Recipe

From "Real Cajun" by Donald Link


Recipe Introduction

"Étouffée is one of the most well-known and best-loved Cajun dishes. Nearly every restaurant in the area serves its own version, and it's prepared quite frequently in homes as well. The tail meat of crawfish typically comes in one-pound Cryovac bags, and usually even has a simple recipe right on the package. As long as you buy good Louisiana crawfish, you can count on the results being delicious. My personal—and favorite—recipe for étouffée is quite a bit more time-consuming than most but definitely worth the effort. I begin with crawfish that have been cooked in a traditional boil. The first time I made étouffée this way was the day after a party and we had a good bit of boiled crawfish left over. I wanted to see if I could add more crawfish flavor to a classic dish, and the results were fantastic. By using the orange full-of-flavor fat from the crawfish heads, and leaving the fat on the tails, I was able to create a much richer base. As with most crawfish dishes, this is best when you simmer the tails in the sauce until they break down somewhat and release their sweet flavor. For the best results, turn this dish into a party of your own. Put on some good Cajun music, get an ice-cold beer, add some good company, and start peeling crawfish."

List of Ingredients

â—¦  20 pounds boiled crawfish in the shell, or 2 pounds crawfish tail meat, â…“ cup head fat, and 1 gallon shells

Crawfish Stock:
â—¦  1 tablespoon vegetable oil
â—¦  1 gallon crawfish shells
â—¦  3 quarts water
â—¦  Trimmings and scraps (stems, seeds, ribs, and peels) from onion, peppers, celery and garlic
â—¦  5 bay leaves

Étouffée:
â—¦  8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
â—¦  1 medium onion, finely chopped
â—¦  3 celery stalks, finely chopped
â—¦  1 poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
â—¦  1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
â—¦  1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
â—¦  2 cloves garlic, minced
â—¦  1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
â—¦  1 ½ teaspoons paprika
â—¦  1 ½ teaspoons ground white pepper
â—¦  1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
â—¦  1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
â—¦  1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
â—¦  1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
â—¦  4 bay leaves
â—¦  ¼ cup all-purpose flour
â—¦  Juice of ½ lemon

â—¦  Hot steamed rice
â—¦  5 scallions, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
â—¦  ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
â—¦  Hot sauce, as desired


Recipe

Make the stock:
Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the shells and crunch them down with a wooden spoon. Add the water, vegetable scraps, and bay leaves and simmer until reduced by about half, about 1 hour. Strain the stock and discard the solids. Measure 4 cups stock for étouffée and freeze any remaining for another use.

Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and the head fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, poblano, bell pepper, jalapeño, garlic, and seasonings and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the crawfish meat and the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and cook until the butter has melted.

Sprinkle the mixture with the flour and stir until all ingredients are coated. Stir in the crawfish stock and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until slightly thickened and they begin to break down and release their sweetness. Stir in the lemon juice and taste for seasonings, adding more salt as desired. Serve over rice, garnished with scallions, parsley, and hot sauce, as desired.

Serves 6 to 8



� Crawfish farming has become a huge industry for the farmers of southwestern Louisiana, and during the season you can find crawfish boils and crawfish dishes all over the region. The good news for people who don't live here is that peeled crawfish tails are easy to order online and they freeze well. If you use frozen tails, I recommend that you braise the tails about 5 minutes longer so they will break down a little more. Live crawfish can also be shipped, although they will be more expensive.