Cajun Crawfish Etouffée

Drain, don't rinse, frozen tails. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with Creole seasoning; set aside. Chop and measure all the ingredients and place them in prep bowls before starting to cook.
Place about 3 cups of the stock in a stockpot to warm (reserve the remainder if needed to thin the etouffée at the end).
To a cast-iron Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 8 tablespoons of butter until bubbly. Add the flour and whisk or stir continuously to make a medium roux, the color of peanut butter, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers (the Trinity) to the roux. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and stir to coat the vegetables with the roux.
Once the Dutch oven has cooled somewhat, return to a medium heat and continue for a total of 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the garlic and half the green onions; continue to sauté until aromatic, about 1 to 2 minutes, then add half of the Herb and Spice mix and both bay leaves; mix well to combine and continue to sauté about 5 more minutes, then remove from the heat.
While the veggie/roux mixture is finishing up, turn the heat to high under the stock pot and bring the stock to a rolling boil.
Mix the roux mixture into the boiling stock, one spoonful at a time. stirring until each spoonful is fully dissolved. Continue this until all the roux mixture is incorporated into the stock, returning the stock to a full rolling boil in between spoons. Set the empty cast iron Dutch oven aside; do not clean it.
Maintain a high simmer in the stock pot for about 5 minutes, then reduce the heat. Cover and maintain a low simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Turn the heat to medium high under the cast iron Dutch oven used for the roux. Add 2 tablespoons of butter. As the butter melts, scrape up any fond that's stuck to the bottom of the pan.
When the butter is foaming, add about ½ to ⅔ of the reserved green onions (reserve the remainder). Sauté a minute or two, then add the crawfish tails and about half of the remaining Herb and Spice Blend. Mix well until all the crawfish are coated with butter.
Sauté only about 2, stirring constantly; you’ll see some liquid developing from the butter and the crawfish. (See Recipe Notes).
Add the gravy mixture to the crawfish tails and mix well. The liquid from sautéing the tails in the butter will thin out the gravy.
Mix well, taste, and adjust the seasoning. When starting to boil, lower the heat to a slight simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes.
If the gravy is getting too thick, place the cover on the pan while it simmers. Thin the gravy with reserved stock, if needed.
When you have the consistency you want, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter; stir and shake the pan until the butter is melted into the etouffée.
Remove the bay leaves and serve over white rice.

Here's What You Need

Herb and Spice Blend

Here's What You Do

Notes

Nutrition