Shrimp/Crawfish Etouffee

Tess — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:01:58 +0000

Time to start getting ready to cook for Carnival, too. Here’s my Etouffee recipe, which is a great cold weather dish, Mardi Gras or no.

I’m not gonna lie to you. This is going to take you some time- you’re looking at a 2 hour process here- but it’s so worth it. Trust me on this one. Open a bottle of wine, take your time and give it a shot.

You’ll thank me later.

For 6

3 lbs fresh, never frozen, unpeeled shrimp or crawfish
1.5 quarts water
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1 lg onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1/4 teaspoon thyme
3 bay leaves
2 toes minced garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

The secret to this recipe is to make a shrimp stock first. It makes the entire recipe much richer and more flavorful. It adds some time, using fresh shellfish and doing the extra work, but you’ll be well rewarded!

Shrimp/Crawfish Stock:
Peel the shrimp, and cut off the heads, putting them in a saucepan with a quart of water, crushing them a bit on the bottom of the pan. Boil for half an hour, strain, and keep 3 cups of the stock. While it boils, devein the shrimp.

Make the roux:
Combine the flour and butter in a heavy skillet, stirring constantly over medium heat until it becomes a nice, golden color. It’s very easy to lose control of this, but if there are burny bits, or it becomes a dark brown, you’ll want to toss it and start over, or the entire recipe will taste bitter.

Toss it together:
Once the roux is made, add the veggies and keep stirring until they’ve turned tender. Add the stock, and stir before adding everything else except the shellfish. Bring it all to a boil before turning it down to a simmer and cooking until it’s thickened. Add the shrimp/crawfish until they’ve cooked through and turned nicely white- only a minute or two- before serving over rice.

If you want to cut down on prep time, you can purchaseÂ dryÂ orÂ powderedÂ roux Â or even REALLY take the shortcut and get a mix- which is good, but not nearly as good as making it from scratch.

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Shrimp/Crawfish Etouffee