Caring for Live Crawfish and Recipes for Leftovers

We   will  share  some  of  our  recipes  with  you  but  you  won't  find  our  secret  sauce  recipe  here!

 

Caring for Live Crawfish

Do NOT take the crawfish out of the sack.

Put the sack of crawfish in an ice chest with a drain.

Cover with a wet towel and cover the towel with ice.

Prop up one side so the water from the melting ice will drain.

You can keep the crawfish alive for several days if needed. Just make sure the ice chest has a drain, leave the drain open, and replace the ice as it melts. You will need to turn the bag of crawfish over a couple of times during the day to keep all the crawfish evenly cold.

Note: A crawfish that is dead but is not mushy, can still be cooked and eaten. Many crawfish die from the shock of the purging water. They have not been dead long enough to start to decay. Also, crawfish kept on ice are hibernating and might appear to be dead until they warm up. Remember, they all die when they hit that boiling water. Some may die just a few minutes sooner.

Cooking Crawfish

Step 1: Purge the crawfish by emptying the bag into a large container of water. You can use a laundry tub or even an ice chest (with a spigot to let the water out). Some people add salt to the water but it really isn't necessary. Do this right before you cook them. Don't leave them in the water more than 30 minutes. Pull out the dead, mushy crawfish. Note: If a crawfish is not moving it could just be really cold. Only if a crawfish feels mushy, toss it out. A straight tail does not mean a crawfish is inedible. Some crawfish die from the shock of the purging water. They can still be cooked and eaten as long as they are not mushy.

Step 2: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add crab boil, cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Quarter some onions and lemons and toss them in as well. If you are planning on adding garlic cloves you can throw those in now.

Step 3: Throw in your red potatoes and boil them until done. Remove them from the pot and put them in an ice chest to keep them hot.

Step 4: Add more seasonings as the potatoes will have absorbed the spices.

Step 5: Bring pot to a rolling boil. Put about 15 lbs of crawfish in the pot (more if you have a pot that holds more than 50 qts). Stir and put the lid on the pot.

Step 6: When you see steam coming from the pot turn off the burner and let the crawfish sit for 5 minutes.

Step 7: Taste the crawfish. If they need more spices add them to the pot and stir again.

Step 8: Add corn to the pot and stir. Let soak for 7 more minutes. If you want mushrooms, add them after 5 minutes and stir.

Step 9: Remove crawfish and enjoy!

Step 10: If there is any left over crawfish, pop the tails off and put them in a large zip-lock bag with a little water and freeze until needed for an etouffée or to use in gumbo or omelets.

Crawfish or Shrimp Étouffée

Ingredients Serves 6
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups chopped onions
2 cups chopped green bell peppers
2 cups chopped celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (we use Slap Your Mama see Amazon link below)
1 quart seafood stock
3 pounds peeled crawfish meat or peeled shrimp
Steamed white rice (we prefer Uncle Ben's)
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion tops

Step 1: Start by making a roux. Heat the butter in a heavy pot over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the flour well, making sure there no clumps. Let this cook, stirring constantly, until it turns a pretty golden brown; this should take about 10 minutes or so. Note: Roux will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat so continue stiring for 5 more minutes.

Step 2:In a separate pan, heat up the seafood stock. This does not need to boil, just steaming.

Step 3: Add the vegetables and herbs (onions, peppers, celery, garlic, and bay leaves) and cook for 5-6 minutes until vegetables are soft. Remove the bay leaves.

Step 4: Slowly stir the hot stock into the roux until the mixture has the consistency of syrup.

Step 5: Add the seasonings and the seafood. Cover and let simmer at the lowest setting for 10 minutes.

Step 6: Spoon over rice and sprinkle parsley and green onion tops over the food and serve.

Crawfish Hand Pies

Ingredients Serves 7 (2 hand pies each)
crawfish Étouffée (See recipe above)
1 (14-ounce) package empanada dough, thawed (Goya brand)
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp water
3 T melted butter

Step 1: Make the Étouffée using the receipe from above.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350° and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (not wax paper!)

Step 3: Lightly flour countertop or large cutting board and roll the dough to make it slightly larger, no more than 1/2" larger.

Step 4: Whisk together the egg and water in a small bowl.

Step 5: Add 2 tablespoons of the Étouffée into the center of the dough. Brush the eges with the beaten egg mixture. Fold the dough in half and press with a fork along the edges to seal.

Step 6: Place pies on baking sheet , brush with melted butter and bake until golden for 30 minutes.

Step 7: Serve hot with a romulade sauce (we can't give you our secret romulade recipe but we can give you a hint, use mayo and Cajun spices.)