While I was doing missionary service with my church in Louisiana, I discovered Crawfish Etouffee. It's one of those wonderful Cajun dishes that every family in Louisiana seems to have their own recipe for. You have to serve it over rice or you'll be considered a heretic. I sometimes substitute shrimp for the crawfish, but I've been surprised at how easy it is to find crawfish -- Walmart and Harris Teeter carry it, for example. And please, serve this with Tabasco. Here's my recipe:
Etouffee
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 to 1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped bell pepper (mix colors if you like)
1 cup chopped celery
4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound shrimp or crawfish tail meat
cayenne pepper to taste
4 tablespoons flour
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
About 3/4 cup chopped green onion tops
About 3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
In a large sauté pan with fairly high sides (see photos), heat the oil and melt the butter over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the melted butter and oil. Stir to coat the vegetables, then reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring regularly, until the vegetables are fragrant and visibly softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the shrimp or crawfish and the ground red pepper. Cook for 1 minute while stirring. Add the flour, stir to evenly distribute it, and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the tomato and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and stir thoroughly to combine.
As the sauce comes to a simmer, taste it and add salt if necessary. Don't add too much salt, as the sauce will reduce in volume a bit as it simmers and so become saltier.
When the mixture reaches a simmer, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. The sauce will thicken noticeably.
Taste and add salt and tabasco, if desired. Add the onion tops, parsley, and lemon juice, then stir to combine and remove the pan from heat. Serve with rice.
