Shrimp & Grits

I’m sure like many of you reading this; you grew up on grits as a regular part of your family’s weekly diet and thinking nothing of it. That is until Joe Pesci’s unforgettable performance in “My Cousin Vinny” when he tries grits for the first time. Now it’s nearly impossible to make, cook or think about grits without hearing Joe Pesci in the back of my mind asking, “what IS a grit?” Here is one of our personal grit favorites…and if you really want to top is off, garnish with crawfish tails prior to serving.

Shrimp & Grits 

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients: 
1 pound medium-size fresh shrimp, peeled (and deveined, if desired)
6 slices of bacon

Peanut oil
2 cups sliced fresh white mushrooms
1 cup slices scallions (green onions)
1 large clove garlic, crush through a garlic press
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Dash of Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 recipe of hot, Cheese Grits. (There is a recipe on page 23 of this book if you do not have a cheese grits recipe).

Directions: 
1. Rinse the shrimp and pat dry on paper towels. Set Aside.
2. Dice the bacon and fry lightly in a large skillet until browned at the edges but not too crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and set aside.
3. Add enough oil to the fat in the skillet to make a thin layer. Heat over medium-high heat until the fat is quite hot. Add the shrimp and cook until they begin to color. Add the mushrooms and sauté, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with scallions and bacon, then add garlic. Season with lemon juice, Tabasco, parsley, salt, and pepper.
4. Divide the grits among four warm plates. Spoon the shrimp mixture over top and serve immediately.

Source: Good Old Grits Cookbook by Bill Neal & David Perry

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Boiled Crawfish

There ain’t a Cajun alive that can’t tell you how to boil crawfish! Exact vegetable contents, boiling methods, seasoning amount and steam time will vary per family/farm, but it all starts the same with ‘as many (crawfish) as you can get!”

Boiled Crawfish

Serving Size: 2 – 4 pounds per person. 5 – 8 pounds per Cajun.

Ingredients: 
Live Crawfish (as many as you can get)
Louisiana Fish Fry’s Crawfish, Crab & Shrimp Boil “pour & boil” & “liquid boil”
Seasoning to taste. Tony Chachere’s or Slap ya’ Mama
Garlic to taste
Butter, two sticks per “drop”
Lemons, five per “drop”
Red Potato’s, one - two per person
Onions, one per person
Corn, one full stock per 2 pounds of crawfish

Other desired ingredients can be added. Sausage, shrimp, crab, radish, asparagus and okra are all common additions. Make sure you add a balance amount to your other ingredients and DO NOT over-fill your boiling pot.



Directions: 
In your boiling pot, fill with water ¾ of the way up basket (not the pot itself). Turn heat on and just before the water starts to boil, add liquid and granular seasoning to taste, butter, garlic and five lemons cut in half and squeezed into the water. When water boils add potatoes and peeled onions. Once potatoes start to soften add the crawfish and corn and bring back to a boil. (Never fill the basket more than ¾ full). Kill the gas and allow to soak for a few moments. Remove the basket and pour all contents into an ice chest, cover in granular seasoning, close lid, shake well and allow to steam for up to 20 minutes before serving. Repeat each “drop” until all the crawfish are gone.

Source: Any coonass you ask!

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Fried Crawfish

Straight from the heart of Louisiana’s Crawfish Capitol and host of the annual, world famous Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival…some good ole fried crawfish. C’est Bon cher!

Fried Crawfish 

Serving Size: 2 – 4 pounds per person…5 – 8 pounds per Cajun.

Ingredients: 
1 pound of cleaned crawfish tails
Salt & red pepper to taste
2 eggs
2 cups of milk
salt & pepper
1 ½ cups of flour
Crisco shortening for frying

Directions:
 Preheat the oil 375 degrees. Season the crawfish tails with salt and red pepper to your taste, and set them aside. Beat the eggs well, add the milk, salt and pepper and beat the mixture together. Put the crawfish tails into the four which you have put into a large bowl, and coat them well. Then put the crawfish into the egg mixture. Take the crawfish out of the mixture one by one and put them into the flour again, and coat the crawfish well, with the flour. Drop the crawfish into the hot shortening one by one. Fry the crawfish until the outside is crisp, about 5 minutes. Serve at once.

Source: The La Meilleure cook book by Jude Theriot credits this recipe to: Roy & Thelma Pontiff of Thelma’s Restaurant in Breaux Bridge, La.

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Tomatoes Stuffed with Crabmeat

Tomatoes Stuffed with Crabmeat

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes

2 cups crabmeat

6 tablespoons mayonnaise

4 teaspoons chopped parsley

4 teaspoons snipped chives

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne pepper

Directions:

Cut off the tops of the tomatoes, and using a small spoon, scoop out the pulp and seeds. Lightly salt the tomatoes and turn them upside-down on paper towels to drain for 30 minutes.

Combine the crabmeat, mayonnaise, parsley, chives and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and cayenne. Stuff the tomatoes with crabmeat, mounding the tops.

Source:. Louisiana Life Magazine, May/June 2013 addition.

And oh yeah…like always…crawfish tails will work just fine in place of the crabmeat!!!!

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Crawfish Broccoli

How do you make kids eat broccoli? Add crawfish and cheez whiz chere!

Crawfish Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 stalks celery

1 ½ cups cooked rice

2 boxes frozen chopped broccoli

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoon butter

1 soup can milk

1 small jar cheez whiz

1 pound crawfish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a cup of water to a boil and put broccoli in to thaw. Drain broccoli thoroughly when thawed out. Sauté onion and celery in butter. Add soup and milk, then cheez whiz. Simmer for a few minutes. Add broccoli, rice and crawfish. Season and put in baking dish. Bake 30 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Source: Cajun Spices for the Mind.

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Crawfish Breakfast Burritos

For those of you wondering, crawfish is an approved meat to any wholesome breakfast! In fact...we are pretty sure it's better than any of that processed cereal, processed bacon or other frozen heart attack crap they sell in the frozen food section that some are even know to call 'food.' 

Crawfish Breakfast Burritos

Serving Size: 12

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

4 eggs, beaten

1 10oz. can diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained

1 10oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 5oz. can chunk white chicken, drained

1 ½ cups cooked rice; white long grain

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

12 flour tortillas

Sauce:

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2/3 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 7x11 inch dishes. Melt butter in medium heat skillet. Add eggs; cook over medium heat until eggs are firm but moist, stirring occasionally. Transfer to large bowl. Stir in tomatoes, soup, chicken, rice and 1 cup cheese; mix well. Spoon onto center of each tortilla. Once folded place seam side down in prepared pans.

In medium bowl, combine all sauce ingredients; blend well. Pour over burritos; cook. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. If desired, garnish with sliced pimento or chopped red bell pepper.

Source:. The Riceland Collection.

And oh yeah…like always…don’t forget a mess of crawfish tails!!!!

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Crawfish Maquechow

Boudreaux's maquechox is the best dere is, everybody that ever tried it will tell you dat! Well, we think it may just get a little better next time when we take this technique and add...you guessed it! CRAWFISH TALES!

Crawfish Maque Choux

Ingredients:

12 fresh ears of corn cut
1 onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 pods of garlic, minced
1 cup onion tops, chopped
1 cup parsley leaves, chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes, diced
2 lbs. Crawfish tails
1/2 cup salad oil
1 stick butter

salt and pepper

 

Directions:

Shuck corn away from cob (cut corn away) and have ready.

To cook Corn: In a cast aluminum pot, heat salad oil then add corn and smother-cook until tender.

Smother bell pepper, onions, garlic, celery, parsley and onion tops until tender but NOT brown. Add corn and a small amount of water. Cook covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients are cooked.

In another aluminum pot, melt butter. Add the crawfish, Rotel tomatoes and the juice. Cook until crawfish are red, about 10-15 minutes. Add corn mixture to this. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes for flavors to mix well. Serve hot over rice.

Cajun Crawfish credits this recipe to Marilyn Vidrine from Church Point, Louisiana.

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Cajun Rice

Good, easy, fast (depending on how fast you can chop) rice recipe...they just forgot to add crawfish in the ingredients...

Cajun Rice 

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

¼ cup bacon drippings or vegetable oil

1 ½ cups raw rice

1 lb. lean, ground beef (1/4 pork, if desired)

1 large onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

3 pieces celery, chopped

¼ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. powdered thymr

¼ cup parsley, chopped

¼ cup green onion and tops, chopped

3 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. red pepper

1 bay leaf

1 can whole tomatoes (14 ½ oz. can)

1 can Italian tomato paste (6 oz. can)

1 cup water

Directions:

Cook meat in beacon drippings until lightly browned, stirring constantly. Add onion, celery and bell pepper. Use medium heat and cook a few minutes until onions are transparent. If seasoning is browned it will taste burned, so stir while cooking. Add raw rice and cook 4 minutes, still stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add all other ingredients, and bake at 350 degrees in shallow roasting pan, tightly covered, for 45 minutes or 1 hour until rice is tender. Remove bay leaf and serve. Those large roasting pans, 2 ½ inchs deep, 9x13 inch with slide on top are perfect for this recipe.

Source:. Poor Man’s Rice Cook Book.

And oh yeah…don’t forget a mess of crawfish tails tossed in!!!!

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Smother Okra and Crawfish

We love the way some recipes are written. Take for example the last sentence in this recipe: "serve over rice if desired." Louisiana Life Magazine does realize this is a Cajun recipe...right? Some things just go without saying...right???

Smothered Okra and Crawfish

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound okra, trimmed and sliced

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice

1 cup chicken stock or broth

1 pound peeled and cooked crawfish tails, with fat

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and hot sauce to taste

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven or heavy casserole, cook the onions, garlic and okra in oil on medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 10-15 minutes. Add the tomatoes with juice and the chicken stock. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the okra is tender, about 30-40 minutes, Add the crawfish; season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Simmer for 10-20 minutes. Serve over rice, if desired.

Source: March/April addition of Louisiana Life Magazine.

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Cooking with a Legend: Crawfish Celery Dip - a fast and easy crawsfish appetizer.

Cooking with family and friends has always been a part of Cajun culture and tradition. It's not uncommon to spend and entire day slow cooking a cochon de lait or stirring the roux for a big pot of gumbo just in time for the farmers as they come off the fields at sun down. No matter the hard times they may be going through be it drought, poor crops, slow economy, more mouths the feed than slices of andouille sausage in the jambalaya, oil spills, or anything in between, when the Cajun's get together there will be bon food and bon temps!

This is no exception in our families and around the kitchen of Baby Kay the stories are endless, the drinks are full, memories are created and the meals are legendary. In spite the entire families effort to write down or recreate her recipes, all attempts have failed. Not because Baby Kay (or Mama Kay as her family calls her) is concealing her recipes or cooking secrets, in fact she goes out of her way to help teach the curious minds and watchful eyes lined around her butcher block island. The reason efforts have fallen short is because Mama Kay doesn't follow recipes and never cooks the same thing exactly as she did the last time. But without fail, all her creations are nothing short of perfection.

So, what better way to prepare three frozen pounds of crawfish tales remaining from July 4th's trapping adventure than bringing them over to Mama Kay's to fix up? I couldn't think of one either... Following is one of her favorite "fast & easy" dishes perfect for unexpected guests that happen by or when you need a little filler while waiting on the gumbo to cook down.

Crawfish Celery Dip:

With at least one pound of crawfish tales in a mixing bowl include the following ingredients chopped to preferred size and mixed to taste. After chilling, serve with your choice of assorted crackers...don't expect leftovers.

• Celery stalks
• Parsley
• Green Onions
• Mayo
• Tony Chachere's Seasoning
• Tabasco

This dish also goes great over salad and prefect for hot summer afternoons.

Hope y'all enjoy this Lagniappe creation of Mama Kay's. If you fix it up in your own kitchen drop us line and let us know how it turned out. Bon Appetite!

Y'all come back now ya' hear!?

The Arizona Crawfish Company Family
www.ArizonaCrawfishCompany.com