Florida Crawfish Etouffee- Lets Celebrate Mardi Gras!

With Mardi Gras in full swing in the South, I thought it would be fun to have a New Orleans dinner. We could choose from a classic NOLA cuisine like jambalaya, red beans and rice, fried catfish, shrimp creole, or gumbo. I decided on Crawfish Etouffee!! Now crawfish may be hard to find in your area, so you can always substitute shrimp instead. This recipe is gluten-free and dairy free. I also sautéed the vegetables separately and then added them all together to prevent overcooking the crawfish. Serve this yummy dish with grilled veggies or a fresh garden salad.

Florida’s Crawfish Etouffee

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil melted

½ Onion chopped (3/4 cup)

½ large Green Bell Pepper chopped (1/2 cup)

Chopped Celery (3/4 cup)

1 Tbsp. minced Garlic

1# peeled Louisiana Crawfish (or 1# peeled Florida Shrimp if you can’t find crawfish)

1 tsp favorite Creole Seasoning (or 2 tsp smoked paprika for a milder version)

1 tsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Corn Starch or Rice Flour

1 cup Cold Water

½ Fresh Lemon

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh Parsley

Chopped Green Onion for garnish

2 cups cooked Rice

Instructions

1.      Cook rice in rice cooker or insta-pot

2.      In skillet, melt coconut oil and slightly sauté onion

3.      Add celery, bell pepper and garlic to skillet to sauté

4.      In heavy stock pot place the thawed crawfish (or shrimp) and slowly heat

5.      Sprinkle with seasoning

6.      Dissolve corn starch into cold water, pour into the stock pot.

7.      Combine the vegetable mixture and heat to 185* while simmering (10 min.)

8.      Taste and add more seasoning if desired

9.      Squeeze half a lemon over the dish to give it just a little perk

10.  Serve immediately over rice

11.  Garnish with minced fresh parsley and green onion slices.