Crawfish Etouffee

This étouffée is relatively simple to prepare and, I imagine, pretty hard to mess up.

After lamenting my lack of access to some Southern staple foods (namely, The Gumbo and The Crawfish), a cohort mentioned that a crawfish boil was going down at his office. I couldn't attend, but the man, he takes care of me. Right around noon Thursday, he hand-delivered three gallon-sized bags of the little suckers. Never have I been so happy to see the little mudbugs in all their eye-popped glory.

While I do love 'em with a passion, I can't say I was extremely keen on the idea of eating cold, day-old crawdads at the office (or anywhere else, for that matter), which is why I came up with the grand idea of making an étouffée. For anyone who's ever experienced Cajun cooking, you know that nearly every individual who claims to make this dish (much like The Gumbo) also claims to make the best version of this dish. This being my first attempt at the étouffée, I will make no such claim. Yet.

I did a little étouffée research and found some interesting information about the dish. First, there's a wide rift between those who think using tomatoes makes the dish and those who think using tomatoes makes the dish a stew. I decided to leave the tomatoes out this time around and see if the so-called purists know what they're talking about.

Second, that nasty looking orange or greenish stuff usually found at the joint between the head and the tail is actually fat, which is good for the cooking. The orange fat is more flavorful, and the color is determined by the type of crawfish, according to this site. Also of note was the fact that the crawfish fat will become rancid in 2-6 months if frozen. Yikes!

Anyhow, rather than take one recipe and stick to it, I looked at quite a few, first tossing out any that used tomatoes, then canning the ones that used condensed soup*. Any recipes that called for Tabasco were immediately out the window, as I don't like the flavor of that particular brand** and Saucy Sally isn't really into the heat.

Once I'd eliminated all the recipes that didn't fit my criteria, what I had were five or six that looked remarkably similar save a few differences in the preparation and/or ingredients. I took them all to the kitchen and did my best to document what I actually did while I was in there.

I have to say, l was both impressed and amazed by the results. I didn't screw it up! And Saucy Sally gave the dish an ever-elusive FIVE and demanded that we have it again (most likely with shrimp). I'm thrilled.

Note: This recipe is very mild as far as étouffée (or any Cajun dish) goes. Saucy Sally said she probably couldn't eat it if it was hotter, so we'll stick with it, but adjustments to the cayenne and paprika can be made at the discretion of the cook.

1/2 c (1 stick) butter
1 small vidalia, finely chopped
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 tbsp All-purpose flour
10 oz crawfish tails***
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 c water
1 tbsp parsley
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Melt butter over medium heat in large, heavy skillet. Add onion and bell pepper. Sauté until onions look somewhat clear. Add flour, stir constantly for two to three minutes.

2. Add crawfish, garlic, cayenne, and paprika to skillet. Stir in 1 cup water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook down, about15-20 minutes. Add more water**** and reduce to reach gravy-like consistency.

3. Serve over rice.

I used a basmati rice, which seems to be the only kind I can make without screwing up, and which Saucy Sally and I both really like. I packed the rice into a small bowl and dumped it out to make a cute little mound for a prettier presentation -- a trick I'll be using again.

I served asparagus as the side, which I tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper before broiling. The flavor was okay, but they were stringy. (I can't make a meal that's good all-around. Just can't do it.) Saucy Sally told me the trick to the asparagus is to break them before cooking. Apparently they'll naturally snap at the point where they become stringy. (Hmmm... that might've been useful before a recent family reunion for which I made a risotto with asparagus. My mom called it "terrible" and said the asparagus ruined it. Thanks, Mom! Love you, too!)

* I'm no expert, but I'd be willing to bet that anyone who uses Campbell's cream of chicken in an étouffée isn't an authentic Cajun cook and isn't making anything resembling an authentic étouffée.
** You can argue with me about that and perhaps even challenge my status as a true Southerner (which is under scrutiny anyway for saying "soda" instead of "coke" and hating Gone with the Wind, among other things) if you will, but I'm just not a fan of Tabasco. It has a metallic taste that turns me off. Other hot sauces? Bring 'em on!
*** We were working with what we had, which was 10 oz. I think moving up to a pound would work with the same basic ingredients.
**** I added another 1/2 cup of water after the sauce reduced some. Many of the recipes I referenced added up to 2. I think it's up to the cook.