Étouffee

Happy Fat Tuesday to you!
With the Lent season upon us, take this last chance to cook something a little bit sinful. Wednesday many of us will be giving up something in order to prepare for Easter. If you are like me then the things you give up could very well be food related. Also, take this last opportunity to prepare your body for all the fish it will consume in the coming weeks.

I would like to issue a Kitty Cat Warning at this time. If you are the owner of a cat, they will have a hard time resisting this meal. Our cats were willing to fight the dogs for a spot in the kitchen. Our kitten was even willing to get burned in the hunt for Crawfish. Our 9-year-old cat, that is seldom seen while the kids are awake, was right there in the mix too.

Étouffer means to smother and smother this recipe does, not to mention sticking to your ribs. Étouffee is great in that you can put in any ingredients you want and it still tastes wonderful. Have fun and use some ingredients that you don’t normally use in your cooking.

Ingredients:
1 Lb Chicken strips
1 lb Shrimp Frozen baby small shrimp
1 Lb Crawfish tails Frozen, cooked and peeled
1 Lb Andoulle Cajun Sausage
½ C Butter
½ C All-purpose Flour
2 C chopped Celery
2 C Chopped Onion
4 or 5 Cloves of Garlic
1 C Chopped Green Onion
1 C Chopped Sweet Bell
3 Tbsp Butter
1 Beer Shiner Bock have extras to drink.
1 C water
½ Fresh Parsley
1 Tsp Salt
½ Tsp Red Pepper
½ Tsp Pepper Black and white peppercorns
1 Tbsp Chipotle Tabasco
½ Tsp Smoked Paprika
4 C cooked rice

Directions:
Thaw Crawfish and shrimp, if frozen. Fresh Crawfish can be a real chore to cook and peel.
Start rice cooking.
Cook chicken and sausage in the pan or pot that you will be using for the Étouffee. Remove all your meat to a plate while preparing the roux.
Stir together flour, and butter until smooth. Cook over Medium-high heat for 3 minutes stirring constantly.
Reduce to medium heat. Cook and stir 5 minutes more or until a reddish brown roux is formed.
Add onion, garlic, celery, & sweet pepper. Cook and stir for 5 minutes.
Add 3 Tbsp butter: stir until melted.
Stir in beer, water, green onion, parsley, red pepper flakes and pepper.
Bring to a boil.
Add Crawfish, shrimp, chicken and sausage. Return to boil and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered 5 or 10 minutes more or until heated through.
Serve on top of cooked hot rice.
I grate cheddar chipotle cheese on top of ours. Cheddar cheese with roasted jalapeno peppers.

Again, you can add your choice of seafood or meat and even add vegetables if you like. I had planned to add okra but forgot I had it.

HAPPY FAT TUESDAY! Drop us a comment. We would love to know how you will celebrate this day.