Thursday, July 29, 2010

Crawfish Stew


In my younger days *ahem*, I spent the weekend on a dear friends houseboat on Lake Verret in Louisiana and went waterskiing with friends up and down Bayou Corne. We attended a bonafide Cajun wedding on the bank deep in the bayou and the reception was held in a shack up on pilings high above the water accessible only by boat and you had to climb this TALL ladder to get in the house!

We had a huge crawfish boil one night and some local cajun friends joined us. After everyone finished eating, several of us peeled all the remaining crawfish and packed the tailmeat in ice chests.

The next day an older cajun couple came back to visit and the cajun woman taught me how to make Crawfish Stew. I learned alot that weekend from her and others. That's when I learned how to Cajun dance too!

The difference between Crawfish stew and Crawfish Etouffee is the stew is a cajun dish and is made with a dark brown roux while the etouffee is a creole dish and is made with cream.

1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup flour
1 lg onion, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1 bellpepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 lg can tomatoes, chopped
¼ tsp tobasco
2 tbl worchestershire sauce
4 lbs crawfish tails
salt pepper cayenne & Tony's to taste
Approx 1-1/2 – 2 cups water
Cooked rice

Make a roux with oil and flour. Add vegetables except tomato and saute until cooked. Add tomatoes, sauce and seasonings blending well. Add crawfish tails and water, stir well. Simmer on low heat until cooked down, about 1 hour. Serve over hot rice with a salad and french bread.

7 comments:

  1. Crawfish Etouffe is most certainly NOT made with cream.

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    Replies
    1. Hmmm, maybe they mean cream of mushroom, celery, shrimp.

      Delete
  2. I agree with the above comment, however I will also share ingredients for my own etouffee.

    1/3 cup rendered butter
    2/3 cup flour
    2 lg white onions, chopped
    2 bunches green onions, chopped (keep whites and greens seperate)
    3 bellpeppers, chopped
    1 lb fresh parsley, chopped
    1 clove garlic, minced
    4 lbs crawfish tails
    salt pepper cayenne & Tony's to taste
    Approx 1-1/2 – 2 cups water
    Cooked rice (NOT INSTANT)

    ReplyDelete
  3. My etouffe has a blond roux (instead of oil i use butter) and tom. paste. Not sure where these people are getting cream from. I have made a crawfish cream sauce which is to die for but it is no where near the same thing as an etouffe.

    ReplyDelete

  4. Fabulous images and is featured in a music video by Tony Joe White called "Gumbo John" on You Tube.

    ReplyDelete