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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Crawfish Festival Press Release

2013 Arizona Crawfish Festival

For immediate release:

Who:              Arizona Crawfish Company

What:             2013 Arizona Crawfish Festival

When:            August 10^th, 2013 Noon -9:00PM

Where:           Bison Ranch. Overgaard, Arizona

Why:              Raise awareness of Crawfish in Arizona and educate wildlife enthusiasts on personal harvest and consumption of Crawfish.

Details:          Due to popular demand, the original Arizona Crawfish Festival is BACK!

In spring of 2002 the festival was birthed by Louisianan born radio host Rosie Romero upon hearing crawfish were over populating our waterways. After two years on the shoreline of Willow Springs Lake, the attendance and popularity was growing so rapidly a site with basic facilities and services was required. The festival then merged with a similar event and held on the lawn of Camp Verde’s historic Fort Verde. After a few years Rosie pulled his affiliation with the festival and Camp Verde held it’s last crawfish festival in 2010.

It was during this eight year run of annual crawfish boils that Arizona Crawfish Company’s founders Bobby Avery and Romey Romero met when they faced off for the eating contest in 2004.

Like the original festival at Willow Springs Lake, this year’s crawfish will be from Arizona’s waterways. Trapping teams are being assembled and assigned to lakes, rivers and streams along the Mogollon Rim for maximum extraction. In the past this had always been a challenge because of the transportation regulations on crawfish in Arizona set and enforced by the Arizona Game & Fish Department, in order to prevent further infestation. However, special permitting has been granted for this event. The goal is to remove 10,000 pounds of crawfish in the week long trapping contest leading up to the festival.

All trapped crawfish will legally be transported under Game & Fish supervision to Bison Ranch for the August 10^th Festival where they will be boiled and served to festival attendees Cajun style with corn, potatoes and onions! For a complete list of Rules, Regulations and participation details, visit Arizona Crawfish Trapping Contest.html.

There will be a crawfish eating contest, Cajun food vendors, frozen daiquiris, Abita Beer, live music, the performance of Arizona’s own Taylor Family Circus and more! For the kids there will be inflatable bounce house & slide, train rides, horseback rides and face painting to name a few!

The festival will be held Saturday from Noon to 9:00PM in the lawn courtyard at Bison Ranch in Heber/Overgaard, Arizona. There will be a $5 parking fee benefiting the local lions club and a $15 admission fee per person/$25 per family ($3 per kid 12 years of age and older, under 12 free) to cover staff, entertainment and facility use. Pre-Purchase tickets by August 7th to ensure you receive at least three pounds of crawfish at the festival!

$2 of every ticket sale will be donated to Jared Allen’sHomes for Wounded Warriors Project.

Stay up to date with new developments by following this blog and/or joining the facebook event page.

An event this size takes community involvement to make it a fun, safe, success family event. We extend our sincere gratitude to the people and sponsors involved.

·      Sanderson TomCar 

·      Rosie On The House 

·      Arizona Game & Fish Dept.

·      Bison Ranch

·      Lone Eagle Outdoors

·      Wild Woman Saloon

·      Abita Beer Co.

SPONSOR VIDEO

For event details, call
Bobby Avery at (480)299-7866 or
Romey Romero at (602)885-1078
or send an email request to arizonacrawfishco@gmail.com.

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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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Crawfish Report-Bartlett Lake

This picture was sent via text to Bobby's lovely wife, Sabrina, from some friends who spent the weekend at Bartlett Lake's SB Cove camp ground.

Romey's only trapped below the Mogollon Rim twice. Once in Canyon Lake once back in 1998 and again at Alamo Lake in 2011. Between the two trips, one catfish and one crawfish was all that was yielded and again why we stick to the high country for crawfish trapping.

The report we received with this photo stated "there were so many (crawfish) the kids wouldn't go in the water!" Now we've come to learn over the years our definition of "a lot of crawfish" compared to anyone who has never been to a Louisiana Crawfish Pond or Boil are completely different. However, judging by the size of this crawfish and the word that bass are biting, may just be enough for us to try a third trip to a desert lake...

Where are you seeing crawfish? Email us at arizonacrawfishco@gmail.com and we'll share your report!

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Weekly Cajun Humor - A Round For Everybody

A Round For Everybody

My friend Thibodeaux, and I were sitting in the local bar enjoying a beer and joking around.

            In walks our buddy, Boudreaux. He walks up to the bar and tells the bartender in a loud voice: “Bartender, a round of drinks for everyone and get you one, too.”

            The bartender fixed everyone in the house a drink and also on for himself.

            Before long, Boudreaux shouted again, “Bartender, get everybody a drink and get you one, too!”

            The bartender got busy fixing everyone a drink, including himself. After he finished, he walked up to Boudreaux and said, “Boudreaux, that will be $62.50.”

            “Huh?” Boudreaux said. “I ain’t got no money.”

            “No money? What are you doing ordering rounds of drinks for everybody when you can’t pay for it?”

            “I was just being nice,” replied Boudreaux.

            The bartender let Boudreaux have a left hook right in the nose. When Boudreaux came to, he slowly stood up, dusted himself off and leaned on the bar.

            “Bartender,” he hollered, “Get everybody a drink! And you…you can’t have one. You’re too mean when you drink.”

Source: Cajun Spices for the Mind by Larry Leger & Murray Conque

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Crawfish Pot Pie

Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo;
Cause tonight Im gonna see my machez a mio;

Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh;
Son of a gun, well have big fun on the da bayou.

~Hank Williams.

Hope his crawfish pie was this good!!!

Individual Crawfish Pot Pie

Serving Size: 4 individual pies

Crust Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons cold butter

3-4 tablespoons ice-cold water

            Directions: In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour and salt to combine. Cut the butter into small pieces, and add it to the bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing it in with a fork, until dough forms. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface, and shape it into a disc. Divide the dough into four discs, and wrap each in wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Filling Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1medium bell pepper, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 cup chicken stock or broth

1 tablespoon dry roux

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 pound cooked and peeled crawfish tails, with fat

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

Creole seasoning to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions: Melt the butter in a heavy pot; add the onion, bell pepper and celery; and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the chicken stock to a boil in a small pot, and whisk in the roux to dissolve. Add the stock to the vegetable mixture. Add the tomato paste, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the crawfish and green peas, and season with Creole seasoning and black pepper. Divide the mixture among four 8-ounce baking dishes, leaving a space at the top of each for expansion. The recipe may be prepared to this point a day in advance and refrigerated. If refrigerated, allow baking dish and contents to come to room temperature before proceeding. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Assemble the pie:

On a floured surface, roll out disc of dough so that it is at least an inch larger than the baking dish. Place the dough on the baking dish, and press edges to seal. Leave about a half-inch overhang, and trim any excess. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place the dishes on a heavy baking sheet.

Using a pastry brush, coat each crust with an egg wash. Cut vents in each crust. Place the baking sheet in preheated oven, and bake until the crust are browned, about 30 minutes.

Source:. March/April addition of Louisiana Life Magazine.

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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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