Crawfish Etouffee
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 4 servings
- Total: 50 min
- Prep: 30 min
- Cook: 20 min
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 crawfish tails, thawed, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 cups Etouffee Sauce, recipe follows
Hot pepper sauce, as desired
Rice Pilaf, recipe follows
2 bunches sliced green onions, for garnish
Etouffee Sauce:
1 2/3 cups vegetable oil (soybean or cotton seed)
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups medium dice onion, yellow or white
1 1/2 cups medium dice green pepper
1 cup medium dice celery, no leaves
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 3/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 3/4 teaspoons ground white pepper
1 3/4 teaspoons whole thyme leaves
10 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 2/3 cups diced tomatoes, with juice
Salt
Rice Pilaf:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup small dice red pepper
1/2 cup small dice yellow pepper
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 3/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 3/4 teaspoons ground white pepper
1 3/4 teaspoons whole thyme leaves
1 3/4 teaspoons salt*
5 1/4 cups chicken stock or broth, heated
2 2/3 cups parboiled rice
Directions
- In a large saute pan, melt butter over high heat. When butter just begins to brown, add crawfish and garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add sauce, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes Add hot pepper sauce, to taste. Serve over Rice Pilaf and garnish with green onions.
Etouffee Sauce:
- In a heavy-bottomed 8-quart saucepot on high, heat oil until just smoking. Whisk in flour, reduce heat, and stir constantly until a peanut butter colored roux develops. Add onion, green pepper, and celery; stir in and cook while stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cayenne, white pepper, and thyme. Cook 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the stock, then tomatoes. Bring to simmer and cook 20 minutes, skim to remove foam as needed. Season, to taste. Remove from heat, cover and hold for later.
Rice Pilaf:
- In a heavy weight 4-quart saucepot, melt butter over medium heat. Add diced peppers, stir and cook 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cayenne, white pepper, and thyme and cook 2 minutes. Add hot stock and bring to a boil. Stir in rice, reduce to simmer, cover, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until rice in just tender. Remove from heat, fluff rice with a fork, and adjust seasonings.
- Keep in warm place until needed.
Cook’s Note
Etouffee sauce can be used as a base to make gumbo, such as chicken and sausage. *If using canned broth, you may want to salt, to taste, at the end of cooking.