“I Guarontee”: A Provider’s Take on Cajun Cuisine

     Dr Marcantel and I are both creative and enthusiastic cooks. We enjoy making Louisiana cuisines (note the Fleur De Lis as the practice logo). We recently had a Chicken Gumbo Throwdown for the office that ended in a draw. There are no losers in cooking for friends and family if people are enjoying your food and leave full and happy. I am sharing a recipe I poached from Louisiana Cooking years ago and will suggest modifications to adjust to the availability of products and personal variation. I hope you will enjoy this recipe!

Robert F. Lemert, MD, FACOG

“I Guarontee” – Justin Wilson

 Crawfish Étouffée (Serves 6)

Ingredients: 

¼ C Butter

½ C Sweet Onion (chopped)

½ C Celery (chopped)

½ C Red Bell Pepper (chopped)

2 Garlic Cloves (minced)

3 T All-Purpose Flour (I leave this out. Flour can lighten the color of the roux but can burn and effect the flavor.)

½ C Dry Sherry

1 C Seafood Stock

2T Tomato Paste (concentrated)

2T Hot Sauce (optional)

2 Bay Leaves

1 tsp Kosher Salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1-Lb Crawfish Tail Meat (may substitute with Wild Caught Shrimp)

4 cups White Rice (I always add 2-3 bay leaves to my rice and then ½ a stick of butter at the end of the rice boil.)

Garnish: chopped green onion

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring, until tender, about 1 minute. (May add green onions at this point) Add flour, stirring constantly until combined, about 2 minutes. (I usually do not add flour because I feel the tomato paste thickens the roux)
2. Stir in sherry, and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add seafood stock, tomato paste, hot sauce, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Add crawfish then reduce heat and simmer for about 8 minutes. Serve immediately with rice, and garnish with green onion, if desired. 

– I have a LA (Lower Alabama) version of this recipe where I add Conecuh sausage to the mix. I cook the sausage (1 lb.) in a separate pan. Then mix the sausage in at the #2 stage. The natural grease and sausage flavor add to the flavoring of the seafood.