I don’t really use measurements so bear with me.
The most important part of the dish is the stock. If you don’t have any stock from a leftover seafood boil. The Roux is a close 2nd in importance. I prefer Crisco.
Key ingredients:
- brown roux (equal parts flour to oil, usually cup of each for a nice size pot)
- Onion (1 medium or large chopped)
- Bell pepper (2 medium peppers, red and green chopped)
- Celery (2 stalks diced finely)
- Fresh minced garlic (maybe 2 tablespoons)
- Diced tomatoes in tomato juice (large can, also good to add some fresh ones)
- Bay leaf
- Cajun seasoning
- Seafood stock (This is the most important part for authentic taste)
First step is starting your roux. Heat a heavy bottomed pan at medium heat and adjust as needed. Continually stir until a brown roux is achieved. Don’t let it get too dark. Next add all your veggies and cook them down. (A tip to speed the whole process up is to have your onions, celery, garlic, and bell peeper sautéed in a separate pan ahead of time.) I usually add the tomatoes after the rest had become translucent.
Next add your stock. For shrimp creole use shrimp stock and for crawfish use crawfish stock. When using crawfish I would recommend taking a lot of that fat out the heads to add to the dish. That will make more like an etouffee . Add as much stock as needed to get to the consistency you want. I always make mine a little watery at first because I cook it down a lot to the thickness I prefer. Also add the bay leaf at this time.
Next step is to add Cajun seasoning to taste. You may want to add other spices but my stock is always full of spices which limit my need to add more. Now it’s time to let it cook down. For shrimp I usually add the shrimp about 30 minutes before its ready. You can get away with putting the crawfish in earlier since they are already cooked anyway.
Serve over rice with French bread and butter.
This dish taste even better the next day after all the seasonings combine. You may want to add some granulated onion and garlic if you find it is lacking in something.