Crawfish Etouffee

Looks pretty, yes, but boy was it quite confusing to make. You can view the original recipe from the source link at the very bottom of this post and compare to mine. Nothing the recipe said to do worked out nor did the measurements proportion correctly. If I hadn't "saved" the recipe as best as I could then I would have ended up with soup and just a few pieces of crawfish in each bowl. The end flavors were great, but I am disappointed that this version of crawfish etouffe was not all that I had been dreaming of. If you have a more authentic recipe, please share :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1⁄4 tsp. dried thyme

1⁄4 cup canola oil

1⁄4 cup flour

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

3 stalks finely chopped celery

1 chopped green bell pepper

1 large garlic clove minced

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 lb. peeled crawfish tails

 
   1 cup diced tomatoes, drained

2 finely chopped scallions

Cooked white or yellow rice, for serving

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine salt, cayenne, black pepper, basil, and thyme; set spice mixture aside.

In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Sprinkle in flour, whisking constantly, and cook for 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until roux gets darker, about 15 minutes. Add onions, garlic, celery, and bell peppers. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until vegetables soften. Stir in half of the reserved spice mixture. Add the diced tomatoes.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the broth to a boil. Gradually add it to the roux and whisk until incorporated. 

In that same saucepan used to heat the broth, melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium-high heat. Stir in crawfish tails and scallions and cook, about 3 minutes until heated through. Add remaining spice mixture. Add the crawfish to the pot with the roux. Stir. Remove pot from heat and serve étouffée with rice.

Source: Saveur Magazine