Crawfish Etouffee

We're having guests for dinner Friday night and when I asked if there were any food preferences the only response I got was "Something Cajun." My mind was reeling with ideas...chicken and sausage gumbo, dirty rice, Cajun meatloaf with roasted sweet potatoes...then it hit me. Friday during Lent = no meat for us (and our guests).

Coming up with a meat free Cajun dish shouldn't be hard, but we're picky. Tiger shrimp that are readily available here in Georgia just don't cut it and neither do Chinese crawfish. Call us seafood snobs. Most of my Cajun seafood meals are dependent on the good old Louisiana crawfish my mother-in-law so kindly brings us on each of her visits. We had polished off the last pack of those months ago, or so I thought. On a whim yesterday I decided to clean out my freezer. It was a joyous moment when I found one more pack of crawfish hidden in the far recesses of the freezer. I did a happy dance and announced, "Now we can have crawfish etouffee!" This thrilled Sport to no end and he joined me in the happy dance until he realized he would have to wait four more days until dining on crawfish. If you're lucky enough to get your hands on some real crawfish, give this recipe a try.


Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 large onion
1 small bell pepper
1 lb. crawfish tails (with fat)
4 Tbsp flour
4 cups water
8 chicken bouillon cubes
salt, pepper, and Tabasco Sauce
Hot rice

Melt butter in a large heavy pot. Saute veggies in butter for 20 minutes. Add seasonings and crawfish. Saute for 3 minutes. Stir in flour and saute another 5 minutes. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil and add bouillon cubes. Once fully dissolved, add water to the crawfish pot. Simmer on low for 20 minutes. Serve over hot rice and top with green onions. Add salad and garlic bread and you've got yourself a meal cher!
This recipe is being shared at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tuesdays at the Table.