Shellie’s Crawfish Etoufee

Hello folks and welcome back to the All Things Southern kitchen! We’re making Crawfish Etoufee. Confession? For years, I made what I called cheaters etoufee, meaning I used cream of celery soup instead of making my own roux. I do believe I even included that version in one of my humor books. That was then, this is now. I have not turned into a food snob and I refuse to judge anyone who still wants to take a shortcut, but I don’t use those cans anymore. You can get so much more flavor the traditional way—and it’s easy peasy. Here’s I’ll show you.

Shellie’s Crawfish Etoufee

½ cup butter
½ cup flour plus two tablespoons
Trinity veggies (diced onions, celery, and bell pepper)
1 cup water
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 pound of crawfish tails
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper
Cooked rice

First, we’ll make a roux. Fear not, it sounds harder than it is. We’ll begin by melting a half cup of butter in our cast iron skillet before slowly whisking in a ½ cup plus two tablespoons of flour. It will be thick and gummy looking at first.  Don’t be alarmed, it will thin soon enough. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly. The longer you cook a roux, the darker it will get. I like it nice and dark for a gumbo, but I’m going to make a blond roux for my etoufee which will mean I’ll cook it between seven to ten minutes.

At that point, we’ll stir in a cup of water and 3-4 cups of chicken stock. Then we’ll add in our chopped trinity veggies, that’s diced onion, celery, and bell pepper. We’ll let this cook for another twenty minutes of so before we add in a tablespoon of tomato paste, a can of Rotel tomatoes, and a pound of crawfish tails. We’ll season with salt and pepper, and a teaspoon or so of cayenne pepper.

Serve over hot fluffy rice and top with chopped green onions. That’s my Crawfish Etoufee and trust me here, it’s mighty good eating, from the All Things Southern kitchen to yours!

Hugs, Shellie