Crawfish Etouffee Recipe
Classic Cajun Cooking

Etouffee means "smothered," which is a preparation that Cajuns have perfected in much of their cooking. Similar to gumbo, but with a thicker consistency and some variation of ingredients and spices, etouffee is a classic Cajun dish that is spicy (it's Cajun), hearty, and delicious.

This etouffee recipe uses crawfish as it's seafood meat of choice. Today, crawfish are commonly harvested for consumer consumption. They are caught wild in their natural habitat, then then held in tanks of clean water for 1 to 2 days. This improves their flavor by removing the muddy taste that wild crawfish bring.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup celery
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups crawfish or other seafood stock
1 pound crawfish tails, blanched
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
cooked rice

Directions:
In a cast-iron skillet, warm the oil and butter together over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in the all-purpose flour, and stir constantly until the roux becomes a deep chocolate-brown color.

Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaf, salt, black and white pepper, and cayenne. Remove from heat and continue to stir until the sizzling stops.

Heat the seafood stock in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven. Add spoonfuls of the roux and vegetable mix to the stock, stirring after each addition. When all the roux mix has been fully combined, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

At this point, the etouffee can be made ahead and refrigerated, but rewarm it before continuing.

Add the crawfish tails, and simmer another 6 to 8 minutes, until the tails are cooked through. Stir in the green onions and parsley, and remove the crawfish etouffee from the heat. Serve it immediately over the cooked rice.

Crawfish Etouffee Is Not The Only Cajun Recipe We Have