A week or so ago, I was looking for the spelling of the word étouffée. What I found was what looked like a great recipe on a website called gumbo pages. So I printed it out and tried it, using shrimp instead of crawfish. It came out excellent and so I decided to make it for the company party we had yesterday. I brought my rice cooker and made fresh rice, just before the party. The night before, I made the étouffée. It came out even better, if that's possible. I like it a bit on the spicy side, so I went with a bit more cayenne peper then I had in there the first time, maybe 2 teaspoons. It was excellent. If you are into New Orleans cooking, this is a good place to start.
Here's the recipe that I found.
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* 1 pound crawfish tails, with fat
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
* 1 medium - large onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic
* 2 tablespoons bell pepper, minced
* 1/2 stalk celery, minced
* Green onion tops
* Fresh parsley
* 2 teaspoons tomato paste
* Cayenne pepper
* Freshly ground black pepper
* Salt
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 - 2 cups water
Melt butter in pot, add flour and stir like hell. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook until tender, and keep stirring. Add crawfish fat, if possible, and cook down 10-15 minutes. Add tails and tomato paste, then add water. Cook down for 20 minutes or so, but be careful not to overdo it. Add salt and peppers to taste. Cook a little more, then add chopped green onion tops and parsley and cook till ready.
Note: Some directions and amounts are intentionally vague ... use the challenge.
Yield: Meal for 4 men or 6 pansies.
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