JOHN BESH'S ETOUFFEE

JOHN BESH'S ETOUFFEE image

Yield 6 people

Number Of Ingredients 17

Crawfish ÃtouffeÃ© (serves 6)
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
Half a red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from two sprigs of fresh thyme
Â¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 quart Basic Shellfish Stock (see above recipe)
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound peeled crawfish tails (from 2 Â½ pounds live)
2 green onions, chopped
2 dashes Worchestershire
2 dashes Tabasco Salt Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups cooked Basic Louisiana Rice (see above recipe)

Steps:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk the flour into the very hot oil. It will immediately begin to sizzle and fizz. Keep whisking and reduce the heat to moderate. Continue whisking until the roux takes on a gorgeous dark brown color, about 15 minutes. *I donât know if I screwed something up but mine only took about half that time* Add the onions, reduce the heat, and cook until the onions caramelize. If you add all the vegetables at the same time, the water that results will boil the onions and their sugars wonât caramelize. 2. When the onions have turned the roux shiny and dark, add the celery, bell peppers, garlic, thyme, cayenne, and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and the Shellfish Stock and increase the heat to high. 3. Once the sauce has come to a boil, reduce the heat to moderate and let simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Be careful not to let it burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. 4. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the butter. Add the crawfish tails and green onions. Season with Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, and black pepper. Once the crawfish tails have heated through, remove the saucepan from the heat. 5. Serve in individual bowl over rice.