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Aug. 10th, 2008 11:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamcatchingsMy crawfish etouffee from last weekend turned out so well that I decided to make more food along the same lines today. I'm going to make chicken creole, which is basically a spicy, tomato based gravy over rice for those of you less than familiar with this type of food. I was originally going to make it with shrimp, but shrimp does not keep or reheat nearly as well and I need these for lunches at work. As soon as I get some coffee in me I'll start working on it.
Oh, yes.
Crawfish Etoufee Recipe
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
half large onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped (I used red because I had that)
2 cups chicken broth/water
2 bags crawfish meat (about 1 and a half pounds)
salt
pepper
cajun seasoning
cooked rice
Take the crawfish meat out of the bag and put in a bowl. (Depending on where you live, this is going to be the most expensive ingredient. I could only find bags of frozen, cooked crawfish meat, and they were six dollars a piece. It was worth it, though. The meat still had that murky, dirty water smell, but they actually picked up the flavor of the etouffee fine and were not tough at all despite the extra cooking.) Sprinkle the crawfish meat with the seasoning, cover and place into the fridge until ready to use.
Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Melt butter and then slowly add flour stirring the two completely together until it forms a paste. Continue cooking, stirring often until this mixture changes color. This is your roux. The darker the roux the more flavor it will bring to the dish. (On my first try, it took over an hour to barely get past a blond roux. I've read that vegetable oil is easier to get a roux out of than butter so I'm going to try that next time. Despite the time, it was well worth it.)
Once you have your roux, add in the onion and pepper. Sweat the vegetables, stirring as needed to keep the mixture from burning. This can take a bit, especially since you want to keep the heat down so as not to scorch the roux. If you scorch it, you have to throw it out and start all over again.
Add the chicken broth slowly, mixing so that the whole thing takes on a smooth consistency. Season and then add the crawfish. Keep the heat down low and simmer uncovered for as long as you like, stirring occasionally.
While simmering, make rice. Do not make just any old rice, though. I have yet to try boiled rice as opposed to steamed, but even if you steam it, add butter. Yes, more butter. Trust me.
When everything is done, server the etouffee over the rice and make sure to have some crusty bread on the side to mope up the juices.
There we go. Now you guys have that if you want it.
Yesterday was spent getting Gir all up to date on security and things of that nature. It took forever. So I played Rock Band. There were new songs! I now have an Oasis pack, an Offspring song and a Scene Pack, which includes Angels & Airwaves and Fall Out Boy. I am so tempted to spend the twenty-five dollars necessary to get the giant The Who pack. Mmmmm. Amazing Journey and Behind Blue Eyes. I might cave today. I might. I might.
I probably will.
Oh, yes.
Crawfish Etoufee Recipe
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
half large onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped (I used red because I had that)
2 cups chicken broth/water
2 bags crawfish meat (about 1 and a half pounds)
salt
pepper
cajun seasoning
cooked rice
Take the crawfish meat out of the bag and put in a bowl. (Depending on where you live, this is going to be the most expensive ingredient. I could only find bags of frozen, cooked crawfish meat, and they were six dollars a piece. It was worth it, though. The meat still had that murky, dirty water smell, but they actually picked up the flavor of the etouffee fine and were not tough at all despite the extra cooking.) Sprinkle the crawfish meat with the seasoning, cover and place into the fridge until ready to use.
Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Melt butter and then slowly add flour stirring the two completely together until it forms a paste. Continue cooking, stirring often until this mixture changes color. This is your roux. The darker the roux the more flavor it will bring to the dish. (On my first try, it took over an hour to barely get past a blond roux. I've read that vegetable oil is easier to get a roux out of than butter so I'm going to try that next time. Despite the time, it was well worth it.)
Once you have your roux, add in the onion and pepper. Sweat the vegetables, stirring as needed to keep the mixture from burning. This can take a bit, especially since you want to keep the heat down so as not to scorch the roux. If you scorch it, you have to throw it out and start all over again.
Add the chicken broth slowly, mixing so that the whole thing takes on a smooth consistency. Season and then add the crawfish. Keep the heat down low and simmer uncovered for as long as you like, stirring occasionally.
While simmering, make rice. Do not make just any old rice, though. I have yet to try boiled rice as opposed to steamed, but even if you steam it, add butter. Yes, more butter. Trust me.
When everything is done, server the etouffee over the rice and make sure to have some crusty bread on the side to mope up the juices.
There we go. Now you guys have that if you want it.
Yesterday was spent getting Gir all up to date on security and things of that nature. It took forever. So I played Rock Band. There were new songs! I now have an Oasis pack, an Offspring song and a Scene Pack, which includes Angels & Airwaves and Fall Out Boy. I am so tempted to spend the twenty-five dollars necessary to get the giant The Who pack. Mmmmm. Amazing Journey and Behind Blue Eyes. I might cave today. I might. I might.
I probably will.
