Monday, May 13, 2013

Crawfish Boil...



Crawfish, Crawdads, Mud bugs.....  

Whatever you want to call 'em, 
they are strange little crustaceans...  

Ever eaten one?  

They taste like a slightly gamey cross 
between lobster and shrimp...  


Cooked up right, those red little critters are heavenly...  

My first experience with crawdads was in the mid 1990's 
when Mom and I decided to visit New Orleans 
for a weekend of antiquing and eating...  

It was late May and the humidity fell on the town 
like a hot, wet wool blanket...  


 
My mother enjoys intense humidity 
like she pines for root canals, 
so she was not thrilled with the moist heat....  

But we accepted the steamy air 
and had a fantastic time admiring  
the massive plantation era furniture pieces, 
the exquisite pearl and garnet jewelry 
and the beautiful glassware...  

Back then, I was just starting 
to become intrigued by good food 
and we feasted on beignets, 
shrimp bisque and po'boys...  

We ate at Commander's Palace
and Brennan's...  

Oh, we sampled some amazing dishes...  

On the last evening of our stay, 
we ventured into a no-name restaurant 
for some dinner...  

The place was lively, so we knew the food 
must be pretty good...  

While we were perusing the menu, 
Mom noticed a huge bowl, 
filled with something red and piping hot, 
at the next table...  

She asked the waiter what that was 
and he replied the guests next to us 
were sharing crawfish as an appetizer...  

We recoiled at the thought 
of shelling all those creepy looking crustaceans, 
but our sweet, patient waiter assured us 
crawdads were worth the effort...  

He promised to teach us the shell removal method, 
so we relented... 


Wow, what a delicious revelation!  

Once we learned how to get 
to the sweet, tender langostino meat 
and then to dunk it into melted butter, 
we were in a Creole happy place!  
 
We devoured that large bowl of crawfish, 
fighting for the last one...  

After returning home, my mother went on the quest
to find those diminutive morsels of joy 
to cook herself... 

It took some time to locate them, 
but once she introduced crawfish 
to my brother and father, 
they found their own gustatory salvation
in Mr. Crawdad...  

Not for the low-fat crowd, 
the guys would melt a couple pounds of butter, 
toss in lemon juice and quite a few slugs of hot sauce... 

Then, my brother and dad would shell all of the vermillion creatures
and let them soak in the melted bath of golden glory 
before diving in...  

Those fellas would consume multiple pounds of crawdads, 
until they patted their bellies with satisfaction...  

Nowadays, when my brother comes into town for a visit, 
he can be sure that Mom will have the crawfish
waiting in the freezer for him...  

This was the case this past weekend 
when Erik arrived for a visit...  

We got together to celebrate Mother's Day 
on Saturday... 

Kate and I drove to the 'burbs to see everyone...  

I had not enjoyed crawfish for many years, 
as T$ is not much of a shellfish/crustacean fan...  

Kate could care less for any edible fishy thing
from the sea... 

 

But once that steaming, red bowl of goodness 
was carried to the table, 
her curiosity got the best of her...  

Her cousin was peeling langostinos with gusto 
and Kate wanted in on the action...  

Uncle Erik gave a quick tutorial on crawdad shelling 
and Kate bravely gave it a try...  


First she twisted off its crimson head 
and tossed it into the communal bowl 
of cast offs...  

Next she crushed the exoskeleton tail 
with her little fingers 
and deftly pulled the crawfish meat out...  

Kate eyed the tiny tail meat with a cautious stare 
before popping it into her mouth...  

I waited, breathless, for the verdict... 

 "I love crawdads!" she exclaimed!  

After that, Katherine was all about shelling and eating, 
an unusual behavior for my picky non-seafood eater...  

Isn't it always like that?  



Your kids try new foods away from home, 
after refusing to touch the same dish
placed on your kitchen table...

Whatever... if they now proclaim the fabulousness
of the Cuban sandwich, 
which my son tried, for the first time, this past weekend, 
who cares?  

As long as they expand their palates, 
I am a happy camper...  

Today, after school, Kate asked me 
when I would make crawdads to eat at our house...  


That girl is after my own heart, she is...


  Here is a basic crawfish boil recipe, courtesy of Food Network...
 
 
 
Stove-Top Crawfish Boil

Recipe courtesy of Mario Batali

Prep Time:
5 min
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
35 min

Level:
--

Serves:
4 servings

Ingredients

2 bags crab boil (such as Old Bay seasoning)
1 tablespoon liquid crab boil (available from specialty food stores)
3 lemons, halved
1 pound small red bliss potatoes
4 garlic bulbs, halved horizontally
2 onions, quartered
3 pounds live crawfish (seasonally available in some places -- there is no substitute)
12 ounces link Andouille sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 ears corn, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound button mushrooms
Salt and cayenne

Directions

In a very large pot heat 3 gallons of water until nearly boiling. Add dry and liquid crab boil, squeeze in lemons, then throw in potatoes, garlic and onions. Boil 10 minutes. Add everything else. Cover and boil 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Uncover, sprinkle in 1/4 cup salt and 1 tablespoon cayenne, stir it up, cover again and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain off liquid. Line table with newspaper and dig in.






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