one thing that i haven't really tried is crawfish. it was just one of those things that my mom never made so it never got on the menu. so, while i was walking down my nearest vietnamese market today after work, i stopped by the fish aisle to take a gander...
lo and behold...crawfish was on sale!
i looked at those tiny little buggers and thought what i could possibly make with them. then i thought of an etouffe recipe i saw a while back and though...eh. why not? i figured i'd make it work with a live crawfish so i gathered about a pound of them suckers and went home to ponder how i was going cook them.
when i got home though, the game plan changed as i got a little lazy and didn't want to dig out my bag of flour from the topmost shelf. what to do? i hopped onto google and searched for a simple crawfish recipe. what popped up and caught my eye was this little recipe that seemed super easy. so i went to work and i am soooooo glad that i made this! the sauce was just amazing and the seasoning was perfect! savory, with a little kick from the cayenne. i modified the recipe a bit but damn...was it good!
next time...going to make this with shrimp!!
Crawfish Cardinale
(from Grill a Chef)
1 lb. of crawfish tails (i used live crawfish so there was considerably less meat, haha. i recommend what he put. :D)
2 tbsps, cajun seasoning**
2 oz. (1/2 a stick) of butter (since it was just me, i used about 3 tbsps)
1 bunch of scallions, roughly chopped
3 tbsps tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream (didn't have any. used creme fraiche instead, about 2 tbsp, some silk vanilla *yikes, i thought it was regular!* coconut milk and used water to thin it out.)
3 tbsps cognac (i used Courvoisier Cognac VSOP.)
3 tbsps fresh parsley, chopped (i used italian parsley.)
1. Season the crawfish tails with salt and the cajun seasoning. Set aside. (obviously i skipped this step, lol. :D)
2. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the scallions to cook. Stirring occasionally.(i used the first 2 tbsp of butter for this part)
3. Once they are slightly softened and translucent, after 3-5 minutes, add the cream, cognac, and tomato paste (also threw in the cajun seasoning here and added water so it was a little thin). Bring this to a simmer and reduce until thick. (by about 2/3's), this will take around five minutes.
4. Dump in the crawfish and simmer just enough to warm them well (dumped the live crawfish here so it took about 7-10 min(?) for them to fully cook then a little bit more to make the sauce nice and thick. added the last tbsp of butter right here too). Toss in the chopped parsley and serve with nice french bread or over pasta. (i had it with whole wheat crackers. :) but crusty bread is the best way to go!)
**author's note: You could use something like Paul Prudhomme's Blackening Seasoning, which I love. OR you could make some yourself.:
Cajun'n Creole Seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Simply mix the ingredients well and store in a dark, dry, cool place. (i eye-balled this part since it was just a small portion. also, added a bit of Homestead Seasoning from my local spice shop.)
Note that this is pretty much the same as blackening seasoning. However, there is no salt in this mixture, I like to leave the salt levels up to the cook. If you wanted to sub this into other recipes for store bought mixes you would have to add 2 tsps salt. (i was frugal with the salt. there's a lot of things going on here and i wasn't sure if it was goibng to be too salty. i added barely 1/8 of a tsp of kosher salt right when i put in the crawfish.)
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