Title: Patout's Boiled Crawfish
Categories: Cajun Entree Fish
Yield: 8 Servings
| FOR THE BOIL |
| 40 | lb | Live crawfish |
| 1 | c | Salt |
| 1/2 | c | Ground white pepper |
| 1/2 | c | Ground red pepper |
| 1/2 | c | Ground black pepper |
| 5 | lb | Small white onions |
| 12 | | Ears of corn, shucked |
| 5 | lb | Small new potatoes |
| SPRINKLE |
| 1/2 | c | Ground white pepper |
| 1/2 | c | Ground red pepper |
| 1/2 | c | Ground black pepper |
| 2 | c | Salt |
Alex Patout describes Crawfish as "a delicacy made for sharing-- in fact,
in Cajun country, boiling crawfish for only two people counts as a venial
sin." Wash the crawfish well and pick out any fish bones or other debris.
Fill a great big (40-quart) Stockpot a quarter full of water. Add the salt
and peppers and bring to boil. Add the whole onions, the corn, and the new
potatoes (it will be easy to remove them later if you put them in a cloth
sack). Return to boil, cover, lower heat to medium, and let cook for 8
minutes. Add crawfish, cover again and raise heat to high. After steam
begins to escape from under the lid, cook 7 minutes more. Remove from heat
and let sit for 4 minutes. Do *NOT* remove the lid until this point!
Remove the onions, corn, and potatoes to a bowl and drain the crawfish.
Place the crawfish in a large insulated container (an ce chest works well,
as do the thick waterproof boxes chickens are shipped in, which your
butcher may give you for free). Have your *SPRINKLE* ready and sprinkle
over the crawfish and mix them well to coat. Cover and let sit for 7
minutes.
Serve immediately with the onions, corn, new potatoes, and lots of
French bread on a large table covered with plenty of paper. When everyone
has eaten his fill, everyone "peels for the house." The peeled tails can
then be used in cold crawfish cocktail or salad or for Fried Crawfish the
next day. Serves 8-10 NOTE: Most of the salt is not added until after the
cooking process because too much salt added during cooking makes the flesh
of the crawfish adhere to the shell. From Alex Patout's "Cajun Home
Cooking" -- Random House