SHRIMP and CRAWFISH STUFFED CHEESY BREAD

Shrimp and Crawfish Stuffed Cheesy Bread

1/2 recipe roll Dough

1/2 recipe shrimp and crawfish étouffée 

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 egg, beaten

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle.

With a slotted spoon, mound Etouffee down along center of dough.

Top with shredded cheeses.

Cut strips on either side of the mound of Etouffee.

Pull about 1 inch of the ends up and over the mound of Etouffee.

Bring each strip up and over the mound of Etouffee  making a braid.

Pinch ends together to seal.

Brush entire surface with beaten egg.

Transfer to greased baking sheet.

Place in warm spot to finish rising for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, place in preheated 350 oven and bake until golden brown.

Basic Yeast Roll Dough

4-1/2 tsp instant yeast (I purchase this at Sam’s)

1/2 cup warm water (about the same warmth as a baby bottle…you know…test it on your wrist)

2 cups warm milk ( see above about the baby bottle)

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

6 to 7  cups all-purpose flour

In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with a paddle, dissolve the instant yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in the warm water. Let stand for a couple of minutes until it starts foaming. Add the warm milk, melted butter, eggs, remainder of the sugar, and salt and turn the mixer on low to mix.  Add half of the flour one cup at a time and mix until smooth.

Remove the paddle and replace it with a dough hook. Add 3 – 4 more cups of flour one cup at a time. Knead the dough with the mixer for about 5 minutes. The dough should look and feel smooth and be a little sticky to the touch. If dough is overly sticky, add up to 1/2 cup more of flour. Put the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

FOR DINNER ROLLS:

After the dough has risen, punch it down in the center and turn out on a floured surface, knead it by hand for a minute or so. Form a ball and then start pinching off pieces and forming into balls and placing on greased baking sheet.    Cover and let rise for until doubled in size. While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, place in 350 oven and bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown.

FOR CLOVERLEAF ROLLS:

Use the basic yeast dough recipe.

After the dough has risen, punch it down in the center and turn out on a floured surface, knead it by hand for a minute or so. Form a ball and then start pinching off pieces and forming into small balls. Place 3 small balls into each cup of a muffin tin. After all muffin cups are filled, set muffin pan in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in size. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown.

FOR PIZZA ROLLS:

Substitute olive oil for melted butter in the Basic Yeast Dough Recipe. Also add 1 tablespoon of garlic powder.

After the dough has risen, punch it down in the center and turn out on a floured surface, knead it by hand for a minute or so. Roll out 1/2 of the dough into a large rectangle. Spread a layer of pizza sauce over the dough. Sprinkle generously with Mozzarella cheese. Add what ever other pizza ingredients you may like.

Starting at the bottom of the dough, gently roll into a log. Slice into sections and place in greased muffin pan. Set aside in warm spot to rise, about 30 minutes to an hour.

Bake in preheated 350 oven about 20 minutes or until brown.

FOR MOZZARELLA STUFFED GARLIC BUBBLE BREAD:

Substitute olive oil for melted butter in the Basic Yeast Dough Recipe. Also add 1 tablespoon of garlic powder.

After the dough has risen, punch it down in the center and turn out on a floured surface, knead it by hand for a minute or so. Form a ball and then start pinching off pieces and forming into small balls around a small piece of Mozzarella cheese. Place 3 small balls into each cup of a muffin tin. After all muffin cups are filled, set muffin pan in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in size. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown.

Shrimp and Crawfish Étouffée 

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 cups celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

1 tablespoon Tony’s Cajun Seasoning

3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup tomato juice

1 12 ounce package frozen crawfish

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon corn starch

1/2 cup cold water

Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper, and celery in olive oil and butter over medium heat until tender crisp.

Stir in red pepper flakes, Old Bay Seasoning, and Tony’s Cajun Seasoning.

Add chicken broth and tomato juice.

Add crawfish.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add shrimp, simmer until shrimp are pink. About 5 minutes.

Stir corn starch into 1/2 cold water. Add to etouffee in steady stream. Stir until thickened. About 5 minutes.

Serve over hot rice.  Garnish with chopped green onion.

PAUL ARTIGUES' CRAWFISH CAKES

Paul Artigues’ Crawfish Cakes

3 yellow or red onions
3-4 bell peppers, any color
2 stalks celery
6 cloves garlic
1/4-1/2 bottle of beer
2-3 pounds peeled crawfish tails
1 cup garlic aioli or mayonnaise
1/2 cup Zatarain’s Creole Mustard
1/4 capful liquid crab boil
Salt and black pepper to taste
4 ounces bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying

Sauté onion, peppers, celery and garlic in fat in a frying pan until soft and translucent, dousing it every few minutes with a splash of beer to prevent from sticking and burning. Cool.
In a food processor, mix half the crawfish tails with aioli, mustard, crab boil, salt and pepper until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together remaining crawfish tails with vegetables, mustard mix and breadcrumbs. Form 2-inch patties and fry in vegetable oil for 3-4 minutes on each side.

CRAWFISH ETOUFFÈE

Classic Crawfish Étouffée

3 tablespoons canola oil
 3 tablespoons flour 
1 small onion, diced 
1 stalk celery, diced 
Half a red bell pepper, diced 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
 ¼ teaspoon thyme 
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced 
1 quart seafood stock (canned or homemade)
3 tablespoons butter
 2 green onions, chopped 
1 pound peeled crawfish tails 
2 dashes Worcestershire 
2 dashes hot sauce 
Rouses 
salt and black pepper to taste 
3 cups cooked white rice

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour and reduce heat to moderate. Continue whisking until the roux reaches a dark brown color, about 15 minutes. Add onions, reduce heat, and cook until onions have caramelized and roux becomes shiny. Add celery, bell peppers, garlic, cayenne, paprika and thyme and cook for 5 minutes. 

Add tomatoes and seafood stock and increase heat to high. When sauce reaches a boil, reduce heat to moderate and let simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Reduce heat to low and stir in butter. Add green onions and crawfish tails, mix and season with Worcestershire, hot sauce, salt, and black pepper. Cook for one minute then remove saucepan from heat. Serve over rice. 

Serves 6

CRAWFISH STEW

Crawfish Stew
The secret to this stew is to add the seafood stock cup by cup until you reach a thick, stew consistency.

3 pounds peeled crawfish tails
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup flour
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup tomato sauce
1½ quarts seafood stock (canned or homemade)
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup chopped parsley
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour and reduce heat to moderate. Continue whisking until the roux reaches a dark brown color, about 15 minutes. Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic and sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately five to seven minutes. Add one-pound of the crawfish tails and cook for five minutes.Add tomato sauce and cook three to five minutes. Add seafood stock, cup by cup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining two pounds of crawfish tails, green onions and parsley, season with salt and pepper, stir, and continue cooking for 20 minutes. Serve with rice. 
Serves 6

CRAWFISH PIE

Crawfish Pie
Serves 6

½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter 
1 cup chopped onion 
½ cup chopped bell pepper 
¼ cup chopped celery 
1½ teaspoons salt 
¼ teaspoon cayenne 
½ cup chopped canned tomatoes 
1 pound crawfish tails 
2 tablespoons cornstarch 
½ cup water 
2 tablespoons chopped green onions 
1 tablespoon chopped parsley 
1 (9-inch) pie crust, unbaked
  
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and celery, and cook, stirring until the vegetables are soft and golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the salt, cayenne and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish tails and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add to the pan. Stir for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Add the green onions and parsley and stir to mix. Remove from the heat and cool for about 30 minutes. Pour the crawfish mixture into the pie crust. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the edges of the pie crust are golden. Cool for 15 minutes or so before cutting into wedges to serve.

CRAWFISH RICE CASSEROLE

CRAWFISH RICE CASSEROLE
"Rest assured that when this casserole is served, there are never any leftovers."
Makes 4 to 6 servings

1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons butter
1 pound crawfish tails, drained
1 (10-ounce) can Ro-tel diced tomatoes and green chiles (mild), drained
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning (or salt and pepper to taste)
2 cups cooked rice
1 (10 ¾-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup cooked corn (frozen or canned)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
Paprika for garnish

In a large skillet, saute onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic in butter until tender, 10-15 minutes. Stir in crawfish tails, tomatoes and Creole seasoning. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl combine rice, mushroom soup and corn. Stir together well. Then stir in crawfish/tomato mixture. Transfer to a lightly greased casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and top with cheese, and sprinkle with paprika for color. Bake, uncovered, for another 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and cheese has melted.

CRAWFISH ÉTOUFFÉE

CRAWFISH ÉTOUFFÉE 

2 sticks butter

2 small onions, chopped

2 bunches green onions, chopped

2 pounds crawfish tails

Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Parsley, chopped

Chop and sauté in butter, onion and green onions.  Cover and cook 5 minutes.  Add crawfish tails, season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.  Cover and cook amout 15 minutes until done.  Add parsley just before serving and serve over rice. Serves 6-8.

CRAWFISH BOULETTES

CRAWFISH BOULETTES

3 Tbsp. butter

1 medium onion, chopped fine

1 pound crab claw meat, drained

1 pound crawfish tails crawfish tails, ground (use a blender)

14 cup green onions.chopped fine

1 egg, beaten

Progresso bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste 

Few teaspoons lemon juice

Sauté onion and celery in butter until light brown.  Drain.  To this add 1 pound crabmeat and ground crawfish and onion tops.  Stir In egg and add breadcrumbs until moisture is meatball consistency.  Shape into small balls.  Fry until brown in deep fat.  Cooks very fast.  Yield: 50 cocktail size.    You may add lemon juice to give boulettes a slight tartness.

CRAWFISH PASTA

Crawfish Pasta
Note: If you don’t have crawfish available in your area, this recipe works well with shrimp, oysters, or lump crabmeat. Just replace the crawfish with one pound of your seafood of choice.Makes 4 to 6 servings.

1 pound fresh pasta (rotelle is preferred, but use your favorite shape)
1 stick butter (do not use margarine)
1/2 cup chopped onions
3 to 10 cloves garlic, chopped (to your taste)
1 pound crawfish tails, boiled and peeled
1 pint half-and-half

1 to 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning

Cook pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain, then rinse under cool water. Drain again, thoroughly.
Melt the butter in a large pot and sauté onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the seafood and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the half-and-half, then add several big pinches of Creole seasoning, tasting before the next pinch until you think it’s right.

Cook for 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat until the sauce thickens. Add the pasta and toss well. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so over very low heat, stirring often. Serve immediately with hot French bread.

CRAWFISH BOUDIN

Crawfish Boudin

2 pounds crawfish tail meat

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

1⁄3 cup finely chopped green onion, green parts only

1 cup finely chopped onion

½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper

½ cup finely chopped celery

¼ teaspoon minced garlic

3 cups cooked long-grain white rice

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

8 ounces prepared hog casings

Garnish: stone-ground mustard

In a large bowl, combine crawfish, salt, and peppers. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add canola oil, and cook onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Add crawfish mixture, and cook 15 minutes more. 

Remove from heat, and fold in rice. Stuff casings while filling is still hot, twisting into 4-inch links.

In a large pan, add crawfish boudin links, and cover with water. Cook over medium-high heat, keeping just below a simmer; cook until heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Drain. In a large skillet, add crawfish boudin, and cook over medium-high until golden brown on all sides. Serve immediately with mustard, if desired.

CRAWFISH CORNBREAD

Cajun Crawfish Cornbread

2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
6 eggs
2 medium onions chopped
1/2 cup sliced jalapeno peppers, chopped
16 oz cheddar cheese grated
2/3 cup oil
2 16 oz cans cream style corn
2 lbs Crawfish tails, lightly rinsed

Combine in large bowl, cornmeal, salt and soda
In separate bowl, beat eggs
Add crawfish, peppers, onions, cheese, oil and corn to eggs
Combine egg mixture with cornmeal and mix well
Pour into a greased 12x14" baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes or until golden brown.
Serves 12 

CRAWFISH JAMBALAYA

Crawfish Jambalaya
A Cajun Jambalaya...no tomatoes!

1 ½ cups diced ham
1 package frozen crawfish tail meat (it comes in 12 ounce or 16 ounce packages where I am, use the 1 pound package if you can but the 12-ounce will suffice.)
2 Tbsp. Oil
1 ½ Tbsp. Butter
2 large onions, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
2 cups rice
1 quart beef consumme (canned) or very strong beef or chicken broth
4 cups diced tomatoes
1 green pepper, chopped
Cayenne
½ cup sherry wine
1/4 cup dry red wine

Saute ham and crawfish meat in oil untl heated through. Add butter, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper and rice. Saute until rice is brown. Add consumme, tomatoes, green pepper and cayenne. Carefully stir mixture; cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Add sherry and red wine. Do not stir. Cook 5 to 10 minutes to heat throughly. Remove bay leaves.
8 servings.