Crawfish Étouffée Recipes

Steps:

• In a large heavy skillet, melt butter; stir in flour. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture is a caramel-colored paste, about 20 minutes. Add the celery, pepper and onions; stir until coated. Add the broth, water, parsley, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil., Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf. Add crawfish and heat through. Serve with rice.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat, and stir in the onion, green bell pepper, green onions, and celery; cook the vegetables, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables have begun to soften, about 10 minutes. Stir in the golden mushroom soup, parsley, Cajun seasoning, salt, and black pepper, and bring the sauce to a boil.
• Gently mix in the crawfish tail meat, and simmer until the crawfish tails are opaque, 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Before preparing the vegetables, clarify the butter (not shown in video): Place 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup) in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. Milk solids will foam to the surface, then sink to the bottom of the pan. Cook until the simmering settles and the milk solids have separated from the butterfat, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain to remove milk solids. Measure out ½ cup of clarified butter for use in this recipe. (Cool the remaining butter and store in a lidded container in the refrigerator.) Prepare the vegetables: While the butter is clarifying, dice the onion and celery and mince the garlic. Remove stem ends from red bell pepper and jalapeño, then slice the peppers lengthwise into thin strips. Discard the seeds and white veins, then small-dice the strips.
• In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the clarified butter and flour over high heat; whisk to combine and get rid of the lumps. This will form a paste called a roux. As soon as the lumps are gone, reduce heat to medium, switch to a wooden spoon, and cook, scraping the bottom to keep it from burning. (If you see steam or smoke, turn the temperature down further.) Keep stirring to prevent the roux from burning, up to 30 minutes. As the roux cooks, it will darken in color.
• When the roux is reddish and on its way to brown, add onion, red pepper, celery, jalapeño, and garlic; stir to combine with the roux. Allow vegetables to sweat and soften, about 2 minutes.
• Turn heat to high and slowly add the stock into the roux mixture, whisking constantly. As the sauce comes to a boil, it will rapidly thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Once the sauce is the right consistency, add the crawfish and bay leaves; stir to combine. Season to taste with several pinches of salt. Stir in the chopped scallions and cayenne pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer, 10-12 minutes.
• Assembly: Taste étouffée and adjust seasoning. Stir in chopped parsley and juice of one lemon and stir to combine. Serve over hot steamed rice.

Steps:

• In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and whisk in flour to combine well. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until roux is a peanut butter color.
• Add onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme and cook until vegetables are soft, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add stock, tomatoes, salt, red pepper, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.
• Skim surface, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add crawfish tails and fat, lemon juice, green onions, and parsley and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining butter and stir to combine well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve over hot rice.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until the oil begins to lightly smoke, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until it turns a peanut butter brown color. Turn off the heat. Stir in the celery, onions and peppers and cook until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes. Return the heat to medium to medium-low and stir in the garlic and bay leaves. While the trinity cooks, combine the cayenne, thyme, white pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl. Stir into the skillet, a little at a time, to build flavor (see Cook's Note).
• Whisk in the stock 1 cup at a time, making sure it is incorporated and smooth. Bring to a boil, then cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Add the crawfish and cook until they tighten in appearance, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, then stir in half of the green onions. Serve immediately over fluffed rice with hot sauce and garnish with the remaining green onions.

Steps:

• Make the étouffée: In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, poblano chile, celery and garlic and cook until softened and translucent, about 8 minutes or so.
• Lower the heat and add 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper, the thyme and the cayenne pepper. Place the thawed crawfish meat in a bowl and set it aside in the refrigerator; use your fingers to squeeze any fat or liquid you can from their packages into the pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• Add thawed crawfish tails and green onions to the pot and cook for 10 minutes, or until crawfish are tightly curled. Add parsley and cook 5 minutes more.
• While the vegetables simmer, prepare the rice: Place all ingredients in a saucepan with 3 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir, then turn the heat down to very low and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes, then take the pot off the heat. Let it rest, covered, for 5 minutes.
• Taste the étouffée and add salt as needed. Serve over the rice.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Gradually stir in flour, and stir constantly until the mixture turns 'peanut butter' brown or darker, at least 15 or 20 minutes. I use a large fork with the flat side to the bottom of the pan in a side to side motion. This is your base sauce or 'roux'. It is very important to stir this constantly. If by chance the roux burns, discard and start over.
• Once the roux is browned, add the onions, garlic, celery and bell pepper to the skillet, and saute for about 5 minutes to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and fish stock, and season with the seafood seasoning. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season the sauce with hot pepper sauce and cayenne pepper (if using), and add the crawfish and shrimp. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque.