Cajun help needed!!!

[TheLittleRoo]

I was craving some authentic Crawfish Etouffee, and found this recipe on NOLA.com. But when I made it, it just didn't taste like I remembered my Cajun neighbor's tasting. Maybe it's a ba$tardized version he made, but I thought I'd see if any good Louisiana natives wouldn't mind looking over the recipe to see what might be "off" with this one?? I made everything like it said to, down to the shrimp stock. I only deviated to add 8 oz of cooked crawfish tailmeat in the final minutes. (it wasn't as cleaned as I like it... I'm sure it wasn't salted three times before boiling... but for being all I could find in Wash, DC it's good enough).

Without further ado, your comments/ suggestions please?

Shrimp Stock Recipe

The Shells and tails from 2 lb. of Shrimp
1/2 Cup chopped Onion
1/4 Cup chopped Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Lemon sliced
2 Fresh Bay Leaves
3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 tsp. Black Peppercorns

Add all ingredients to a 2 qt. saucepan. Cover this with cold water, it should be about 6-8 Cups Cups. You’ll need 1 1/2 Cups for the Etouffee. Bring almost to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer. Simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. Strain.

Tip: When adding fresh Thyme to a simmered dish like this, I always bundle the Thyme tightly with butchers twine. The leaves will remove themselves while cooking, and you will get all of the flavor from the stems. When ready to serve just remove the bundle of stems along with your bay leaves.

The recipe:

Shrimp Etouffee Recipe

2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Onion, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup fresh Tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 Cups Shrimp Stock
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
I bundle of Fresh Thyme
2 tsp Homemade Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Hot Sauce (I like Crystal or Louisiana Gold)
1/2 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp minced Italian Parsley
2 lb Good Quality Shrimp, Peeled and Deveined, Save shells for the stock
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
1 Recipe Creole Boiled Rice

Season the shrimp with 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning.
Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet, add the onions, bell pepper, and celery, saute until translucent. Whisk in the flour to make a blonde roux, stirring constantly, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the remaining Creole Seasoning. Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. You may need a little more stock, but the end result should be the consistency of a gravy, not too thick, not too thin.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, Thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce, a little salt, black pepper, and Cayenne. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Add the shrimp, green onions, and parsley, simmer for 10 minutes more or until the shrimp are cooked through. Stir in the 3 Tbsp butter, and adjust the seasonings to taste.

Serve over Creole Boiled Rice.

Serves 4 as an Appetizer or 2 as a Large Entree.

 

[ilovejack02]

Hey sha ; )

Holy moly that is WAY to many ingredients LOL!

Ill get right back with you, Ive got to go fine the one i use.. well lol actually I dont use just out of my head. Thats how us real cajuns do it LOL!

 

[tonilea]

While you are looking, I can't find my Jambalaya recipe. It was out of a Tabasco cook book and was pretty close to what my Cajun friends made. I would be very greatful if you could help a girl out.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

I don't know much about Cajun cooking and might be speaking out of turn, but wouldn't you typically make a darker roux for etouffee? It looks like the recipe you found doesn't have the depth of flavor I associate with Cajun cooking. Maybe the darker roux is just for creole, but DH is much more the ethnic chef than I am and he is not here!

I just looked online - it seems that a blonde roux made with butter is typical of etouffee, so maybe that's not the problem! It does seem like a lot of ingedients!

 

[ocalla]

I agree. Way too many ingredients!!! Wish I could help, but I just open the pantry and start cooking. Never measure, or follow cookbooks. We are just taught to add a little of this and a little of that here in LA. Come to think of it I don't think my mother or grandmother ever used cookbooks!!! Mom and I LOVE to collect them, and we LOVE to watch the cooking channel, but I Rarely follow the recipe.

That recipe looks more creole than cajun, which usually has more ingredients in it.

Once you learn to cook cajun recipe's you will learn to go by look and taste rather than measurements. it's a LOT easier than you think

I hope someone can give you a good recipe to follow, it's making me hungry thinking of it!!!!!

 

[ilovejack02]

Alrighty... here ya go!

From River Road Recipes II Junior League of Baton Rouge cookbook.

The original River Roads is one of the best selling cookbooks in the United States. I highly recommend them all!

Crawfish Etouffee
1/4 lb butter
2 large onions
2 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery chopped
1 medium bell pepper chopped
salt to taste..
red and black pepper to taste
( now I will say that most likely your friend used a basic cajun seasoning such as Tony's)
Tabasco to taste.. Crystal hot sauce is ok too, i prefer it.
1 to 2 lbs crawfish tails AND fat
4 tbl flour
2 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
green onion tops chopped
Parsley chopped

Melt butter in heavy large skillet
saute veggies in butter for bout 30 mins
add seasonings to taste then crawfish tails and fat
Saute for a min and then stir in flour.
Contine sauteing for 3 mins and then add water, chicken bouillion and optional green onions and parsley.
simmer for 10 to 15 mins.

Happy Eating!

 

[ilovejack02]

I agree. Way too many ingredients!!! Wish I could help, but I just open the pantry and start cooking. Never measure, or follow cookbooks. We are just taught to add a little of this and a little of that here in LA. Come to think of it I don't think my mother or grandmother ever used cookbooks!!! Mom and I LOVE to collect them, and we LOVE to watch the cooking channel, but I Rarely follow the recipe.

That recipe looks more creole than cajun, which usually has more ingredients in it.

Once you learn to cook cajun recipe's you will learn to go by look and taste rather than measurements. it's a LOT easier than you think

I hope someone can give you a good recipe to follow, it's making me hungry thinking of it!!!!!

Isnt that the truth, we just start throwing stuff in a pot LOL!
My parents are from Tenn. and while I learned southern cooking from them, I def appreciate my many yrs spent in New Iberia! I learned so much from my friends parents.

 

[ilovejack02]

While you are looking, I can't find my Jambalaya recipe. It was out of a Tabasco cook book and was pretty close to what my Cajun friends made.

Ill see what I can find for you , I think I have a Tabasco cookbook. Ill private message you with it. Im about to get off the computer for awhile.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

Alrighty... here ya go!

From River Road Recipes II Junior League of Baton Rouge cookbook.

The original River Roads is one of the best selling cookbooks in the United States. I highly recommend them all!

Crawfish Etouffee
1/4 lb butter
2 large onions
2 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery chopped
1 medium bell pepper chopped
salt to taste..
red and black pepper to taste
( now I will say that most likely your friend used a basic cajun seasoning such as Tony's)
Tabasco to taste.. Crystal hot sauce is ok too, i prefer it.
1 to 2 lbs crawfish tails AND fat
4 tbl flour
2 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
green onion tops chopped
Parsley chopped

Melt butter in heavy large skillet
saute veggies in butter for bout 30 mins
add seasonings to taste then crawfish tails and fat
Saute for a min and then stir in flour.
Contine sauteing for 3 mins and then add water, chicken bouillion and optional green onions and parsley.
simmer for 10 to 15 mins.

Happy Eating!

YES! This is almost exactly what I remember making back home in Houston! It was a simple saute of celery, onions, and bell pepper to start. A roux, then spices, and then crawfish tails. But somehow I thought there was a can of *audible gasp* cream of mushroom soup in there??? Ever head of that??

 

[tonilea]

Ill see what I can find for you , I think I have a Tabasco cookbook. Ill private message you with it. Im about to get off the computer for awhile.

I appreciate that. No hurry. Thanks!

 

[ilovejack02]

YES! This is almost exactly what I remember making back home in Houston! It was a simple saute of celery, onions, and bell pepper to start. A roux, then spices, and then crawfish tails. But somehow I thought there was a can of *audible gasp* cream of mushroom soup in there??? Ever head of that??

Actually yes, when hubby makes it , he does a can cream of golden mushroom... its richer and of course darker and he uses jalepenos. I love his just a much as mine.

 

[tinaninea]

Okay, this is my personal recipe, & it's one of those where I eye-ball all of it.

2 sticks of BUTTER
about half an onion
half a bell pepper
2 times as much celery as the onion
finely chop all those veggies
a tsp minced garlic
about 3 tbsp flour, maybe a little more
paprika - a lot, enough to turn it red
3 or 4 cans of chicken broth
salt, pepper, & red pepper to taste
2 lbs of crawfish tails, rinse, but don't wash all the fat off

Melt your butter & sautee the veggies, put celery in first, it takes longer to cook. Once they start to soften, add some garlic. When the celery starts to wilt (turns a little bit brown on the edges), stir in the flour (enough to make a slightly thick butter/flour mixture). This is the tricky part, you are NOT making a roux, cook, but don't brown the flor, when it starts to looking like it is going to brown, pour in about 3 cans of chicken broth & the paprika. Season to taste, & bring to a boil, if it starts looking too thick, add some more broth. Add the tails and boil just another minute and its done!

Be sure to have a loaf of french bread ready for dippin & don't forget the rice!

 

[mommytobug]

Alrighty... here ya go!

From River Road Recipes II Junior League of Baton Rouge cookbook.

The original River Roads is one of the best selling cookbooks in the United States. I highly recommend them all!

Crawfish Etouffee
1/4 lb butter
2 large onions
2 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery chopped
1 medium bell pepper chopped
salt to taste..
red and black pepper to taste
( now I will say that most likely your friend used a basic cajun seasoning such as Tony's)
Tabasco to taste.. Crystal hot sauce is ok too, i prefer it.
1 to 2 lbs crawfish tails AND fat
4 tbl flour
2 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
green onion tops chopped
Parsley chopped

Melt butter in heavy large skillet
saute veggies in butter for bout 30 mins
add seasonings to taste then crawfish tails and fat
Saute for a min and then stir in flour.
Contine sauteing for 3 mins and then add water, chicken bouillion and optional green onions and parsley.
simmer for 10 to 15 mins.

Happy Eating!

This is my recipe, I always added a tad more flour to make it thicker. Yummy! Oh, how I miss Louisiana. Do you all from Lousiana remember a Crawfish Cookbook by Joy Mounger and Bunny Jumonville? I was friends with their kids in high school. That cookbook has the best beer bread I have ever tasted in it.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

Mostly b/c I don't take the time to make things fresh I usually use a packet or two of Louisian brand crawfish ettouffee mix and add onions and crawfish but when I want to make something fresh from scratch and I don't have a decent recipe I like to check out this website I did buy her cookbooks a couple of days ago.

http://www.mslucy.com/aml.htm

 

[ilovejack02]

Mostly b/c I don't take the time to make things fresh I usually use a packet or two of Louisian brand crawfish ettouffee mix and add onions and crawfish but when I want to make something fresh from scratch and I don't have a decent recipe I like to check out this website I did buy her cookbooks a couple of days ago.

http://www.mslucy.com/aml.htm

My mil uses the Louisiana brand mix too, its pretty good!
I do love Ms. Lucy too, her show on pbs cracks me up.

 

[cajunmommy]

I was craving some authentic Crawfish Etouffee, and found this recipe on NOLA.com. But when I made it, it just didn't taste like I remembered my Cajun neighbor's tasting.
I only deviated to add 8 oz of cooked crawfish tailmeat in the final minutes. (it wasn't as cleaned as I like it... I'm sure it wasn't salted three times before boiling... but for being all I could find in Wash, DC it's good enough).

Without further ado, your comments/ suggestions please?

Did you rinse your crawfish tailmeat before adding? That might've been the problem. You really need that yellow-orange "fat" that surrounds the packaged tailmeat to add the depth of flavor to your etouffee.

My recipe is very similar to the River Road Recipes one that ilovejack submitted (except as a poor bayou girl, we never used chicken stock or bouillon cubes - just water). OOH - I just remembered the RRR cookbooks are now online too! The original is noted to be the best-selling community cookbook ever!

 

[rottiemom]

I haven't even looked at the etouffee recipes because I know that I'll go out of my mind with hunger...maybe after lunch .

But there is a great jambalaya recipe (along with a ton of other wonderful recipes) on Chuck Taggert's Cajun & Creole Recipe page (gumbopages.com).

I make a pretty good jambalaya for an Eye-talian girl from NY . I've found that some of the essentials include a cast iron pot, a nice dark roux, making sure that the peppers & onions are carmelized & brown before adding the meat, jasmine or pocorn rice & using chicken stock instead of water.

Oh I shouldn't be writing about food now!

 

[cajunfan]

If any of you have a "brown" jambalaya recipe, I would love to see it! I am from NOLA(been in TN the last 15 years!), and we tend to cook "creole" vs. cajun...I have a wonderful red jambalaya recipe, but one love a brown one like you find at local fairs and things....

Lynn

 

[cajunmommy]

I make a pretty good jambalaya for an Eye-talian girl from NY . I've found that some of the essentials include a cast iron pot, a nice dark roux, making sure that the peppers & onions are carmelized & brown before adding the meat, jasmine or pocorn rice & using chicken stock instead of water.

Oh I shouldn't be writing about food now!

Gotta call you on that one. Although we use rouxs in lots of our dishes, jambalaya is not one of them.

You're very correct about the black iron pot, & the caramelizing of the peppers, onions & meats, however. That maillard reaction browning is what gives the jambalaya its flavor.

Here's a sample recipe from the mayor of Gonzales (the little town where my kids go to school), which is proudly known as the Jambalaya capital of the World.....Jambalaya is a HUGE part of the culture here. Jambalaya dinners are ubiquitous fund raisers, and the kids as young as 6 & 7 compete in "mini-pot" competitions at local fairs where they cook their own jambalayas the traditional way over a wood fire.
http://www.gonzalesla.com/jambalayarecipe.pdf

Oh, and please don't take my comment as criticism. I'm sure a good Eye-talian girl like you would have a fit over my red-gravy / spaghetti sauce ! There are just so many faux-Cajun & creole recipes out there, I really want people to enjoy our great cuisines as they are meant to be.

 

[cajunmommy]

cajunfan....check out the link I posted. Mayor Berthelot's is about as authentic as they come (including the fact that it serves 20!)