Tag: crawfish étouffée

Finger Food with a Kick: Fried Crawfish Étouffée Ball Recipe

If you’re a fan of Cajun flavors and crave a delightful twist on traditional Crawfish Étouffée, you’re in for a treat. LouisianaCookin  presents a delicious recipe for Fried Crawfish Étouffée Balls that combines the rich, savory goodness of Étouffée with the satisfying crunch of fried perfection. These delectable bites are perfect for parties, gatherings, or simply indulging in a unique Louisiana-inspired dish. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process to create these irresistible Crawfish Étouffée balls, along with a zesty chipotle ranch dressing for dipping. Let’s dive into this culinary adventure!

Quick Étouffée Ingredients

  • 1 pound of succulent crawfish tail meat
  • ¾ cup finely chopped onion
  • ¾ cup finely chopped celery
  • ¾ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
  • ½ cup of unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ tablespoons of all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon of Creole seasoning (try Tony Chachere’s for an authentic touch)
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper

Fried Crawfish Étouffée Balls Ingredients

  • 2 cups of Quick Crawfish Étouffée (recipe above)
  • 2 cups of cooked and cooled jasmine rice
  • 2 ¼ cups of plain breadcrumbs (divided)
  • ½ cup of chopped green onion
  • 4 large eggs (divided)
  • 1 cup of whole milk
  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons of hot sauce (adjust to your spice preference)
  • Peanut oil (for frying)
  • ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (adjust for heat)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt

Chipotle Ranch Dressing Ingredients

Directions:

  1. In a generous-sized pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for approximately 10 minutes until the mixture turns a rich peanut butter color.
  2. Add the finely chopped onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Sauté for about 6 minutes until the vegetables become tender. Mix in the crawfish tail meat, salt, black pepper, and Creole seasoning. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes. Let the Étouffée cool completely before using it to make the balls. You can refrigerate it for up to a week or freeze it for up to 6 months.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the Quick Crawfish Étouffée, ¼ cup of breadcrumbs, jasmine rice, chopped green onion, hot sauce, salt, cayenne pepper, and 2 beaten eggs. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 eggs and milk. Place the all-purpose flour in another medium bowl, and the remaining 2 cups of breadcrumbs in a third medium bowl. Shape the Étouffée mixture into golf-ball-sized rounds. Roll each ball in the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally the bread crumbs. Place them on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, or up to 24 hours (see note below).
  5. In a food processor, combine the ranch dressing, chipotle peppers in adobo, minced garlic, seasoned salt, and ground black pepper. Pulse until the dressing mixture is well combined. Set it aside.
  6. In a large pot or Dutch oven, pour peanut oil to a depth of 4 inches. Heat it over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350º F. Fry the Étouffée balls in batches for approximately 3 minutes or until they turn a golden brown hue. Serve these delightful balls hot with the chipotle ranch dressing mixture for dipping.

Serving Suggestion:

These Fried Crawfish Étouffée Balls are a scrumptious delight on their own, but you can elevate your meal by serving them with classic Creole sides like red beans and rice, collard greens, or cornbread. Don’t forget a refreshing beverage like sweet tea or a crisp lager to balance the heat!

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Authentic Crawfish Étouffée

When it’s cold, especially in the south, and crawfish is in season, there’s no better dish than authentic Crawfish Étouffée to liven your spirits and warm you up, so get that pot out and prepare to be invigorated by Cajun and Creole cuisine with this recipe from Acadiana Table’s George Graham.

As it’s commonly accepted down south, there are few other absolutely pure expressions of Louisiana cooking than the light roux of a crawfish étouffée with its thickened butter sauce housing swimming crawfish tails over a heavenly pillow of white rice. Known as a “centerpiece dish,” a bowl or heavy plate of crawfish étouffée can truly make-or-break a southern dinner table due to its unique flavor and texture profile that it offers in every freshly-caught, seafood-laden bite.

Various restaurants have crawfish étouffée”remixes” which include the addition of tomato paste, dark roux, or cream of mushroom soup, but in this recipe you’ll find freshly-caught, cajun authenticity in every step, each bite, and from all angels present.

While it’s often accepted to use frozen cooked crawfish tails when the real deal is not in season, perhaps to appease an out-of-season craving for cajun cuisine, it’s always preferred to go with the freshly-picked tail meat, as there simply is no substitute. Some chefs like to save the shells from a crawfish boil and order extra pounds of boiled crawfish to create their own stock. This is due to the fact that besides fresh seafood, there’s also no better substitute than an intense and depth-filled crawfish stock to truly elevate your dish to a higher palette.

The crawfish etouffee recipe’s chef’s note indicates that it’s often considered a best practice to peel your own crawfish, but when found lacking, packaged tail meat is fine as it’s a time-saver. If using pre-packaged, be sure to add a little water to the fat inside in order to get all of the flavor out. Make your crawfish stock at home with leftover heads and shells from past meals. Simply rinse off any seasoning and boil them for 30 minutes and strain. Alternatively, a good shrimp stock can be made using dried shrimp that’s boiled in water and strained.

Ingredients:

1 pound of butter (unsalted)

2 cups of diced, yellow onions

1 cup of diced, green bell pepper

1 cup of diced celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 pounds of Louisiana crawfish tail meat

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups crawfish (or seafood) stock

Kosher salt

Freshly-ground pepper

Hot Sauce

¼ cup flat-leaf parsley (chopped)

1 cup diced green onion tops

6 cups cooked Louisiana long-grain white rice

Recipe:

  1. Place a large skillet over medium heat and melt your unsalted butter; then add the onions, bell pepper and celery (the trinity). Sauté until it’s tender and then add in your garlic. Lower the heat to a simmer and stir your ingredients to combine. Season the mixture with cayenne pepper and add your crawfish tail meat by stirring it into the total combination.
  2. Sprinkle your flour over the mixture and stir it in to incorporate it and thicken it by cooking the four. Add some of your stock and continue stirring until it all begins to thicken. Add more stock until you get a stew-like thickness.
  3. Season it all to taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Let it simmer on the stove for at least 45 minutes, but the longer and lower the heat, the better. Serve over a mound of white rice and garnish with parsley and green onion tops.

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