crawfish pies

Well, it’s time for my annual post to this website (sorry!) I’ll do some repenting starting on Wednesday, but until then, it is time to feast on a Louisiana classic in honor of Mardi Gras. This is actually taken from an etouffee recipe that I decided to make into pies, thinking I was all crafty, and then I later discovered that crawfish pie filling is pretty much etouffee anyway. So here’s a twofer recipe. You may be tempted just to make the etouffee, which is completely delicious in itself, but taking it to the level of handheld piedom is so worth the extra effort. Individual Crawfish Pies Adapted from Anita Stafford's crawfish etouffee recipe, most appropriately found in the Covington, Louisiana Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church "Cooking with Trinity" Cookbook

Filling

• 1 cup butter


• 1 teaspoon olive oil


• 1 cup flour (use only ½ cup if making just a batch of etouffee)


• 2 large onions, finely diced


• 4 large ribs of celery, finely diced


• 1 large bell pepper, finely diced


• 5 (or more) cloves of garlic, minced


• 5 shallots, minced


• 3 tablespoons tomato paste


• 1/4 cup dry sherry or vermouth (this is optional – just use what you like)


• 1/2 cup white wine


• 1 cup savory stock (chicken, fish, or beef)


• 2 lbs crawfish tails (small shrimp will work if you can’t find crawfish up in the Union)


• ½ cup minced parsley


• 2 whole bay leaves


• 1 tsp thyme


• A few dashes of Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce


• 2-3 teaspoons Creole seasoning (or to taste)


• Salt, to taste


• Black pepper, to taste

1. In a 5+ quart pot, melt butter and oil together over medium low heat (you may want to do it a little hotter if you’re comfortable making a roux). Add flour and stir constantly until it reaches a dark peanut butter or copper color, and then cook just a little longer.


2. Add minced vegetables and tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the veggies are soft.


3. Add booze and allow to cook down for a minute or two. Then add stock, crawfish, parsley, bay leaves, thyme, hot sauce, Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper. If you use a Creole seasoning that doesn’t contain salt, add salt separately to taste. If you use Tony Chachere’s or some other salted seasoning, omit the plain salt and add the seasoning until it’s as salty as you want it.


4. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.


5. For pies: Evaluate consistency, and continue cooking down if it looks too thin to use as a pie filling. If your mixture actually seems watery (this can happen if your seafood contains a lot of water), simply make a mini-roux in a separate pan using several tablespoons of butter and flour in a 1:1 ratio and add to the mixture until thick. For etouffee: the consistency should be like gravy so use extra roux or extra stock as needed to achieve this. Serve over rice.

Butter Pie Crust Courtesy of Kittencal from food.com

• 3 cups cake flour


• 3 cups all purpose flour


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 2 teaspoons salt


• 2 cups butter, very cold


• 2 eggs, separated


• 14 tablespoons ice water


• 2 teaspoons vinegar

1. Mix flours, sugar, and salt.


2. Combine dry mixture with cold butter using a pastry cutter or food processor until the largest butter chunks are about the size of small peas.


3. Whisk together the egg yolks, water, and vinegar.


4. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moistened and dough holds together (but don’t overdo it or your dough will be tough).


5. Divide the dough into four parts and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Pie Making:

1. Divide dough into 16 balls and roll each into a 6-8 inch circle.


2. Place crawfish filling onto half of each circle, leaving a 1 inch border around the edge.


3. Mix egg whites with a splash of milk or water and dab around the border. Then fold top of pie over crawfish, and press around the edge with the tines of a fork to seal.


4. Brush egg white mixture over pies.


5. Make a few slits in the top of the pies and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Note: Any simple flour and shortening recipe or a store bought crust will do. I just liked this recipe because I’m more likely to have these ingredients on hand. Laissez les bon temps rouler!