Creamy Louisiana Crawfish Etouffe
CRAWFISH SEASON IS HERE *Cue the zydeco music*! Usually the day crawfish season starts we have a large group headed to Chinatown to fill ourselves with Viet-Cajun crawfish and beer. Then, I proceed to make this shrimp and crawfish gumbo for the month until my husband begs me to stop. This year, I decided to spice up our routine with one of my all time favorite classics – Creamy Louisiana Crawfish Etouffe.
Both my mother and step-mother are from Louisiana, so it’s safe to say I am a fan of cajun/creole cooking. Until I met my husband and his Lebanese family, southern food pretty much dominated the majority of my cooking. Crawfish etouffe is such a comfort food and staple of Louisiana, I decided to try to perfect my recipe for the blog.
I had to try this recipe several times to get it right. There are so many different ways to make an etouffe, but the roux base remains the same. I tried this recipe with a butter roux and again with an oil based roux. Although both turned out amazing, I prefer the richness that the butter gives.
ROUX
The roux is undoubtedly the foundation and most important part of this dish. I loved this article I found on the ratios of fat to flour, but I will guide you on what I did here.
- Your roux should be a dark peanut butter color. Below is what my roux looked like when it was almost done. I also pasted a roux chart I found online. I prefer the third row first photo or second row very right as my base.
- Most recipes call for equal parts fat to flour I prefer a flour to fat 60/40 ratio. Generally I always add a couple more TBSP of flour than my fat measurement.
- You can use oil or butter as your fat. If you use butter be very careful and make sure you keep your heat low, otherwise the butter may burn. If you use oil, just make sure you use a neutral oil like vegetable, canola, or grapeseed. Roux should be made low and slow.
I love both creamy and brothy etouffe recipes. I will give you the recipe alterations below for each.
Ingredients
Method
- Homemade shrimp stock is so easy and a great way to utilize all parts of the shrimp you just bought. Simply peel the shrimp, reserving the head, tail and peel. Place the peelings in a stock pot and cover with 2.5 cups cold water. Add a bit of salt and tony chachere if desired, to taste. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let it sit another 5 minutes. Strain the liquid and reserve stock for cooking.
- Combine the butter or oil (whichever you are using) and flour in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir with a whisk until roux is a dark peanut butter color. Do not stop stirring or walk away during this step. You can let the roux sit for 30 seconds or so, but you will need to continuously stir until it's done. This can take anywhere from 6-12 minutes depending on your heat and desired color. If you are using butter make sure your heat is not too high, as it will burn. Slow and steady wins the race during this step.
- Once the roux is just about your desired color, remove from heat and continue to stir until it cools, about 2 minutes. It will darken a touch more after you take it off. Set aside.
- In a medium/large pan add butter, green onion bottoms, onion, bell pepper, celery, parsley, tomato and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and tonys. Cook and stir on medium heat until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Add roux and cook another 4 minutes. Add in water, stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer.
- Cook covered for about 20 minutes, or until desired consistency.
- Add crawfish tails and shrimp. Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Hold on a very low heat until ready to serve.
- Fill your bowl with rice and top with etouffe, green onion, and parsley. Enjoy!
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!