This recipe mirrors many versions of étouffée. Even the great Paul Prudhomme included a bit of flour in his, so proceed without fear!
TRADITIONAL CAJUN CRAWFISH ÉTOUFFÉE
Ingredients
1 pound crawfish tails (and any available crawfish fat)
1 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 cup chopped onion, white or yellow
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped bell pepper, any color
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon hot sauce
¼ teaspoon fine salt
1½ cups cooked rice, for serving
Directions
Remove crawfish tails from package. Add some of the water to the empty crawfish package, loosening as much of the yellow fat as possible. Reserve the rinse water.
In a 3-quart pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and sauté until softened. Add celery and bell pepper, and continue cooking for 7-8 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour over the softened vegetables and continue cooking for 5 minutes. There will be no color change, but the flour will begin to smell toasty. Whisk in the rinse water and any additional water needed to reach 1 cup and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the crawfish tails and green onions. Cover the pot and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season with hot sauce and salt. Serve immediately over cooked rice.
