Recipe from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen:
Seasoning mix:
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped onions
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (just oven 1/3 cup)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups, in all, Basic Seafood Stock
- ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- divided 2 pounds peeled crawfish tails or medium shrimp
- 1 cup very finely chopped green onions
- 4 cups cooked rice
Notes: Reduce cayenne pepper and white pepper to 1/4-1/2 tsp if you don’t want this to be spicy.I used chicken stock instead of seafood and it was fine. The only thing that feels a little weird to me about this recipe is it doesn’t have tomato sauce (or ketchup) or garlic. Next time, I will probably add ~2 tbsp tomato paste or 1/4 cup tomato sauce or ketchup. Will also add about 5-6 cloves minced garlic. Other than that, fantastic recipe with an excellent technique that makes a very buttery, light and fluffy étouffée. I added hot sauce and that made it!
Your only problem is probably where to find crawfish. You can probably substitute shrimp.
Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the onions, celery, and bell peppers.
In a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron), heat the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke, about 4 minutes. With a long-handled metal whisk, gradually mix in the flour, stirring until smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is dark red-brown, about 3-5 minutes (be careful not to let it scorch in the pan or splash on your skin). Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vegetables and 1 tablespoon of the seasoning mix with a wooden spoon; continue stirring until cooled, about 5 minutes.
In a 2-quart saucepan bring 2 cups of the stock to a boil over high heat. Gradually add the roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved. Reduce the heat to low and cook until flour taste is gone, about 2 minutes, whisking almost constantly (if any of the mixture scorches, don’t continue to scrape that part of the pan bottom). Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat the serving plates in a 250F oven.
In a 4-quart saucepan melt 1 stick of the butter over medium heat. Stir in the crawfish (or shrimp) and the green onions; saute about 1 minute, stirring almost constantly. Add the remaining 1 cup stock; cook until butter melts and is mixed into the sauce, about 4 to 6 minutes, constantly shaking the pan in a back-and-forth motion (versus stirring). Add the remaining seasoning mix; stir well and remove from heat (if sauce starts separating, add about 2 tablespoons more of stock or water and shake pan until it combines).
Serve immediately.