[Paddlewise] Great Paddlewise Cookbook Contest

Folks this is not a quick and easy one, but Cajun cooking is more of a social
event than a rush and eat thing.  Try it, you might like it adn it is good for
you.

Enjoy,

John LeBlanc


Dehydrated Crawfish and Crawfish Etoufee

Standing in line at a grocery store caused me to think of this one.  All my
life I have seen little packages of dried shrimp attached to a paper card in
grocery stores all along the gulf coast.  These little dried shrimp curl up no
bigger than a penny and are sold in packages of 1 oz for $2.95.

I often wondered what people did with them as they looked much more pathetic
than the bait we used to throw away because it was too old.

As I grew older, I learned there was a big dried shrimp industry stemming from
the way Cajuns preserved shrimp for later use before the advent of
refrigeration.

To dry then, they were headed and salted and placed in large round hardware
cloth cylinders that were tumbled in the hot sun.  As they dried, the shells
would come off.  After sufficient drying, these were winnowed in much like
rice or wheat to separate the shell from the meat.

They were then used in a variety of shrimp recipes just as the fresh ones
were.

This gave me an idea.  I boiled several pounds of shrimp in my favorite
seasoning and then placed them in my electric dehydrator.  Several hours later
a product similar to those previously mentioned was obtained.

Various recipes were tried such as gumbo and etoufe.  It tasted OK, but not
nearly as good as using fresh.  The shrimp did not gain any appreciable size
when rehydrated.  I was pretty much disapointed with the results.  I guess I
just like fresh shrimp too much.

One day while cooking crawfish etoufee, I got the idea to try dehydrating
crawfish.  Again, I  boiled the peeled tail meat in my favorite seasoning and
dipped them out of the pot through the rolling part of the boiling water so as
to not get any of the fat on them.

I placed them in the dehydrator until they were sufficiently dry.  It took
about four to five hours if I remember correctly.  I usually don't pay too
much attention to total time of things in the dehydrator preferring to just do
it until they are done.  The air temperature and humidity makes a lot of
difference as to how long it takes them to dry. I don't cook by time either,
just until it is done.

After drying any meat, I always store it in ziplock bags in the freezer.  I
usually leave the bags open a few days in the freezer and find that they
actually dry out a little more that way.  The logic behind this is the frost
buildup inside freezer bags.

When using dehydrated crawfish, I take what I need and place them in a pot and
simmer in seasoned water until fully rehydrated.  They have a similar
consistancy to cooked fresh crawfish but are slightly tougher and smaller.
The flavor is the same and they do gain some size, but not back to the
original size.

All in all crawfish dehydrate and rehydrate to a more usable state than shrimp
do.  For extended trips or even short ones, I include crawfish in my
dehydrated food and make etoufee, gumbo, pies and whatever else I want to
make.  When combined with the dehydrated ground beef I always carry, you can
have a steak and lobster dinner if you want to.  Well, sort of.

Seven pounds of cooked, peeled crawfish will fill up into two one quart
Nalgene wide mouth containers and will make several meals.  We figure one-
fourth pound of fresh crawfish per person when making various dishes, so you
can figure how much you want to dehydrate.  A one pound package makes just the
right amount ofetoufee for my family of four.

The dehydrated crawfish are delicious to eat dry as a snack, but I warn you
that they require that you drink a lot of water at the same time.

There are many recipes for crawfish both in cookbooks and on the internet.
Each Cajun has their favorite variety.  Below is mine.  It is a rather mild
one at that.

Gumbo is almost the same as etoufee with roux added.  Actually you start it
with a roux, but no matter how much I try to tell you how to do it, you can't
do it unless you have see it done, then do it under proper tutelage.   I can
show you, but I can't tell you how to do it.  A cast iron pot is not
necessary, but it is required.  And yes, I said that correctly.

Crawfish Etoufee

One pound crawfish or equivalent dehydrated
Two to three cloves garlic if desired
One bunch cellery
One bunch green onions
One white or yellow onion
One fourth pound butter
Tex Joy Steak Seasoning (similar to Seasonall or Seasoned salt  see
www.texjoy.com
Corn starch to thicken

Melt the butter in a pot.  Sautee the garlic if wanted.  Add about one fourth
of the crawfish and some seasoning and stir for a few minutes,  then add the
chopped celery and onions.  Continue stirring and cook until the vegetables
all start to wilt, add the rest of the crawfish and water and simmer for at
least thirty minutes until the flavor and consistancy is just right.  Add more
seasoning if needed.  If fuel is not scarce or you are using a wood fire,
simmer as long as you can.  Several hours is not too much.  Remember that this
is one dish that is always better the day after you cook it, so you cannot
simmer it too long.  Mix some cornstarch in a cup of cold water and stir into
the simmering pot to thicken.  Be sure to stir constantly after adding the
cornstarch until removed from the fire to prevent sticking and burning the
bottom.  Serve over rice or straight out of the pot, whichever way you want
it.

Tricks of the trade.  Add some seasoning early to blend the flavors throughout
the cooking process.  Do not add too much too soon as an overly seasoned dish
is just not good to eat or is it real Cajun food.  Blackened anything is not
Cajun.  That stuff is only sold to tourist in New Orleans.  The dogs won't
even eat it.  It is properly seasoned if your customers need to add just a
shake or two of seasoning to their own bowls for it to be just right.




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