One of the many special events of the festival was
an étouffée cooking demonstration saturday
afternoon. Literally "smothered crawfish,"
crawfish étouffée (prononuced
)
consists of aromatic vegetables and crawfish meat smothered
in a savory roux-based sauce and served over rice.
Cy and his brother gave us a taste of Acadian charm
and delicious étouffée. While sipping
a beer, Cy joked that in Acadia, when making an étouffée,
the first thing you need to do is marinate the chef.
So, in the spirit of Cajun Country, be sure to pour
yourself a glass before you get started!
This recipe can be adjusted to add more crawfish. All
of the quantities stay the same, except where noted
(garlic, flour & butter). Just adjust the amount
for each of those for each pound of crawfish you add.
2 lbs. fresh crawfish
tails
2 medium onions,
finely chopped
1 1/2 bell peppers,
finely chopped
2 teaspoons garlic
(1 teaspoon per pound per pound of crawfish)
2 tablespoons flour
(1 tablespoon per pound of crawfish)
1 stick margarine
or butter (1/2
a stick per pound of crawfish)
salt
and pepper
or your favorite season-all (try Tony Chachere's)
to taste
cooked white rice
Melt butter or margarine at low heat.
Add onions, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté slowly
at very low heat (this gives the chef plenty of time
to marinate) until onions are transparent.
Add
flour, stirring frequently to prevent lumps and sticking.
Add
crawfish tails and season to taste. Cover and cook for
15 minutes stirring frequently. Serve hot over rice.
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