Crawfish Boil
In a recent class on the Foods of New Orleans, we did a crawfish boil. It was a lot of fun. The boil was pretty easy to put together. Water is seasoned in a big pot, then brought to a boil. Corn, potatoes, sausage and garlic are added and simmered until the potatoes are tender then the crawfish are added.
Getting fresh crawfish wasn’t really an option, so I opted to buy a bag of frozen crawfish. Cooking and prep times are a little different when using frozen. I explain in the recipe below. The dish is messy and communal and fun to eat.
Of course, you can play around with adding other seafood and other ingredients as well.
Crawfish Boil
3 lbs. crawfish fresh or frozen
8 -10 cups water or seafood stock – if using water, you will need to add salt
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning or more to taste
1 tablespoon Lemon Pepper seasoning
1 head garlic, unpeeled but separated
3 ears corn, cut into 2-inch pieces
12 oz. potatoes, halved
14 oz. (400 g) smoked sausage, cut into chunky pieces
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
Fill a large pot with water. Bring the water to a boil. Add the seasonings. Bring to a rolling boil. Add the garlic, corn, potatoes, sausage and lemon slices. Cover the pot with its lid and cook for 10 minutes. Taste the crawfish boil water. If it’s too salty, add more water. If it’s too bland, add more seasonings to taste. Transfer the crawfish into the pot and cook for 3-4 minutes, with the lid covered. Turn off the heat and let the crawfish soak for 10 minutes. The longer the crawfish soaks, the spicier they will be. Remove all the ingredients using a strainer and serve immediately.
Note: When using frozen crawfish, you are really just thawing them out and warming them up. Add to the pot, cover and turn off the heat. Let soak about 10 minutes to pick up some of the flavor from the water, but don’t cook them.
