Need Etouffee Suggestions

I've used store bought frozen crawfish in a pinch before and what I did was thaw them and add a pinch of our seafood seasoning used in boils to kick up the flavor of the crawfish. Most of the processed crawfish from outside La. are either steamed or parboiled before peeling with little to no flavoring in the water.

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I just make a roux with butter and flour, sautee the trinity, add crawfish tails with the fat, then add water or stock to thin it out just a bit.

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Same here, but heavy on the onions. Finish with a little green onion and parsley...season with Tony's, red and black pepper, plus garlic.

I used the clam juice and wine in place of stock and, really, I liked the briny, dry flavor that combo brought to the dish....used about about 8oz of each.

I guess what I'm learning is I am not really making etouffee, just some bastardized version of it.

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I used trinity, shrimp, lump crab, diced andouille, diced tomatoes, clam juice, pinot grigio, and spices.

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I love andouille, but I don't usually associate it with etouffee.

If you're going to put tomato product in, I wouldn't use diced. I think etouffee should be smooth, not chunky.

Roux is not really what gives an etouffee its color, because you are supposed to make a blonde roux. The tail fat is what is supposed to give it the orange color. However I usually don't have any so I just add a tiny bit of tomato paste for that (I know...tomatoes...blasphemy etc). The small amount of paste doesn't really affect the flavor. It's more for the aesthetics.

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I used trinity, shrimp, lump crab, diced andouille, diced tomatoes, clam juice, pinot grigio, and spices.

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You only needed those first two ingredients dude. All that other stuff does not belong in an etouffee...crab maybe.

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I wanted to use crawfish instead of shrimp but the only thing I could find was a pack of frozen crawfish from Spain...wasn't sure how they'd taste.

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Shrimp are fine dude. Don't get those nasty frozen foreign crawfish.

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This was my first attempt at a roux. I totally butchered it by using too much butter. I stood there and stirred that mofo for 40 mins before giving up on it changing colors or thickening . I decided to watch a youtube video after cooking and I realized just how bad I screwed it up. The videos all showed pastes, mine was liquid.

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Yep. Once you understand what the mixture should look and feel like when stirring, it's easy to make. Next time, just add more flour if you don't get that paste texture.

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it turned out pretty damn tasty.

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I don't doubt it did, but that doesn't make it etouffee. It sounds pretentious, but it's true.

And the key to making a great etouffee is using a good seafood stock.

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I guess what I'm learning is I am not really making etouffee, just some bastardized version of it.

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It sounds more like a seafood stew to me. Nothing wrong with that.

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cgrand

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The cream of shrimp is clutch.

I use no roux. Just crawfish smothered in copious amounts of trinity. G. onion and parsley to finish. To thicken a bit, I turn off the heat, throw in unsalted butter and let it emulsify.

Most people mean crawfish etouffee if they say they’re making an etouffee, but among French speakers in SE LA, the word is more broadly used to refer to a cooking method....To etouffee something is to smother it, Ask the people DTB (by which I mean Bayou Lafourche), and they’ll talk of etouffee des patates (smothered potatoes usually with onions and garlic), etouffee du macaroni (a slightly wet dish made w elbow noodles and a protein like shrimp or sausage often w green olives), or smothered cabbage and so on.

The general idea is to brown onions and perhaps bell pepper, celery and usually garlic in butter or pork fat/bacon grease then add a main ingredient and a small amount of liquid. Cooking time depends on the ingredient added.

The “canonical” crawfish etouffee starts the same way, most ppl add a tablespoon or two of tomato paste to brown once the onions have sufficient color. This evolved to add color and body because pre-peeled crawfish aren’t as fatty as home-peeled crawfish, and it’s the crawfish fat that truly makes crawfish etouffee into something special.

Oven roux. 350, 1.5 hours, stir every 20 minutes, foolproof.
And like another poster said, you have way too much going on.