Crawfish Etouffee and Shrimp Piquant

I first ate Cajun and Creole food several years ago at a local Cajun restaurant and fell in love with it. When I really started getting into cooking I made a dish of crawfish etouffee with the goal of making it taste like the one I had at that restaurant. This recipe is pretty close and everyone I serve it to seems to love it, even those who aren't really into crawfish!

The recipe for shrimp piquant is much spicier than the etouffee but just as delicious. I use serrano peppers put you can substitute jalapenos or omit them altogether. Both recipes call for fish stock and normally, time permitting, I will make my own. You can do the same by boiling the shells of the crawfish and/or shrimp with onion, garlic, thyme and celery. Just strain out the solids before using.

Shrimp Piquant

2 tablespoons butter 

2 1/4 cups chopped onions 

1 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers 

3/4 cup chopped celery 

3 cups chopped fresh peeled tomatoes 

1 cup tomato sauce 

2 serrano peppers, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 cup chopped parsley

1 tsp dried thyme leaves
5 1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 1/4 cups fish stock
1 1/2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 lbs peeled raw large shrimp

4 cups hot cooked rice

Melt the butter in a 4-quart non-stick saucepan over high heat; add the onions, bell pepper, and celery and saute for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, jalapeno, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, ground peppers, and garlic, stirring well; cook about 3 minutes and stir often.

Stir in the stock, sugar and salt and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer until flavors are married, about 20 minutes, stirring often.

Turn the heat up to high, and when the sauce is boiling, remove from heat

Add in the shrimp, push them down in the sauce, cover the pan and let sit for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves.

Serve over rice.

 

Crawfish Etouffee 

1 pound peeled crawfish tails or one 16oz package frozen crawfish meat

1/4 cup stick butter 

3 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp tomato paste

1 1/2 cup fish stock
1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1 tsp dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper

4 cups cooked rice

 

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add flour and cook until roux turns a golden color. Add the onions, garlic and celery, saute until the vegetables are wilted, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add the tomato paste to the stock and stir into onion mixture. Add tomatoes, crawfish, parsley and seasoning and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve over steamed rice.