# Étouffée



## GonnaSmoke (Sep 9, 2021)

This is my first time making it, but not my last. The back story is that I have a friend who was born and raised in south Louisiana, a true Cajun. He moved to South Carolina a couple of years ago with his job and that's how I came to know him. Couple of times a year, we enjoy fish camp together and he always makes crawfish étouffée. Well a couple of weeks ago, we were at fish camp again and I watched and asked questions about how he makes it. This time he included shrimp. After researching other threads on here and on the interweb about how others have cooked it, I decided to try my hand at it. Thanks to 

 jcam222
 , 

 dirtsailor2003
 , and 

 chilerelleno
 for your threads.

So here I go...

I thawed out a quart of shrimp and peeled them. I bought the frozen crawfish tails from the only place I could find them - Walmart. I chopped up some green and red bell peppers, garlic, a couple of jalapenos, a yellow onion, and some celery...










I didn't really look at the crawfish package before I got it home, but figured with a name like Boudreaux's, it had to be the real deal, but it is Walmart and I should've known better, product of China.

For the stock, I sauted the shrimp shells in EVOO with onion, celery, and bell pepper until the veggies got soft. Added in some chopped garlic and a couple of bay leaves and then added about 4 quarts of water. Brought it all to a boil, then reduced the heat, and l let it simmer until reduced to about 2 cups or so of stock - maybe 2 hours at the most. Strained out the solids and there was my stock...










Now time for the roux. Melted a stick of unsalted butter and added in a heaping 1/3 cup of all purpose flour. Stirring almost constantly until I get the color I'm looking for...










Time to add in the chopped veggies. I sautéed them until mostly tender then added in the shrimp stock and the crawfish tails. A can of Hunt's Fire Roasted Diced tomatoes, a TBSP or so of creole seasoning, and a 1/4 tsp of cayenne were added and everything allowed to reduce and come together...














The shrimp were sautéed separately in EVOO and dusted with creole seasoning...






Served with rice and garnished with some chopped green onions. Time to eat...






For my first try, I was pleased, but next time I'll try to source the crawfish from somewhere else. Critique is welcomed and encouraged as I'm always wanting to improve. Thanks to those who posted their threads and to my buddy, Mike for his help, he gave me a lot of insight into this traditional Cajun dish and what it means to their culture...


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## ravenclan (Sep 9, 2021)

Looks good to me!  Guess I need to try to make some instead of going to the restaurants to get my fill.


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## fxsales1959 (Sep 9, 2021)

GonnaSmoke said:


> This is my first time making it, but not my last. The back story is that I have a friend who was born and raised in south Louisiana, a true Cajun. He moved to South Carolina a couple of years ago with his job and that's how I came to know him. Couple of times a year, we enjoy fish camp together and he always makes crawfish étouffée. Well a couple of weeks ago, we were at fish camp again and I watched and asked questions about how he makes it. This time he included shrimp. After researching other threads on here and on the interweb about how others have cooked it, I decided to try my hand at it. Thanks to
> 
> jcam222
> ,
> ...


I garantee that looks fantabulous.


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## tx smoker (Sep 9, 2021)

That looks and sounds outstanding!! Very well done and I can promise that I'd be all over a huge bowl if it were presented to me. Great big LIKE!!

Robert


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## DRKsmoking (Sep 9, 2021)

That is a great looking plate of food.

 I'm not one for shell fish of any kind, just do not like the texture, But my wife would
be all over that in a heartbeat, I can't show her or I would have to go and find Crawfish 
to make it for her.

Very nice

David


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## ofelles (Sep 9, 2021)

Love me some Etouffee or Gumbo or Jambalaya any day of the week!


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## jcam222 (Sep 9, 2021)

Looks fantastic to me!! Making me want to make some more.


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## SmokinEdge (Sep 9, 2021)

That looks outstanding! That presentation is spot on. Nicely done.


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## Jett (Sep 9, 2021)

Just wished the boss like some Cajun food I would definitely try to make that. Looks delicious


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## pushok2018 (Sep 9, 2021)

Wow! Looks fantastic! I never ever heard of touffée   dish before... Looks like I got to try it.... Thank you for sharing....


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## lowcountrygamecock (Sep 9, 2021)

Looks really good!  Has anybody tried making a Keto/low carb version?  Obviously the rice is an issue that we can work around but I'm more curious about skipping/substituting something for Flour in the Roux.


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 9, 2021)

lowcountrygamecock said:


> Looks really good!  Has anybody tried making a Keto/low carb version?  Obviously the rice is an issue that we can work around but I'm more curious about skipping/substituting something for Flour in the Roux.


Jeff's version is keto friendly...





						Shrimp and crawdad  Etouffee
					

I have had a package of crawdad tails in the freezer for over a month waiting for a rainy day cook. Today was that day. I decided to do a shrimp and crawdad etouffee with keto cheese "grits". The entire meal as always is keto approved.    First up the "grits".  I often do these with smoked gouda...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com


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## lowcountrygamecock (Sep 9, 2021)

GonnaSmoke said:


> Jeff's version is keto friendly...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Perfect!!!  Thanks.  Sounds like a good recipe to try out some of the fresh shrimp we caught on Monday!


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 9, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> Looks good to me!  Guess I need to try to make some instead of going to the restaurants to get my fill.


Try it some time. I found that it really is easy to make, but also easy to burn the roux...


fxsales1959 said:


> I garantee that looks fantabulous.





tx smoker said:


> That looks and sounds outstanding!! Very well done and I can promise that I'd be all over a huge bowl if it were presented to me. Great big LIKE!!
> 
> Robert


You would be welcome here anytime, Robert...


DRKsmoking said:


> That is a great looking plate of food.
> 
> I'm not one for shell fish of any kind, just do not like the texture, But my wife would
> be all over that in a heartbeat, I can't show her or I would have to go and find Crawfish
> ...


David, I understand about the texture. I don't care for avocado for the same reason, but my wife loves it and guacamole...


ofelles said:


> Love me some Etouffee or Gumbo or Jambalaya any day of the week!


Me, too...


jcam222 said:


> Looks fantastic to me!! Making me want to make some more.


Your thread was definitely helpful...


SmokinEdge said:


> That looks outstanding! That presentation is spot on. Nicely done.


Edge, the presentation is my version of what 

 jcam222
 did https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/shrimp-and-crawdad-etouffee.300367/


Jett said:


> Just wished the boss like some Cajun food I would definitely try to make that. Looks delicious





pushok2018 said:


> Wow! Looks fantastic! I never ever heard of touffée   dish before... Looks like I got to try it.... Thank you for sharing....


Etouffee is a Cajun dish that originated and was made popular in Louisiana. In my research, I found that adding the tomatoes made it Creole and leaving them out was authentic Cajun. But there's been much debate over that according to some of the info I read prior to me attempting this dish...


Thank you one and all for the compliments and your kind words, they really do mean a lot to me...


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 9, 2021)

lowcountrygamecock said:


> ...some of the fresh shrimp we caught on Monday!


Deep hole?


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## smokin peachey (Sep 9, 2021)

Betty Crocker would be proud!


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 9, 2021)

smokin peachey said:


> Betty Crocker would be proud!


I thought that she only baked cakes and made Bisquick creations. Thanks, I think...lol...


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## DRKsmoking (Sep 9, 2021)

GonnaSmoke said:


> David, I understand about the texture. I don't care for avocado for the same reason, but my wife loves it and guacamole...


Ha Ha that is another thing I really can't stand , tried to use it and eat it . Not going to happen. To me it's like eating Lard

David


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 9, 2021)

Looks great. Ive not had it in years. My oldest made the CIA recipe on a school break. Great food to warm and fill ya up....JJ


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## JLeonard (Sep 10, 2021)

Where does the line form for a bowl or two of that? Looks mighty fine.
Jim


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## SmokinAl (Sep 10, 2021)

That looks delicious!
A lot of work, but it sure looks like it would be worth it!
Nicely done!
Al


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## kilo charlie (Sep 10, 2021)

Congratulations on the feature! Looks fantastic to me!


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 10, 2021)

JLeonard said:


> Where does the line form for a bowl or two of that? Looks mighty fine.
> Jim


Jim, the line forms on the left and you'd be welcome to join us...


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 10, 2021)

SmokinAl said:


> That looks delicious!
> A lot of work, but it sure looks like it would be worth it!
> Nicely done!
> Al


Thank you, Al. It really just looks like a lot of work and making the stock is time consuming, but this can be made with store bought seafood stock, I'm sure. Once the stock is made, the rest goes fairly quickly...


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 10, 2021)

kilo charlie said:


> Congratulations on the feature! Looks fantastic to me!


Thank you KC and thanks to the powers that be who felt that this was good enough to make it on the carousel. Really humbling to me...


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## indaswamp (Sep 10, 2021)

GonnaSmoke said:


> I didn't really look at the crawfish package before I got it home, but figured with a name like Boudreaux's, it had to be the real deal, but it is Walmart and I should've known better, product of China.


Yeah....I saw the Made in China and it made me shutter. I think it is criminal to name Chinese crawfish "Boudreaux's". False association.

It's all about price. Chinese crawfish are 1/2-1/3 the price of Louisiana Crawfish, and I will gladly pay for Louisiana Crawfish every time.

Glad you gave etouffee a go, it looks good.


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## indaswamp (Sep 10, 2021)

Source for Louisiana Crawfish...

Louisiana Grocer Crawfish Tail meat 1#


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## 912smoker (Sep 10, 2021)

Great looking plate and congrats on the ride !


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## GonnaSmoke (Sep 10, 2021)

indaswamp said:


> Yeah....I saw the Made in China and it made me shutter. I think it is criminal to name Chinese crawfish "Boudreaux's". False association.
> 
> It's all about price. Chinese crawfish are 1/2-1/3 the price of Louisiana Crawfish, and I will gladly pay for Louisiana Crawfish every time.
> 
> Glad you gave etouffee a go, it looks good.





indaswamp said:


> Source for Louisiana Crawfish...
> 
> Louisiana Grocer Crawfish Tail meat 1#


Thank you for the compliments and the link to the real deal crawfish. As for the etouffee, my Cajun buddy Mike said that the color is a personal thing. He made it dark, even darker than I did.


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## indaswamp (Sep 10, 2021)

I tend to go for a blonde roux when making an etouffee. I use a light brown roux when making a shrimp creole.


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## SmokinEdge (Sep 10, 2021)

GonnaSmoke

Congratulations on the carousel ride! Good job buddy.


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## HalfSmoked (Sep 12, 2021)

Great looking dish good job.

Warren


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## xray (Sep 13, 2021)

Great looking etouffee! This is always something I wanted to make. Looks delicious!


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## bauchjw (Sep 19, 2021)

Wow! I can actually catch a whiff  it looks so good! Thank you for sharing!


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