Maw Pyes Crawfish Stew Recipes

CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE LIKE MAW-MAW USED TO MAKE

Steps:

• In a stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. When butter is bubbling, add flour to make a roux, stirring constantly to prevent or remove any lumps. Cook the roux for 5 minutes. Do not brown.
• Stir in onions and bell peppers; saute 10 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add garlic, and saute for 3 minutes. Stir in crawfish tails. Slowly pour in enough water to reach a little thicker than soup-like consistency. Season with cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

DEEP-SOUTH SHRIMP AND CRAWFISH STEW

Steps:

• Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
• To a 1-gallon plastic bag add paprika, ground thyme, salt, ground black pepper, basil, and chili powder, and shake to combine. Add the crawfish and shrimp to the bag in batches and shake to coat. Add the crawfish and shrimp a little at a time to the boiling water so as not to stop the boil, and let cook until pink and the crawfish is curled. As they are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove the crawfish and shrimp to a platter and set aside until they are cool enough to handle. Remove the shells from the crawfish and shrimp and add the shells back to the pot of cooking liquid, and allow to reduce by two-thirds. (The shells of crawfish are removed by cracking the tail with both hands and forcing it back out through the curve of the tail.) Reserve the crawfish and shrimp meat until needed. When reduced, strain the cooking liquid into a bowl.
• For the sauce:
• In another saucepan, combine the garlic, scallions, bay leaf, nutmeg, if using, and butter over medium heat. Add flour to make a roux and allow it to cook until blond, then begin whisking in the milk. Into the bowl of reduced seafood cooking liquid, whisk the Cheddar and Gruyere cheeses. Add this to the milk mixture and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat, season sauce, to taste, with white pepper, and salt if needed. Remove and discard bay leaf. Immediately put a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the sauce to prevent a skin from forming.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make a topping by adding bread crumbs, parsley leaves, Parmesan, Cheddar, Cajun seasoning, horseradish, and hard boiled eggs to a small bowl and combining with a wooden spoon.
• Fold the crawfish and shrimp into the sauce a little at a time so you can control the amount of sauce to the amount of seafood. (Do not feel compelled to use all of the sauce.) Spread the mixture into a 3 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle with the topping and heat about 5 minutes in the oven until the topping is browned. Serve family style, garnished with parsley sprigs.

MAW PYE'S CRAWFISH STEW

Steps:

• 1. Place a black iron or other heavy bottomed pot on heat. Add flour and oil, stiring constantly to form a roux. Cook until the roux is deep caramel brown color. Add onions continue to cook until the onions are beginning to brown along the edges. Add celery, bell pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and cayenned pepper. Continue to cook until the celery and bell peppers become tender and the roux is a deep coffee brown color. Stir in crawfish tails and chili powder.
• 2. Add seafood stock, cook until the stew is thickened. Stir in parsley and green onions. Lower fire to slightest simmering, stir well.
• 3. Break one egg at a time into a cup and carefully drop egg into the pot. Repeat untill all the eggs are used up. Be careful not to place eggs on top of another. (DO NOT STIR AGAIN) Place cover on pot and let eggs poach in stew. This usually takes 6 - 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve over a bed of steaming hot rice.

CAJUN CRAWFISH AND SHRIMP ÉTOUFFéE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Gradually stir in flour, and stir constantly until the mixture turns 'peanut butter' brown or darker, at least 15 or 20 minutes. I use a large fork with the flat side to the bottom of the pan in a side to side motion. This is your base sauce or 'roux'. It is very important to stir this constantly. If by chance the roux burns, discard and start over.
• Once the roux is browned, add the onions, garlic, celery and bell pepper to the skillet, and saute for about 5 minutes to soften. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and fish stock, and season with the seafood seasoning. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season the sauce with hot pepper sauce and cayenne pepper (if using), and add the crawfish and shrimp. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are opaque.