Crawfish Étouffée

A couple days ago, I shared the recipe for the King Cake we made for Mardi Gras.  But we had some tasty Cajun food before we had the King Cake - we made crawfish étouffée.  We used the recipe from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Seasoning Mix
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried sweet basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/8 cup chopped onions
• 1/8 cup chopped celery
• 1/8 cup chopped bell peppers
• 3 1/2 tbsp. peanut oil
• 3/8 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups seafood stock
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 pound peeled crawfish tails (get Louisiana crawfish if you can - they are much better than the Chinese ones!)
• 1/2 cup very finely chopped green onions
• 2 cups hot cooked rice

Yield: 4 servings

Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the onions, celery, and bell peppers.

In a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke (about 4 minutes).  With a long handled metal whisk, gradually mix in the flour, stirring until smooth.  Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the roux is a dark red-brown (about 3-5 minutes).  Be careful not to let it scorch in the pan or splash on your skin.

Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the vegetable mix and 1/2 tbsp. of the seasoning mix.  Continue stirring until cooled (about 5 minutes).

In a 2 quart saucepan, bring 1 cup of the stock to a boil over high heat.  Gradually add the roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved.  Reduce heat to low and cook until the flour taste is gone (about 2 minutes), whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a 4 quart saucepan, melt 1/2 stick of the butter over medium heat.  Stir in the crawfish and green onions, sauté about 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the remaining 1/2 stick of butter, the stock mixture, and the remaining 1/2 cup of stock.  Cook until the butter melts and is mixed into the sauce (about 4 to 6 minutes), stirring constantly.

Add the remaining seasoning mix, stir well and remove from heat.  Serve immediately by mounding 1/2 cup of rice on each serving plate, topped wth 3/4 cup of the étouffée.

This was really yummy, if you like Cajun food, I definitely recommend it!