Crawfish Étouffée

So I'm a Texas girl through and through. I didn't even grow up in Houston where Cajun and Creole cuisine is common. So when the Louisiana born and raised hubby started requesting that I cook things like gumbo and étouffée, I panicked a bit. What do I know about making a roux? So I decided to start doing some research.

I found The Cooking Bride blog which recently featured a gumbo recipe that looks pretty yummy not to mention many other recipes that looked good as well. However what I was really in the mood for étouffée. So I kept searching and ran across squirrel bread. She blogged about a foodandwine.com recipe for Shrimp Étouffée. She suggested some modifications to make the recipe more authentic. I made it into a crawfish étouffée since I have an abundance of crawfish in the freezer.

I'm not sure I want to turn this blog into a cooking blog because I want to be able to talk about whatever moves me. However, I think I want to start sharing the recipes that work out well for me. This étouffée recipe got two thumbs up from the hubby! If I get more motivated, I will try to photograph my creations in the future. Today you will have to live with just the recipe and my word. :)

Follow the link for the original recipe: Shrimp Étouffée. Below is my version:


Crawfish Étouffée

Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homeade stock
2 tablespoon Tomato paste
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1/2 tablespoon Garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 pounds Crawfish
2-3 scallions including green tops, chopped
Rice, boiled or steamed

Instructions
In a large frying pan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over moderate heat until almost smoking. Add the flour and whisk until it's the color of peanut butter, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the broth and continue whisking until the sauce starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Whisk in tomato paste.

Stir in the bell pepper, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaf, salt, cayenne, black pepper, and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Add the shrimp and scallions and simmer until the shrimp are just done, about 3 minutes. Serve the étouffée over the rice.