Crawfish Etouffee'

Photo courtesy of the Cooking Corner.

     Months ago a local restaurant, who has a knack for themed menus, offered a Cajun night. Since that's one of my favorite cuisines, I had to go check it out. The hubby and I sampled shrimp and grits, a low country boil and red beans and rice. One of our sons who also likes to try new dishes and is a fan of Cajun flavors asked us to bring him back some crawfish etouffee'. 

     One Saturday afternoon that same son walked in from a trip to the grocery store with a big bag of raw crawfish. He announced that he wanted to try his hand at redoing the etouffee'. This or any crawfish dish would be a new adventure. 
    Our etouffee, which basically means "smothered" (like a gravy), did not fit the bill for a successful remake. It was too green, too buttery and nothing to write home about, so to speak. 

     It was way too much hassle for what you get, even more so than lobster or crab. So the moral of this story is to buy only the tails that have been prepped. Of course, the other option is to just eat out and let someone else do the crawfish for you.

Crawfish Etouffee'

Recipe courtesy of Rz's Cafe'

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup butter

2 lb. peeled crawfish tails with fat

1/4 cup water

salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup green onion tops, chopped

Sauté onions and celery in butter until onions are transparent. Add crawfish fast and simmer 20 minutes. If fat is unavailable, use 1/4 cup butter.

Add water, salt, cayenne and crawfish. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add parsley and green onion and serve over cook rice.

Serves 6-8.

Note: 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 T. soy sauce and 2 tsp. minced garlic can be added just after the onions and celery cook for a little more kick.