18 February 2014 Easy Crawfish Etouffée

Easy Crawfish Etouffée

February 18, 2014 By

EtouffeeOne of my favorite restaurants in Fort Lauderdale, where I lived for over 20 years, was Creolina’s and it served some of the best crawfish etouffée I’ve ever had. I enjoy making this deeply-flavored dish at home as it seems rewarding for me to make a roux, let the holy trinity (typically onion, green bell pepper and celery) cook in the hot butter/flour and simmer crawfish in the concoction.

Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity

This version doesn’t go through the process of making a homemade stock from the crawfish heads and peels. The roux isn’t cooked for 45 so it’s lighter in color and flavor yet still delicious. Another tweak to the tradition recipe I’ve made here was to use red bell pepper instead of green as I like the flavor better and the red color looks pretty in this dish. Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 4 Tbsp. flour
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • ½ cup celery, diced
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. thyme, chopped
  • 1 cup clam juice
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup tomato, diced
  • 1 Tbsp. creole seasoning
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 pound cooked crawfish, shells and heads removed
  • 1 tsp. hot sauce (I use Crystal)
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • ¼ cup scallions, chopped
Roux after 10 Minutes

Roux after 10 Minutes

Directions:

  1. Melt the butter in a large cast iron pan over medium heat and cook until it starts to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and whisk to incorporate and break up any lumps. Simmer over medium-low heat until it turns the color of peanut butter, about 15 minutes, whisking frequently.
  2. Add the onion, celery and red bell pepper to the roux and cook until tender, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for an additional minute.
  4. Whisk in the clam juice and broth ensuring any clumpy roux is broken down, Add the tomatoes, creole seasoning and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Add the crawfish and cook about 3 minutes to just warm the crawfish.
  6. Season with hot sauce, salt and pepper then add the butter and lemon juice.
  7. Serve the etouffée over white rice and garnish with scallions.

Serves 4.

Filed Under: American, Entrees, Seafood, Vegetables Tagged With: , , ,
18 February 2012 Shrimp and Andouille Etouffée

Shrimp and Andouille Etouffée

February 18, 2012 By

In honor of Mardi Gras on February 21st, I’m offering this simple and delicious etouffée recipe.  In French, the word “étouffée” means “smothered”.  In Louisiana, food that is “smothered” is usually simmered in a small amount of liquid creating a thickened sauce that is served over rice.

The base for any good etouffée is the ‘holy trinity’, a combination of celery, onion and bell pepper, that’s cooked in a dark roux made of butter, oil and flour.  Etouffée can be made with crawfish, shrimp, chicken, and/or spicy sausage.

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 Andouille sausage links (about ½ pound), cut into bite size pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 celery ribs, chopped
  • 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 large garlic cloves, halved
  • 1 12-ounce bottle of medium-bodied beer
  • 1 cup bottled clam juice
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • ½ tsp. each salt and pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. paprika
  • 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 pound medium shrimps, shelled, deveined and cooked
  • 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:

  1. Add oil to a heavy Dutch oven set over medium heat.  Add the sausage and cook for 2-3 minutes until browned.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage from the pot and set aside for later use, keeping the rendered fat in the pot on medium heat.
  2. Add the butter to the hot fat in the pot and when completely melted, add the flour.  Whisk the flour into the fat to incorporate and create a roux.  Cook the roux, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until it is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes.
  3. Place the celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse to roughly chop, about 1 minute.
  4. Add the processed vegetables to the roux in the pot and stir with a wooden spoon to fully combine.  Cook the mixture over medium heat for 5 – 7 minutes, stirring frequently.
  5. Add the beer, clam juice and broth to the vegetable mixture and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen up all the brown bits.  Return the sausage to the pot, add the spices, bay leaves and simmer for about 1 hour.
  6. Add the shrimp to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes to warm through.
  7. Serve the etouffée over white rice and garnish with parsley.

Makes 6 servings.

 

 

Filed Under: American, Canadian, Entrees, French, Seafood, Vegetables Tagged With: , ,