It’s Crawfish! (not crayfish) A guide to Louisiana cooking Table of Contents Cooking Tips....................................................................................... 3 Cooking Tips Cajun Mirepoix (Holy Trinity)................................................................ 4 Basic Creole Seasoning........................................................................ 4 Dry Volume Liquid Volume Best Cajun/Creole Measurements Measurements Condiment Brands Crawfish Pie........................................................................................ 5 MEASURE EQUIVALENT MEASURE EQUIVALENT PRODUCT BRAND Seafood.............................................................................................. 7 1/16 Tony dash 8 fluid ounces 1 cup seasoning mix Gumbo................................................................................................ 7 teaspoon Chacherie’s Crawfish Boil....................................................................................... 8 1/8 teaspoon a pinch 1 pint 2 cups hot sauce Tabasco crawfish/crab Étouffée............................................................................................... 9 3 teaspoons 1 tablespoon 1 quart 2 pints Zatarain’s boil Jambalaya........................................................................................ 11 injection 1/8 cup 2 tablespoons 1 gallon 4 quarts Cajun Injector seasoning Dirty Rice........................................................................................... 12 1/4 cup 4 tablespoons Crab Cakes....................................................................................... 13 Recipe Sites/Food Blogs 5 tablespoons Cochon de Lait................................................................................... 15 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon Cajun Mama Cooking Red Beans......................................................................................... 16 1/2 cup 8 tablespoons Cajun Delights Maque Choux.................................................................................... 17 12 RouxBDoo’s 3/4 cup tablespoons Beignets............................................................................................. 18 Real Cajun Recipes 16 1 cup Pecan Pralines.................................................................................... 19 tablespoons Real Cajun Cooking Creole Cream Cheese......................................................................... 19 1 Pound 16 ounces Nola Cuisine 2 3 Crawfish Pie INGREDIENTS • ½ cup salted butter • 1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups) • ½ bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1/2 cup) • 4 cloves garlic, minced • 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup • 1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk • 1 teaspoon salt • ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper Cajun Mirepoix Basic Creole • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper • 3 tablespoons cornstarch (Holy Trinity) Seasoning mixed with ¼ cup cold water • 2 pounds crawfish tail meat INGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS • ½ cup chopped green onion • 2 tablespoons chopped • equal proportions of chopped celery, green bell • 2 teaspoons garlic powder parsley pepper, and onion • 2 teaspoons onion powder • 1 (14.1-ounce) package • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika powder Pillsbury Ready-Made Pie Crust • 1½ teaspoons dried thyme USES (2 crusts) • 1 teaspoon dried oregano The Holy Trinity of Cajun and Creole cooking • 1 teaspoon dried basil consists of onions, celery and green bell peppers. • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper INSTRUCTIONS The amount of onions is not as much as the classic • ¾ teaspoon salt French Mirepoix, which uses carrots instead of bell • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 400°. pepper. In Cajun preparations typically it is an In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; add onion, bell pepper, and garlic; cook until equal portion of each ingredient in a 1:1:1 ratio. USES softened. Add soup, evaporated milk, salt, and peppers. Add cornstarch mixture. Reduce heat to low, and The Cajun Holy Trinity can be found in recipes cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Fold in crawfish, green onion, and parsley; cook 5 minutes. for most gumbos, etouffees, jambalaya’s, sauce Use this mix when a recipe calls for cajun or Place bottom crust in a deep-dish pie plate, and bake, using pie weights, until lightly browned, 7 to 10 piquants, shrimp stews, crab soup, oyster artichoke creole seasoning (in place of brands such as Tony minutes. Fill with crawfish mixture, and place top crust on pie. Bake until browned, 25 to 30 minutes. soup, red beans and rice, and the list goes on. Chacherie’s or Zatarains). 4 5 Seafood Gumbo INGREDIENTS INSTRUCTIONS • 1 cup vegetable oil In an 8-quart stockpot, heat oil over medium heat for about • 1 cup all-purpose flour 5 minutes; add flour, and stir together to form a roux. Cook, • 1 1/2 cups chopped onion stirring often, until roux is the color of peanut butter, about 20 • 1 cup chopped green bell pepper minutes. • 1 cup chopped red bell pepper Add onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and okra. Cook • 1 cup chopped celery vegetables, stirring often, for 5 minutes. • 3 tablespoons minced garlic Add beer, stock, file powder, bay leaves, Cajun seasoning, • 3 cups chopped okra crab claw meat, Worcestershire, salt, and cayenne. • 1 1/2 cups beer, such as Abita Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium, and simmer Amber for about 1 hour. • 6 cups seafood stock Add shrimp, fish, oysters, and lump crabmeat to mixture. • 2 tablespoons file powder Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until seafood is cooked through; • 2 bay leaves add parsley. • 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning Serve with rice, and garnish with green onion, if desired. • 1 (8-ounce) container crab claw meat, picked free of shells • 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce TIP • 2 tablespoons kosher salt • 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper • 1 pound medium fresh shrimp, peeled Plan on giving the roux your and deveined • 1 pound red snapper fillets, chopped undivided attention from start • 2 (8-ounce) containers shucked oysters • 1 (8-ounce) container jumbo lump to finish. An unattended roux crabmeat, picked free of shells • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley can burn in a second. • Hot cooked rice • Garnish: chopped green onion 7 Crawfish Boil Étouffée INGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS • 36 ounces Zatarain’s • 2 sticks butter Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab • 2 medium onions chopped Boil • 1/2 cup green onions scallions • 40 ounces liquid Zatarain’s chopped Concentrated Shrimp and • 1/4 cup parsley minced Crab Boil • 1/2 cup flour • 4 lbs powdered Zatarain’s • 4 stalks celery chopped Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab • 2 cloves garlic minced Boil • 1 -14 ounce can diced • 18 ounces table salt tomatoes • .36 ounces bay leaves • 1 can chicken broth • 1.75 ounces cayenne pepper • salt, cayenne, and black • 7 large onions quartered pepper to taste • 12 lemons • 1 pound crawfish or shrimp • 6 heads of garlic cut in half peeled and deveined horizontally INSTRUCTIONS • 2 large bags of celery with Prep ingredients: wash celery and cut into thirds, rinse potatoes and leaves cut into thirds INSTRUCTIONS mushrooms, cut sausage into bite size pieces, cut garlic and lemons in • 5 pounds smoked sausage half horizontally, and quarter onions. Saute’ onions, garlic, and celery • 9 lbs small red potatoes (left in Rinse crawfish several times until the water runs clear. in butter until soft. the mesh bag if possible) Fill 120 quart stock pot about 60% of the way with cold, fresh water Add flour, tomatoes, chicken • 48 ounces of fresh mushrooms and turn on burner. broth, salt, peppers, and parsley, • 2 sacks of live crawfish (60-65 Add all Zatarain’s products, salt, cayenne and bay leaves. then simmer for 20 minutes in lbs) Squeeze lemons into the pot and add the halved lemons as well. heavy iron pot. • Desired amount of frozen corn Add onions, celery and garlic to pot and bring to a boil. Add crawfish or shrimp and on the cob (usually 2 pieces Add potatoes and cook for approximately 5-7 minutes. simmer until it is cooked about 10 per person) Add sausage and mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes. minutes or until it is pink. Add crawfish and bring pot back to a boil. If gravy is too thick, add a little Add corn. hot water or chicken broth. Once the pot begins to boil turn off the heat and soak up to 30 Serve over rice and Tabasco minutes tasting in 5 minute intervals for desired amount of spice. sauce on the side. Recipe can Remove from the pot onto a large table covered with newspaper and easily be doubled to feed a enjoy! crowd. 8 9 Jambalaya INGREDIENTS INSTRUCTIONS • 2 tablespoons butter Place the chicken in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the Creole • 1 pound chicken breast, cut into bite- seasoning. Set aside. sized pieces Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and • ½ pound andouille sausage, sliced in brown the chicken on all sides. Add the andouille sausage and ¼ inch slices cook for another 3 minutes or so until the sausage begins to • 1 yellow onion, chopped brown. • 3 cloves garlic, minced Add the onion, garlic, celery, and bell pepper and cook • 1 green bell pepper, diced for 3-4 minutes. Add the rice, diced tomatoes, remaining • 1 stalk celery, diced tablespoon of Creole seasoning, hot sauce, Worcestershire • 1 cup white long grain rice sauce, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Add the chicken • 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes broth and bay leaves. • 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning (see Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and recipe below) simmer for 15 minutes, giving it one stir around the halfway • 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce point. Add