New Orleans-Style Crawfish Étouffée

By Thom7747

The term étouffée literally means, “smothered.” This delicious New Orleans Style Crawfish Étouffée is a specialty everyone will love.

Ingredients

• BOILED RICE:
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound crawfish tails
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 whole bay leaf
• 1/3 cup green onion tops, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 cups boiled rice (see below)
• 14 cups water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup long-grained rice

Preparation

Step 1

Assemble the chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, parsley and garlic for the étouffée; set aside.

In a black cast iron pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.

Make a roux by gradually adding the flour to the oil, stirring constantly with a wire whisk.

Reduce the heat to medium and cook until a medium brown roux is formed.

Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, parsley and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the crawfish tails, salt, black pepper, white pepper, red pepper, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, green onion tops and parsley. Mix well.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the crawfish tails are tender. About 12 minutes.

Continue to gently stir.

Shortly before serving, heat the étouffée slowly over low heat and gradually add 1 to 2 cups hot water to provide the gravy.

Serve over boiled rice and top with sliced green shallot tops.

BOILED RICE:
Fill a 6-quart pot with 14 cups of water. Yes, really. Bring the water to a boil and add 2 teaspoons of salt.

When the water is boiling rapidly, pour in rice (you can adjust the amount of rice based on how many servings you need, but don't exceed 4 cups of rice).

When the water comes back to a boil, reduce the heat but keep the water actively bubbling. As the rice cooks, you should continue to stir the rice every 2 or 3 minutes to distribute the heat also you need not cover the pot while the rice is boiling.

It should take no more than 15 minutes for the rice to be completely, perfectly cooked. As it begins to look fully cooked, taste a few grains of the rice to be sure there are no hard centers.

When the rice tastes cooked to you, immediately take it off the heat, pour it into a colander and rinse well with hot water.