John Folse’s Crawfish Etouffee Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds cleaned crawfish tails
• 1/4 pound butter
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• ½ cup green bell pepper, chopped
• ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
• ½ cup tomatoes, diced
• 2 tbsps garlic, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup flour
• 2 quarts crawfish stock or water
• 1 ounce sherry
• 1 cup green onions, chopped
• ½ cup parsley, chopped
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste
• Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce (Tabasco will work)
• 2 cups white rice, steamed

METHOD:
In a 2-gallon stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves. Sauté until vegetables are wilted, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and tomato sauce and blend well into mixture. Using a wire whip, blend flour into the vegetable mixture to form a white roux. Slowly add crawfish stock or water, a little at a time, until sauce consistency is achieved. Continue adding more stock as necessary to retain consistency. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sherry, green onions and parsley and cook an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste using salt and cayenne pepper. Serve over steamed white rice using a few dashes of Louisiana Gold Pepper Sauce.