Crawfish Etoufee for supper tonight courtesy of my Cajun wife. What you havin?

[JL Sargent]

Her real specialty is seafood gumbo but tonight it's crawfish etoufee. Yoohoo, it's gonna be some good eatin.

[CIGARBUM]

I would very much like to know the reciept for both dishes, would love to see how a true Cajun prepares them.

I'm jealous.

Cigarbum

[dtel]

You obviously married well. []

[JL Sargent]

Seafood Gumbo

for a big
group

Roux

2
cups Crisco

2 ½
cups flour

Hint: Cook Roux slowly till it is the
color of a Hershey’s chocolate bar.

Vegetables

2
yellow onion

1
bunch green onions

fresh parsley (a big handful)

celery

fresh mushrooms

Hint: Chop all coarsely. My mom adds jalapeno pepper
rings to hers. Alabama people generally aren’t that tough.

Seafood

4
pounds pealed shrimp

1
pound crab meat

1
pint oysters

3
cans minced clams

2
pounds good smoked sausage

Hint: Make sure you marinade the shrimp
in a little Cajun seasoning (like Tony’s) for an hour or so before adding it to
the Gumbo.

Hint 2:If the oysters smell “fishy” don’t put the juice
in the gumbo

While you are making your roux, start cooking your
veggies in a big pot about 1/4 full of water. Add roux very carefully when it’s
finished. Add all your seafood and sausage. Season with Cajun seasoning, salt
and pepper and garlic, if you like. (I don’t like garlic in gumbo). A good Cajun
cook tastes often to make seasoning adjustments. (None of these calories count
J) Once the gumbo comes to a boil,
it is ready to eat. Serve over hot rice.

If you think it’s good today,
wait till tomorrow!

[JL Sargent]

You obviously married well.

You got that right!

The secret to good Gumbo is getting that roux right. She cooks it on medium heat and is constantly stiring it in a cast iron pot til its dark. The stuff is very easy to burn so you have to stay on top of it. It is the SECRET SAUCE.

[oldtimer]

Roux is truly a labor of love. You gots'ta respect the roux maker.

[CECAA850]

The secret is to NEVER stop stirring it, even for a moment. It's done when it's the color of a penny.

[JL Sargent]

The secret is to NEVER stop stirring it, even for a moment. It's done when it's the color of a penny.

A penny? No two pennys are the same. Now A hersey bar, that's the color your looking for.

TIP: Make extra roux. Then when you make gravy for hamburger steaks or similar add some roux to your gravy. Oh yeah, they will be begging for more! [Y]

[TheEvan]

For seafood gumbo, yeah, chocolate is the color for roux. For chicken (or turkey) & sausage gumbo, a lighter roux...medium brown...seems to work better. Bear in mind that the darker the roux, the less the thickening effect

A dark roux imparts a smokey, somewhat nutty flavor. And yes, it is the secret sauce.

[sunburnwilly]

For seafood gumbo, yeah, chocolate is the color for roux. For chicken (or turkey) & sausage gumbo, a lighter roux...medium brown

+1 but I will add that I prefer the flavor of butter over crisco , personal preference .

[TheEvan]

My roux is on butter as well.

[mark1101]

That gumbo sounds incredible. I make gumbo and etoufee but need the mixes because the roux kills me every time. I can't make a roux properly yet.

We'll usually grill some Mahi or tilapia and put the etoufee over that. Here's one I did with Mahi. The etoufee just has crawfish tails. But hey, I live in Georgia so it's not going to be as good as you cajuns can make it.

[mark1101]

Do you ever make a roux with olive oil or does Crisco work better? What about adding chicken stock to the gumbo? Do you ever do that or does the roux provide the necessary flavor? What do the hard core cajuns do? Need to learn these awesome recipes.

[CIGARBUM]

I got to have the Etoufee, I hope you can use shrimp instead of crawfish. Up here in the mountains there ain't none of those tasty critters, I checked all over Atlanta and couldn't find any.

I'm starting to slobber all over myself

CB

[dtel]

Never tried olive oil, I think it burns faster, although if you went slower than the already slow process with the olive oil it may be OK.

Chicken stock is what I use, we like chicken and sausage gumbo. I usually boil 2-3 chickens then remove them from the water while both cool a little. We remove the bones and fat, then skim off the fat from the water and use that water for gumbo. Don't really make Etoufee anymore, we use to make it with redfish, more of a Couvion, kind of the same, you can use anything really. Crawfish bisque is really good too.

When in a real rush or don't want to be bothered I use the box stuff, it's really pretty good considering it takes about 10 min and is so easy a monkey could fix it. [:$]

[dtel]

Here's one I did with Mahi.

That looks good ! [] Looks like crawfish .

[Don Richard]

Do you ever make a roux with olive oil or does Crisco work better?

I use vegetable oil. Olive oil is good too, but the roux has a greenish color that puts some folks off a bit.

What about adding chicken stock to the gumbo?

Chicken stock or chicken broth is good to add, homemade seafood stock takes it to another level if you are doing seafood gumbo.

What do the hard core cajuns do?

We cook with beer or wine - not to put into the gumbo but to put into the cook.[]

[JL Sargent]

Here is what our Gumbo looks like.

[Boxx]

Here is what our Gumbo looks like.

Now that looks good. I know what I want for dinner tomorrow night...

[mark1101]

That gumbo looks spectacular.