Cookin' ATVS Style: Crawfish Etouffe

There are few things better to do with some leftover Easter weekend crawfish than make some good ol'fashioned etouffe. Crawfish Etouffe is an old Creole dish out of New Orleans -- you should be able to tell by now by the use of butter over oil. IT DOES NOT USE A ROUX. Anybody that tells you otherwise is wrong and worthy of your scorn (eyeballin' you Bobby Flay). Etouffe's are basically a meat of some sort (seen it with chicken, shrimp and even crabmeat) smothered with vegetables in a butter sauce. You might add a small amount of flour in for thickening purposes, but you don't really make a roux in the classic sense.

Ingredients

Seasoning Mix:
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

3/4 cup butter
2 tbsp flour
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1/2 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks)
1 pound crawfish tails
2 cup seafood stock (I used chicken in a pinch -- does the job just as well)

I pulled bits of this from all over -- the seasoning mix is really what makes it. Yeah, you're likely working with some leftover crawfish tails that have their own seasoning, but I've never heard anybody complain about making a dish MORE flavorful, have you? It really added some extra zing to the dish. Came out great.

Instructions

1. Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over your crawfish tails and mix well in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

2. In a medium-sized Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Once its fully melted, add the flour and whisk/stir in well, making sure everything is good and smooth.

3. Let the butter/flour mixture darken slightly, like a shade or so, and then add the onions, bell pepper and celery and mix well. Sauté until wilted.

4. Add in the stock, stirring well to keep a good consistency. Add in the crawfish tails, making sure that you scrape as much of the seasoning mix and yummy crawfish fat out of the bowl. Mix in the tails well, bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.

5. Cover, and simmer for at least a half-hour or so.

Serve over steamed rice. This recipe will feed at least four, but it also doubles incredibly easy.