2-on-Tuesday Recipe: Crawfish Etouffee

For the past 11 summers of camps, I've introduced quite a few Tennessee youth & kids leaders, camp staff and camp evangelists to one of my favorite Cajun dishes which starts with the Cajun's "Holy Trinity": roughly equal parts of onion, bell pepper and celery! If the mini-lobster creeps you out, then, substitute peeled shrimp, instead.  

2 lg       Onions, chopped
1 lg      Green Bell Pepper, chopped
4            Garlic Cloves, chopped
2            Celery Stalks, chopped
1 stick  Butter
1-2 lbs  Crawfish Tails, pre-cooked & unshelled
Cornstarch
Cold Water
Salt
Cooked Rice
Garlic Toast

• Wilt onions, bell pepper, garlic & celery in butter.
• Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 20-30 minutes
• Add crawfish tails and continue simmering for 15 minutes
• To thicken, add 1 Tablespoon of Cornstarch to 1/2 cup of cold water (Note: Cornstarch will not dissolve in hot water) **Add more or less cornstarch to achieve your desired thickness.
• Serve over rice & with garlic toast!

As with the French, butter is the Cajun cook's choice! You won't capture the flavor with margarine. I shudder to think anyone would consider using that chemically-altered yellow smear. You can find a 1 pound bag of pre-cooked tails in the frozen seafood case in Walmart. To spice it up, we use Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. Beginners should take it easy.

During our years at Camp Jackson, I fixed a stock pot full of etouffee and a stock pot full of rice each week, sometimes with left-overs for the Crunk Crew (camp staff) to finish over the weekend! Happy kitchen memories of our summers in Tennessee Youth/Student Ministries! 

~"Sam"