A Little Crawfish Etouffee

dangit baw! that looks marvelous.

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Had Sixteen cooks out there and the folks got to sample them all, for a small nominal fee.

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I bet they were very grateful. I'd rock that bowl.

I made 4 lbs of tails worth for supper Saturday. The runt ate it for 4 meals in a row. All gone.

That red color is really the result of the lighting, in my kitchen, when taking that photo. The actual finished product had a nice golden color. Just ate a bowl, for lunch, to confirm this.

I didn't see red either except on a few of the tails.

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No recipe?

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No recipe but I have a method for you.

This was somewhere between 3-1/2 to 4 gallons. I thawed out the tails, 12 lbs, and seasoned them with some Tony's and put them in the fridge. Made a roux, 1 to 1-1/2 cups of oil w/ 2 or 3 cups of flour. I like a heavier roux w/ less oil (1 part oil to 2 (+/-) parts of flour. Cooked the roux until medium brown. Threw in the trinity (flat bottom pot...added enough till my fingers would disappear). Around 5 or 6 lbs, w/ way more onion, 1/4 as much bell pepper (by appearance, not by weight) and some celery (enough to make you happy)) and a little fresh parsley. Tossed in a couple or three sticks of butter...needed that richness. Hit the vegetables with too much black pepper (when you think you have enough, shake that can 3 or 5 more times) and a little Season All. Added too much minced garlic (stopped when I got tired of mincing it) and let it all come together.

Now it becomes controversial! If the color does not have that perfect golden tint to it, I'll add a little tomato puree. If needed, it's not much...4 to 8 oz and just to add to the appearence. It doesn't change the taste much at all. Toss in the tails, get them warm, add in some juice (chicken stock, seafood stock, water...whatever you can come up with), until the consistancy is where you want it, bring it to a quick boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Add seasonings, to taste, (salt, red pepper, hot sauce, etc.) and it's pretty much done. This was to serve a crowd, so I threw in 4 or 5 bunches of green onions, just prior to serving...no time to address each bowl, individually.

Serve it over fresh cooked Mahatma Long Grain Rice (my preference but use what makes you happy) and call it done.