lobster tail with crawfish étouffée
2017-11-07
Étouffée (Fr.) = suffocated, smothered.
I must say, these were the biggest shrimp I ever saw, literally more than a double handful. They looked impressive and it was an experience being able to cut steaks from such a big shrimp.
Marielos wanted the little one with butter like the ones above, so that's what I did for her. (Pic3)
For mine, I used a very different approach: I chopped up the lobster tail, and added a Louisiana crawfish étouffée. This is a full meal menu, not just an appetizer.
2017-11-07
Pic2: crawfish sauce
Pic3: raw lobster tails
Pic4: lobster + crawfish
Optional:
- Melt butter. Add sliced mushrooms. Stew 10 minutes.
Prepare
crawfish Étouffée as per modified recipe below.
- Melt 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onions, garlic, celery, bell peppers.
- Sauté 10 minutes or until soft.
- Puree this with half of the crawfish in a cup blender to get a smooth paste.
Add water, mushroom liquor or seafood stock ½ cup at a time to keep the blender from stalling.
- Melt the remaining butter over medium heat.
- Whisk in the flour.
- Sauté 5 minutes while stirring without browning.
- Add 1 cup of water, milk or heavy cream to your preference.
- Stir into a thick roux.
- Add the pureed vegetables and if necessary some more liquid.
The sauce should be thick but easily pourable.
- Simmer 5 minutes.
If you added cream, do not boil.
- Add S&P, Creole seasoning to taste.
- Stir in the dried parsley. Simmer 10 more minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning to taste, preferably fairly spicy.
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Cut open the lobster tails. (Pic3)
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Remove the tails, cut lengthwise over the back to remove the big vein.
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Dice the lobster tails. (Pic14)
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Melt 1 tbsp. butter in a hot pan.
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When the butter stops foaming, add the diced lobster tails and the remaining crawfish tails. (Pic9)
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Stir-fry for 5 minutes for some extra color.
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Add the mushrooms with remaining liquor.
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Reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat for 5-10 more minutes.
The lobster tails will be (nearly) fully cooked.
Pic5: stuff it
Pic6: sauce it
Pic7: cheese it
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Ladle the lobster tail mix into the shell. (Pic5)
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Pour a generous helping of sauce over it. (Pic6)
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Add sprinkled cheese. (Pic7)
Pic14: bake it
Pic15: serve it
Pic16: eat it
Pic17: ramekin
Pic18: stirred
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Use a ramekin for the remainder of the lobster meat, also with sauce and cheese. (Pic14+17+18)
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Bake lobster tails and ramekins for
30 minutes at 350 ºF until the sauce bubbles vigorously.
All the ingredients are near-fully cooked. No need to overdo it.
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The little lobster tail with butter that was NOT cooked beforehand needed another 15 minutes. (Pic3)
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Serve and enjoy.
Pic1: lobster tail with crawfish étouffée