TODAY Food Club

There are hundreds if not thousands of recipes for Crawfish Étouffée, just as there are many cooks and chefs in the world. The best way to describe the dish is that it is a thick stew, seasoned to perfection and chock full of delicious, plump crawfish, similar to gumbo because it consists of the same types of Creole seasonings, served over rice, and it is made with a roux. But unlike gumbo, étouffée is made with a “blonde” roux, giving it a lighter color and a very “nutty” flavor.

Very simple, yet very flavorful, this an old fashion Creole way to prepare crawfish étouffée. And this recipe is easy and adaptable with ingredients you may have on hand. The important thing is to have celery, green bell pepper and onions to make the ‘trinity”, which is so common in Southern Cuisine. The crawfish can be substituted with shrimp when crawfish are out of season. Even better when served with hot corn bread or a crusty French bread. Start cooking the rice first since this is a quick and easy dish. To keep the dish a bit more healthy,you can steamed brown rice to be served with this recipe, or you can use whatever you like. Enjoy.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/4 pound) butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green bell peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound peeled crawfish tails
2 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
3 Tablespoons chopped green onions
Cooked rice, for serving

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and sauté until soft and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the crawfish and bay leaves. Reduce the heat to medium. Stirring occasionally, cook until the crawfish begin throwing off a little liquid, 10 to 12 minutes.

Dissolve the flour in the water. Add to the crawfish mixture and season with salt, cayenne, black pepper , white pepper, thyme and oregano. Stir until the mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Add the parsley and green onions and cook for about 2 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves.

To serve, ladle the etouffée into shallow soup bowls and top of with a scoop of cooked rice. Serve immediately.