The Philosophy of Food, Issue #027: Crawfish Etouffee

For dinner this evening I made Crawfish Etouffee from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen.  New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.  p. 75-77, with the chef's basic rice recipe found in the same book on p. 224.  Other than noting the use of specific stocks (homemade shrimp stock for the etouffee and homemade chicken stock for the rice; both made by my parents), I did not deviate meaningfully from the recipe.  For this reason, I'm going to jump straight into pictures.

The spices assembled.  I did not know this going in, but my stepdad usually cuts the cayenne and white pepper.  I used the full amount, so. . . it's nice and spicy!

You shall roux the day!

The roux in all its dark red-brown glory.

Tossing in the veggies.

Raw seafood just isn't as attractive as raw beef. . . not to say it isn't delicious.

Adding the roux-mixture to boiling shrimp stock.

Julia Child approved.

Just about finished. . .

The special rice involves baking it in a covered bread pan with finely chopped onion, celery, bell pepper, and a few pinches of the same sort of spices that go into the etouffee.

R-r-ready to serve!

What's left of the roux looks kind of like chocolate sauce.

Served with homemade french bread.  My stepdad made and shaped the dough and I baked it. . . so he did all the important work, really.

Mom looks excited.

A savory head with an aftertaste of. . . fire.  An aftertaste of fire.  Cayenne'll do that.

"This would make Paul Prudhomme proud."  High praise indeed.

Okay, so, I'll give a quick rundown of how to make an etouffee.

1.  Make a dark roux.  Toss some veggies in (for this serving side, 1/4 cups of onion, celery, and bell pepper each) and a tablespoon of a creole spice mix (packaged or home assembled).  Set aside.
2.  Boil some seafood stock (in this case, 2 cups) and add the roux mixture.
3.  Saute your seafood in butter with chopped green onions.
4.  Add more butter, the roux-stock mixture, and more seafood stock (another cup, in this case) and shake the pot from side to side rather than stirring.  After 4 to 6 minutes of this, add the rest of your spice mix (there's maybe a total of 2 1/2 or 3 tablespoons) and serve over white rice.

The etouffee was fantastic.  After living in the Midwest for two years, it's nice to just go nuts with the cayenne.  And, now that I know the basic process of making etouffee, I'll be able to really experiment with the method.

Anyhow, that's all folks.  I need to turn in and get some rest.  I have a super important job interview tomorrow morning! *crosses finger*