Louisiana Style Crawfish

I have been enjoying eating crawfish for about 20 years but only started cooking them about 10 years ago. There are many ways to cook them, but as with other dishes I cook, this one benefits from adding in fresh ingredients along with spices to create the perfect Texas/Cajun flavor.

Ingredients

1 32 quart pot with a basket

1 gallon bag full of fresh quartered lemons

1 gallon bag of quartered oranges

1 gallon bag of chopped onions

1 gallon bag of fresh chopped serrano’s

1 gallon bag of coarsely chopped celery

2 heads of fresh garlic-

2 – 32 oz. jars of Texas gourmet’s sidewinder searing spice

Bag crawfish- approx. 36 pounds

10 ears of fresh shucked corn

2 pounds of fresh mushrooms

1 pound of stick butter

3 pounds of smoked link sausage, sliced into 1/3 inch thick slices

6 lbs. small new potatoes, rinsed and cleaned

Whole chicken- remove gizzards, neck, etc.

The chicken adds to the richness of the flavor of the boil and will be used later.

Preparation of water

Fill pot with water approximately 4 inches from the top with basket in and bring to a boil

Add a cup each of lemons, serrano peppers, celery, onions, oranges, Texas Gourmet’s Searing Spice and 3 heads of garlic

Boil for 15 minutes then add the chicken.

Boil chicken for 30 minutes from the time you put in.

Reduce fire to low and remove chicken to cool. 

I like to rub the chicken down with Sidewinder Searing Spice, then place in a Pyrex dish in a 400 degree oven uncovered for 45 minutes.

Remove and cover with foil and allow to cool. This makes great Cajun style chicken salad the next day.

Now for the preparation of the crawfish 

Normally they will come unpurged, in other words they need a good bath to rid them of the bayou mud etc.

I like to soak them in a cooler for 20 to 30 minutes in enough water to cover them by about 3 inches. I will use approx. 1/3 of the sack

Drain the cooler and refill again with water, put in the plug and add one cup of salt , stir them around gently wait four to five minutes, open the drain and rinse them out until the cooler is empty of water.

Start to boil the water, add a cup of each of the ingredients stated in the beginning then add crawfish, 6 to 8 small new potatoes, 1 stick of butter and 1 pound of sliced smoked sausage.

Boil for 15 minutes, turn off fire and add 5 to 6 half ears of corn and ½ pound of the mushrooms

Stir pot, cover with lid and spray outside of pot with water hose to cool the water in the pot. (This allows the crawfish to absorb the spice more thoroughly) if cooking indoors add 3 to 4 cups of ice to cool the water down. 

Allow the crawfish to sit in the pot for approximately 15 minutes, then carefully remove the basket with crawfish to a large plastic bin or cooler, lightly dust with the Texas Gourmet’s Sidewinder Searing Spice and gently pour out onto serving table.

I like to take heavy duty contractor bags, cut the sides off and lay it on the table and fix it down with tape. This allows for easy cleanup between batches.

Repeat earlier steps as needed throughout cooking until crawfish are all cooked.

Enjoy with your favorite cold beverage.

Email Bryan Slaven at

bryan@thetexasgourmet.com

 

See more recipies at thetexasgourmet.com

Email Bryan Slaven at bryan@thetexasgourmet.com

 

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