Crawfish Étouffée Potato with Fried Gulf Shrimp
- Level: Advanced
- Total: 3 hr 10 min
- Active: 1 hr 20 min
- Yield: 5 to 6 servings
- Level: Advanced
- Total: 3 hr 10 min
- Active: 1 hr 20 min
- Yield: 5 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Potato:
Seafood Breader:
Fried Shrimp:
Cajun Seasoning:
Crawfish Étouffée:
Directions
Special equipment:
a deep-fryer; a roux spoon- For the potato: Clean the potatoes thoroughly with warm water. Season well with salt, then wrap well with foil and cook at 350 degrees F until it reaches the desired firmness/texture, about 2 hours.
- For the seafood breader: Combine the cornmeal, corn flour, Cajun seasoning, granulated garlic, citrus powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand or whisk.
- For the fried shrimp: Dredge and completely coat the shrimp in the egg wash. Remove from the egg wash, then toss and coat well in the seafood breader. Carefully drop the shrimp into hot fryer oil and cook at 350 degrees F until golden, approximately 3 minutes.
- For the Cajun seasoning: Combine the salt, cayenne, granulated garlic, paprika, black pepper, sugar, onion powder, citrus powder, chili powder and white pepper in a large bowl and mix by hand or whisk. Allow to sit overnight for the best flavor profile.
- For the crawfish étouffée: Melt the butter in a large saucepan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and saute until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. When the onions are translucent, stir in the garlic, diced tomatoes and tomato paste and saute one minute more. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, then stir in to completely combine with the butter and veggie mixture. This is where a roux spoon shines and will help prevent any scorching. Cook, continuously stirring, moving the ingredients around and keeping off the bottom and edges for 1 to 2 minutes. Add about half the chicken stock and deglaze the bottom off the pan using the spoon to make sure everything comes clean off the bottom. Add the remainder of the chicken stock and stir until the rest of it is combined. Once everything is smooth, stir in the Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt, black pepper, bay leaves and 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning. Reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer; your mixture should be getting thicker, and too much heat will burn your dish very easily. Simmer while stirring until the mixture is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the crawfish tails (or any other seafood) and simmer for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The traditional way to serve this dish is over a bed of white rice. However, it is very versatile, and can be served over grits, dirty rice, steamed vegetables, in a potato bowl, or over pretty much any starch. It's a great option for smothering many grilled or fried proteins or seafood.
- Split the baked potatoes and squeeze them to mash the flesh and open them up. Add 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese to each. Fill each baked potato with crawfish étouffée. Add 8 shrimp around the edge of each potato just into the étouffée. Top with chives.
