Louisiana Style Crawfish Etouffee

Tonight, Angela and I cooked "Louisiana Style Crawfish Etouffee" from Chef John Folse's The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine. In the end, it could have used a bit more cayenne, but the etouffee was tasty. By the way, this was my FIRST ROUX!

Louisiana Style Crawfish Etouffee

Angela chops the veggies.

In his gargantuan cookbook, Folse writes:

The French word "etouffee" means to stew, smother or braise. This technique is found in dishes using shrimp, crab, crawfish and, in some cases, meat or game. Though more Creole in origin, etouffees are found throughout Cajun country.

Folse published the recipe on his website, so I'll  paste it below:

	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 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.