It's National Crawfish Day, and if you've never enjoyed a crawfish boil you have been missing out. The Devilish Nephew used to live in Houston, and that was my first real experience with a boil. Houston has an amazing take on Cajun cuisine because they also have the Vietnamese flavors, not to mention the Texas philosophy of "make everything bigger and spicier." There is a huge debate between Louisiana and Texas over who has the best crawfish technique, and I don't want to start a war. I love both, but that Tex-Orleans style has my heart. We typically have crawfish shipped here overnight at least once or twice per season and do a boil in our backyard. What to put in a crawfish boil is as heavily debated as how to make chili. Everyone has their own techniques and secrets and everyone staunchly believes theirs is the best. That's the fun of cooking, especially something as regional as crawfish or Cajun food. While you can't get fresh crawfish out of season for a boil, you can get packaged crawfish tail meat year round. That's when we love to make Crawfish Etouffee. It's a thick, rich gravy-like stew featuring the "trinity" of Cajun Cuisine: celery, bell peppers and onions. You can use crawfish or shrimp and it is served over rice. The main difference between gumbo and etouffee is the color of the roux. Gumbo is known for its rich dark roux while etouffee uses a lighter "peanut butter" roux. If you're not familiar with making a roux, then this recipe is great for beginners. You simply cook your flour in melted butter until it has the look and almost consistency of peanut butter. After that everything goes in one pot like soup or stew. It really is simple, but oh so flavorful cooking!
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| Everyone has their own version of Etouffee, just like their own way to boil crawfish. This is one of our favorites! |
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| We actually made this for Fat Tuesday. Can you believe I didn't even get a picture of the roux? I was too busy making all of the other things while Mr. Devilish Dish made the Etouffee. It's so simple, you won't miss the step by step pictures. |
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| Mr. Devilish Dish's company is headquartered in New Orleans. They ship us an authentic King Cake every year. We enjoyed quite the feast on Fat Tuesday. He got the baby in his slice of cake which means he has to provide the King Cake next year. |
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 stalked celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 pound crawfish tails
1/2 cup sliced green onions
cooked white rice
Heat a heavy-bottom pot over medium heat. Melt the butter and whisk in flour. Continue whisking until mixture is smooth, thick, and the color of peanut butter. Stir in celery, bell peppers, and onions. Cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in minced garlic, bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion power, Worcestershire sauce and parsley. Stir in tomato sauce and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and let simmer for 10 minutes. If sauce seems too thick, thin out with a little more water or chicken stock. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add crawfish tails and cook approximately 3-5 minutes or until they are heated through. Remove bay leaves and stir in the green onions. Serve with rice and hot sauce.
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