Crawfish Etouffee

Ingredients

Spice Mix:

2 tespoons of salt

2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon of white pepper

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme

 

For sauce and fish:

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

!/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 cups fish stock

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 pounds crawfish tails plus whole fish for garnish

1 cup chopped green onion for garnish

Steamed rice

Instructions

I made this yesterday for Mardi Gras.  It is based on a Paul Prudhomme recipe.  I love Paul's use of three flavors of pepper and his technique of instantly cooking the vegetables by plunging them into the hot roux

In a heavy bottomed pot heat the oil until smoking hot, add the flour and whisk continually until the roux reaches a dark reddish brown color.  This can take up to 5 minutes.  This mixture is very hot-be careful

Plunge the aromatic vegetables (celery, green bell pepper, and onion are known as the Holy Trinity of Cajun cooking) and 1 tablespoon of the spice mix into the hot oil and remove from the heat.  Stir until slightly cooled.  Add the fish stock and bring to the simmer.

In another saute pan heat the butter and saute the crawfish tails.  Season with additional spice mix to taste.

Combine the fish and sauce, and serve with steamed rice garnished with whole cooked crawfish and minced green onions.