Crawfish Etouffee is a great dish to make pretty much any time of the year. It’s a very delicious dish as well. Here is a step by step guide on how to make traditional Crawfish Etouffee.
Ingredients:
(all ingredients are to taste)
Butter
Diced onions
Red and green peppers
Celery
Flour
Garlic
Tomato juice
Sherry
Crawfish stock
Crushed tomatoes
Bay leaves
Creole seasoning
Scallions
Fresh crawfish(cooked)
Tabasco
Rice
Parsley
The first step is to place a pan onto the stove on low heat. Then you will want to add a nob of butter. Next add in onions. You will want these to be diced. Then add some red and green peppers. Lastly, you will want to add in some celery. You want to make sure that you cook all of this really slow because you do not want to burn it. Take a spoon and stir it every now and again.
Next add in a light dusting of flour. Then mix it and add a bit more flour. Make sure that both times you do not add a lot of flour. You do not want to make the mixture isn’t too thick.
After you add the flour into the pan you will need to mix in some garlic. Stir it into the mixture. Continue to cook it on low heat so all the flavors blend together.
Next you will want to add juice from tomatoes. You can buy this in cans. If you do not have canned tomatoes you can always squeeze some tomatoes to make your own juice. Tomatoes are not always in Etouffee but by adding them it makes it a Creole style Etouffee.
Next you will want to add in some Sherry. Then add in some crawfish stock. Crushed tomatoes need to be added yet again for the next step. Then add bay leaves and creole seasoning. Next chop up some parsley and add it into the pot. Make sure to keep the heat low because it will need to simmer. You need to let it simmer for forty five minutes to one hour. You may even want to let it simmer for an hour and a half if you want the flavors to get even more entwined together.
After you add in all of that add in some scallions. Next stir it up a little bit to keep it from scolding the bottom. Use a wooden spoon to stir it for the best results. By now it should start to thicken up for you. Then let it cook for forty five minutes to an hour and a half as mentioned above.
Next take a sauté pan and turn on the stove heat to low. Take another nob of butter and place it into the pan. Then place cooked fresh crawfish into the pan, with the butter, with a little bit of creole seasoning. Add a touch of Tabasco to the pan. This will give the food a bit of heat. If you do not want it spicy you can leave the tabasco out. It really depends on your tastes whether you leave it in or take it out. Sauté the crawfish but make sure you do not sauté them too much because they are already cooked. Then add some fresh parsley.
Next take the Etouffee you made and ladle it into the pan. Make sure at this stage you turn down your heat a little bit on your stove. Then place your cooked rice in an aluminum cup and turn it upside down on a plate. Pour the Crawfish Etouffee over the aluminum cup. Then take some tongs and remove the aluminum cup. Then you can garnish it with some fresh parsley and scallions on top. Then you have a delicious Louisiana style Crawfish Etouffee to serve for lunch or dinner!