February Team Cook: Shrimp or Crawfish Etouffe

[yakima]

Interesting. This sent me down to the freezer to investigate. The WalMart product I purchased is from Riceland, certified Louisiana crawfish tails.

And the étouffée package recipe has neither roux nor tomatoes.
The Emeril recipe I cited above is from a 1996 book.

[yakima]

As I recall, $14 for 12 ounces. Got 3 packages.

[SheilaAnn]

Carolyn where did you get them?

[Carolyn]

SheilaAnn Walmart sells both the Boudreaux's chinese crawfish and Riceland Louisiana crawfish. They were both at my local Walmart.
I just checked, and the Walmart in Long Beach has them.
I made soup with them last night. The tails are teenincy. Some are about the size of the tip of my pinky or smaller.
I made an order from Louisiana, but they will be small too. I would have to order early to get bigger tails because they sell out. I don't know if any more will be available later in the season.

[tamidw]

I am going to try this one. I think I’ve made etouffe once. Love gumbo and jambalaya too. I will probably be using shrimp.

[Alan Brice]

In the Heart of River City, I can get, I guess it is a mixture of crawfish/gator. Or it is crawfish after the gator has processed the mudbugs. $8.99 lb. Think i may have to do shrimpies.
Went on line to my local Wally World n I can get 12oz for $14.95. GuarrrenDamnTee Louisiana certified Product of The U.S.of A.

[drobinson]

Believe it or not, I made my first pot of jambalaya on Friday. And now you post this recipe for etouffe!! Are you trying to turn my kitchen into a Louisiana outpost? I'll give it a try-------------the Holy Trinity lives on!!

[Alan Brice]

Amen.

[58limited]

drobinson Join us, go down the Youtube Cajun rabbit hole [evil laugh]: CookingwithCajun, Cajun Ninja, Charlie Anderson, Captain Coby's Cajun Cooking, and many many more Soon you too will own a 5 or 10 gallon jambalaya pot (I have a 5 gal, it holds two 10 lb pork butts for boudin), Bayou Classic fish fryer, etc.

[Panhead John]

As Supreme Leader of the February Team Cook, 🙄 I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t include helpful musical suggestions, to help while away the time spent in your kitchen. This music is intended to lift your spirits, and is directly related to the type of cuisine being prepared. Some of you might say, “that idiot has too much time on his hands”…. and you would be correct. Anyway, here ya go!

[theroc]

Getting ready for Mardi Gras next week! I recommend Sirius/XMs “Big Easy” channel for your cooking sound track.

[Alan Brice]

Right up flyingpiglet n theroc jambs! can you spell Zydeco?

[Panhead John]

You ever wonder how all these crawfish are farmed? A while back this video popped into my feed, it’s a lot more interesting than you might think. This shows Louisiana’s largest crawfish farm in operation, all the way from seeding the farms to sittin’ down and eatin’ em. Take a look!

[klflowers]

We used to use crawfish as fish bait. They worked great for catfish. My mom refused to eat them. She said she might as well eat worms if she was going to eat bait, she called them mudbugs.

A friend of mine from Baton Rouge brought some live ones to a job we were working in IL and boiled them. I was in my 30s. Took some convincing to get me to try them. I'll eat the tails, but i still won't do that suck the head thing.

[LA Pork Butt]

I am tempted to say wimp, but I am always amazed at how many folks adapt to eating them even thought they didn’t grow up eating them. I have known others who say that can’t get used to their food looking at them. LOL

[klflowers]

LA Pork Butt my mom made sous from scratch. So I am used to hog heads looking at me. Crawdads are nothing, but you can't pay me to suck out whatever is in those heads lol

[LA Pork Butt]

klflowers Kevin, We never made it, but we called it Hog’s Head Cheese. I liked it but haven’t had it in years. Irene has an aversion to such things, but when her mother lived with us she would smuggle it in. We both liked fried bologna on white bread with mayo.

[Donw]

Are we still going through this team cook? I thought Panhead John might want to skip it now that his girlfriend Halle has just announced her engagement to musician Van Hunt. Sorry John, stay strong.😢

[Panhead John]

I’m not having very good luck with the women lately. First Halle gets engaged and then I find out my side ho Cardi B’s pregnant with some other dude’s baby! 😢

[Spinaker]

Who would have thought that would happen? Panhead John

[Carolyn]

Awright, awright, awright....Looky what I found at my local Wally World here in my little inland town.

[Carolyn]

Panhead John I had pretty much given up since I only found the chinese crawfish in the markets.
I bought one bag to try it out.

[Panhead John]

I sure wouldn’t have thought the only place you find them is at Walmart.

[Carolyn]

Panhead John Apparently, Beaucoup crawfish of Eunice, Inc. made a deal with the devil.

[yakima]

Good for you Carolyn. I am surprised that WalMart carries this.

[Carolyn]

Thanks. I was also surprised. I have only ever seen the asian stuff in the markets. I bought a bag to try it out.

[yakima]

Keep in mind that this months sponsor has Marie Callendar on speed dial, and made a lot of noise re hard to find ingredients a couple months ago.

[Panhead John]

I prefer to be addressed as Our Supreme Leader, thank you.

[johnec00]

Dear Supreme Leader
Here's the crawfish tails at Wild Fork. Haven't found a North American source of head-on shrimp though. Closest is Ecuador. Seems weird since about 80 miles from here there's a fairly significant shrimp boat fleet at Crystal River.

[Panhead John]

Well done John! I am glad to see that many members of my flock have gained access to the crawfish.

[RhodeHog]

Making roux in the skillet is like forced meditation. Very relaxing. A local Cajun caterer told me about the oven method that Bubba shared but I haven't tried it. I made my first Jambalaya and Gumbo recently so I'll probably get in on this one. Good suggestion Panhead John

[Carolyn]

If I need a dark roux, I get my oil hot and fry the flour to get some color on it pretty quickly. Then, I turn the fire down and stir until I get it where I want. If using a cast iron skillet, I turn the flame off when I am almost where I want it.
Me, I am not going to stand over a pot for an hour browning roux, no.
I haven't tried the microwave or the oven, and I don't care for the jar roux.

[RhodeHog]

Carolyn Ha! An hour would definitely be a bridge too far. But 15 minutes was perfect settle down time at the end of the workday

[Carolyn]

Yeah, a light roux doesn't take long at all. The stirring is kind of relaxing.

[klflowers]

I found these head on shrimp. The site says they are gulf shrimp so I am assuming they are US, but they could be from Mexico I guess. I'll most likely just buy a couple extra pounds and peel them all for the stock. Just freeze what I don't use nekid

https://creole.net/gulf-shrimp-head-on-16-20-ct-5lb-iqf/?setCurrencyId=1&sku=655469080539&gad_source=1&gad _campaignid=22979977631&gbraid=0AAAAACD6TUGB2yuqDN td8dRU3HmbNLilf&gclid=Cj0KCQiAy6vMBhDCARIsAK8rOgkW-ECRC5Co1ohh3oda17PUHEJJiVKaEyhPMLVlSiIyKNKfDtvGaL8 aAoV0EALw_wcB

[Panhead John]

Just a suggestion, but the recipe only calls for 3 cups of stock. I think you’ll be good with 1-2 pounds of shells easy……unless you’re wanting to make a bunch of stock to freeze and use later.

[yakima]

For me, I enjoy these team cooks because they often send me off on a history search re the recipe and its creation. Oddball ingredients add to the challenge. And using techniques not normal to me, like pie dough.
Have been perusing Prudhommes's book, reading about 500F to make roux. Yikes.