Crawfish Étouffée Rules Anywhere

I previously mentioned winning Travel Channel’s Miami installment of “Underground BBQ Challenge” with my crawfish étouffée recipe, “Art-toufée.” Here is the insider secret recipe that I have never shared. The truth is, I was shown how to cheat! Not like cheating on the SATs, keeping the extra $100 bill the bank teller gave you or counting cards at the casino – no, no, no! Cheating in the food world means occasionally using a microwave, a quick timesaver technique or, in this case, an added ingredient. Let me also add that it’s time for Thanksgiving, so this is a recipe for after you are stuffed with turkey and craving something else. In my Latvian-American family we eat turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so next month you’ll get Aunt Lil’s Famous Irish Stuffing recipe. But I digress. Back to the bayou.

The incomparable Louisiana bayou.

I passed a few memorable times in the bayous of Vermilion Bay, Louisiana, specifically with my friend John and family. Abbeville is where I learned about Cajun hospitality, where at a gathering people really do ask you, “Who’s your daddy?” because family and reputations are everything. The first visit my brother Perry (a famous neurosurgeon) and I made, I arrived in black leather pants and jacket … a very foolish looking ex-New Yorker. The “crew” made us get back in the car and switch over into camo hunting jackets before we ever got past the driveway. While motorboating through the sublime intercoastal canals, we heard all that razzmatazz about “Northerners,” ergo I was set to get good at being more Cajun.

First-time duck hunting for teals, grays and mallards requires the average “You Norker” to sharpen up ASAP. At the hunting camp, we settled into the Vermilion Parish lifestyle, cracking a bottle of bourbon and swapping stories to break the ice. Over the next few days, I befriended Chad, who was helping to get us “boys” acclimated to a hunting camp where ducks were on the list.

Crawfish on the boil.

Damn, that man Chad can cook. He showed me a “Cajun microwave,” which we Miamians call a “caja china,” as both are used to make pork recipes that are uniquely regional and melt-in-the-mouth tasty. Every night was an adventure to see how wonderful Cajun locals could get the “You Norkers” wasted with Makers Mark, telling stories while trying to play Bourré. That certainly worked, as my brother ended up hand-holding Roman candles and shooting fireworks into the star-filled bayou night. Magnificent performances nightly. Getting up before the sunrise melted frost off the exploding cattails was tough, but for the hot étouffée waiting atop fresh soured milk biscuits. And what Chad created thrilled me with three daily helpings. I snuck out a spoonful whenever I walked by the fridge.

Sid Hoeltzell

I asked about the recipe but he would not budge. I knew the basics but had a tough time with the roux (the staple of Cajun cuisine). First, one must remember to sweat up the Cajun holy trinity, the famous triad of the “yaw-bell-cell,” onion – bell pepper – celery. Nothing Cajun can begin without homage to these three ingredients as a basic Creole starter. I got that, and the “garlique” was never left on the table. Making a medium roux takes skill but eventually becomes easy-peasy (nowadays it can be store-bought to save time but not flavor). How that congenial man, Chad, got up every morning the take the trinity, good roux and crawfish tails to such a level of taste was beyond me. Compliments would not crack the recipe from his fortress of Cajun culinary concoctions.

I had to know, I wanted to know, but what little did I know! I even lowered myself to look for ingredient waste in the kitchen trash bin at the camp built completely from aged cypress wood. Gorgeous memories JP!

Clueless but satiated, I passed my mornings licking my bowls of crawfish heaven, then got in the morning hunt via the Chevy engine pushing the pirogue through small semifrozen channels in the swamp. Sitting in the duck blind waiting for my brother to let 12-gauge buckshot blast off near my head, my thoughts always swung right back to that comforting, creamy crawfish platter. Those warming thoughts made it easy to forget the ringing in my ears and the cold of one gloveless hand on my Beretta Silver Mallard 12 gauge. Teals and grays were retrieved by the hunting dog that gave us dirty looks when we missed a few lucky aviators.

Back to our last morning at the camp, Chad warmed up and gave me his clue. He calmly said with his delightful Cajun drawl … “cream o’ shrimp.” Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp Soup! He kind of cheated me, but not really. He gave me the blessing of making people smile. I will always be grateful, and now I feel it’s time to pass on the secret. Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup! But CCSS is just an assist to making a good light-medium roux. You Cajuns all have to remember, it’s an assist!

My version of the “Art-touffée” (adapted for “Underground BBQ Challenge”) fits the colorful graffiti nature of Wynwood. I split the crawfish tails (and their yellow fat) with a 50-50 mix using Key West Pinkies (50-60 count). I also use three color peppers (I dislike the green peppers cuz’ they give me the winds), and red and green onion instead of white. This is truly a pandemic blues cure-all for seafood lovers. If you can create this after the turkey leftovers are gone, you may attain sainthood or a good pat on the back.

Who’s your daddy now?

All the raw ingredients, including the secret add-in.

CHEF SID’S ART-TOUFFÉE

INGREDIENTS

• One pound frozen crawfish tails (got to have the yellow fat and Louisiana crawdads are the best)

• One pound frozen Key West shrimp (40-50), available at Wild Forks Food

• 1 cup chopped equal parts red, orange and yellow bell peppers

• 1 cup chopped red onion plus one bunch chopped green onion

• 1 cup chopped celery stalks

• 5-6 minced garlic cloves, three bay leaves and a partridge in a pear tree

• A few dashes of your favorite Cajun seasoning to taste

• 1/2 stick butter or 1/4 cup olive oil for cooking of vegetables

• 1/2 cup medium flour roux (store bought is OK) or make your own … Look it up and practice!

• 1 can Special Secret! Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup (no water to be added)

• A side of rice or toasted slices of sourdough bread (the Wynwood grill marks seen in my final dish were customized)

PREPARATION

• Place frozen shrimp and bag of crawfish tails to thaw in a bag in the sink. Do not set or rinse in water; thaw only!

• Place all chopped vegetables in a deep skillet and sauté with butter or olive oil until sweated and soft but not caramelized. Add bay leaves and spice to taste with a real good Creole Cajun seafood spice. The idea is to keep it spicy but not offensively fiery.

• Add your roux to thicken up the holy trinity. At this time, you too can get art-farty and add mushrooms or some other ingredients like okra and such, but do not place any trendy crap like kale in there – stay true to the Cajun ways!

• Add the thawed crawdad tails with all their golden yellow fat, and the Key West shrimp. Never rinse before adding or you will lose flavor.

• OK, the secret is out, so you can now plop in the can of Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup! And don’t go run off now and tell your momma or close friends; save this secret close to the vest.

• Let the whole mess simmer for about 45 minutes, so the shrimp and crawdads absorb the savory juices and the mixture gets thick and luxurious.

• Serve over rice or with great slabs of toasted bread to get all the gravy off the bowl. Licking plate optional but mandatory if you are alone at home.