I adapted this recipe from a text of cooking instructions discovered by Bert Jones and Tommy Casanova on December 6, 1970 in an abandoned homestead deep in the bayous of extreme Southern Louisiana.
It was the day following LSU's crushing 61-17 defeat of the Ole Miss Rebels on national television. Bert and Tommy were sight seeing for relaxation in preparation for their upcoming appearance in the Orange Bowl.
Since at the time crawfish tails were only available during a portion of the year, other sources of meat were listed as substitues for mudbugs. These substitutions include neutra, shrimp, rabbit and racoon, along with various other readily available edible critters. Since frozen crawfish tails are now readily available in all Non-Yankee areas (anything south of Interstate 20), I suggest this recipe only use crawfish tails as the meat source.
Ingredients:
1 large onion
3 ribs celery
4 cloves minced/crushed garlic
1 medium or large bell pepper
1 stick salted butter
1 can uncooked tomatoes (whole, chopped or diced will do)
1 can 'Hot' Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 pound crawfish tails
3 packages Philadelphia cream cheese
dash of salt
dash of white pepper
dash of black pepper
dash crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons of Tony's Creole Seasoning
Take the Philadelphia cream cheese and place somewhere where your house-roaming pets can't get to it. Locate your videotape of the 1997 LSU-Florida football game and cue it up to the opening kickoff. (You may substitute the 1996 NCAA National Championship baseball game but be sure to cue it up to the beginning of the 8th inning).
Process or finely chop onion, celery, garlic and bell pepper (a food processor or quality blender works quickest and best). Process tomatoes in a food processor or blender until they are as fine as a Golden Girl. In a black cast iron skillet, melt butter. Add vegetables. Saute' on low heat with lid on until as mushy as a Vandy fan after a football win over a ranked team. Add processed tomatoes and mix well.
Add crawfish tails and simmer until almost of the liquid has departed like a group of 'Bama fans getting beat by the Bengal Tigers in Northport late in the 3rd QTR. Add salt, white and black pepper, crushed red pepper and Tony's; then stir up like you're taunting a bunch of Irish fans in an Indiana bar while they're getting beat by Boston College.
Cover, turn off heat and begin to view the videotape you cued up earlier. If watching the 1996 LSU-Gaytor football game stop viewing at the end of the 1st half. If viewing the 1996 NCAA National Championship baseball game, stop watching when they geaux to commercial after Warren Morris' "Shot Heard Around The Bayou".
Add the cream cheese and mix well (if the Skip Dip mixture is too cool for the cream cheese to melt quickly enough for you it is permissable to heat the mixture over low heat to speed the process).
Refrigerate (preferably overnight) until the entire dish has set into a jelled state.
Add a live or taped LSU sporting event and serve with bagel chips, melba toast and/or raw carrots, celery or any other very sturdy vegetables.
Can't get live crawfish or frozen crawfish tails where you live?
Charlie B's Crawfish Etoufee'
This recipe was adapted from one given to me by my good friend and fellow LSU fan Charlie B (Charles Byrum). Charles is originally from Vicksburg, MS and currently lives in the Jackson, MS metro area. He is a CPA with Ernst and Young in Jackson. Charles is a LSU football season ticket holder and has been my companion at several landmark LSU games, including the 1988 Alabama game in Tuscaloosa, the 1996 Auburn game in Tiger Stadium and the 2000 Missisloppy State game. Charles also has a great recipe for Sauce Picante that I will share with you soon.
Ingredients
2 large bell peppers
2 large white onions
2 bunches green onions
1 bunch celery
4 tablespoons minced garlic
32 oz chicken broth
1/2 lb salted butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 lbs crawfish tails
1 TBLS Tony's Creole Seasoning
1 TBLS red pepper
1 TBLS paprika
1 TBLS black pepper
1 TBLS white pepper
dash salt
Melt butter in dutch oven or large pot. Coarsly chop bell pepper, oninons, green onions and celery. Stirring often, saute' all vegetables, including garlic, in the butter until they are soft.
Add Tony's, red pepper, paprika, black and white pepper, salt and mix well. While continuing to saute' the vegetables, add the flour and stir constantly until a sticky paste is formed.
Add the chicken broth and stir until you have a nice boiling roux mixture. Add crawfish tails and stir until mixed well. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Turn heat off and allow mixture to cool for at least one hour--preferably two. After the mixture has cooled and the seasonings have involved themselves-one to two hours-heat just to boiling again.
Reduce heat, simmer to keep mixture hot for serving. Serve over rice with garlic-french bread.
Crawfish Saban
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil (EXTRA virgin)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup sliced muchrooms
1 pound peeled crawfish tails
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup half and half cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 oz) pkg linguini, cooked
Melt butter with olive oil in large skillet. Saute garlic and muchrooms until mushrooms are tender. Add crawfish tails and green onions. Cook 5 minutes over low heat. Stir in chopped parsley. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and add half and half. Simmer for five minutes. Add salt and pepper...to taste. Serve over hot linguini.
Serves four regular humans or 2 real Cajuns!
Check back soon for more of "Stan in Mississippi's" recipes which will be added daily until I run out of Tiger food to serve your guests!
