Sunday, March 15

Soup on Sunday: Étouffée


Growing up in Texas I developed an insatiable appetite for the Creole/Cajun cuisines that are much revered in Louisianan and the Southern Gulf Coast States. I have always been a huge fan of gumbo and étouffée, but have never made étouffée at home, until last night. Actually, my husband is the chef in the family when it comes to Cajun and Creole dishes.

In French, the word étouffée literally means "smothered," which is a good way to describe this Cajun dish, as it is basically smothered crawfish or shrimp over rice.

The base of an étouffée can be either a dark brown-red roux or a blonde roux. It is usually seasoned with celery, onions, green bell pepper (a.k.a. the ‘holy trinity’), cayenne pepper, garlic and salt. Étouffée has a thicker consistency than gumbo. Here is my husband’s version, adapted from an Emeril Lagasse recipe. I'm not sure if étouffée is technically a soup, but it is delicious!

1 stick unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 1/2 cups shrimp stock or vegetable
1 pound shrimp (or crawfish tails if available)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Cooked long grain white rice, accompaniment

Directions

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, to make a medium brown roux (about 30 min). Add the onions, jalapeño, celery, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and Tabasco and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the sherry and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock and shrimp (or crawfish tails) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice. Remove from the heat.

Adjust the seasoning, to taste. Serve over rice.

Serves 4

14 comments:

Pigtown*Design said...

This is one of my favourite things! YUM!!!

La Maison Fou said...

This sound mmm mmm good!
Leslie aka: lamaisonfou blog

Karen said...

Ronda - one of my favorites also. I have a recipe from the heart of crawfish country, Breaux Bridge here in Louisiana, if you'd like to try it also. It's on an old recipe card from a dear friend whose Aunt wrote it down for her. It is a far cry from the "uptown" version of Emeril, but is a good standard if you want some true Cajun character!

Karen said...

Actually, the Holy Trinity is the bell pepper, onion, and celery.

Karena said...

Yummy, I know my Dad would love to make this. He is the soup & stew chef in our family. I rarely cook anymore, though soups can be frozen in smaller portions to eat another day.

Courtney said...

You're pulling at my heart string with this one! And since I hail from Louisiana, I can proudly say I hardly make a dish that doesn't start with the Holy Trinity of onions, celery and bell pepper! We saute seasoning for practically everything!

And if you're ever wondering how much seasoning you need for a dish, my great grandmother would advise: Meh, Ya chop til ya can't chop no mo'.

Coffee with Cathy said...

The perfect meal for sharing Selection Sunday with your friends. Thanks for the inspiration.

red ticking said...

i love all of your recipes and this looks amazing.. thank you for sharing your talent with all of us!
x pam

Leciawp said...

This looks absolutely delicious!

amber amick said...

Oh, how I love that you posted this recipe! One of my favorite foods, and I'll be making it sometime soon, thanks to you!

ALL THE BEST said...

Karen of course it is!!! I don't know why I put cayenne pepper!?!? An obvious typo, good catch!

Renée Finberg said...

first of all, this is yummo !!
...and beautiful to look as well.

what a great recipe, i may try it if i can find crawfish.

xxx

(i grew up on the same in texas-
cajun/creole and tex mex )

ALL THE BEST said...

Renee you can use shrimp too. That's what we did and it was yummy!!!

katiedid said...

Ahhhhh! Takes me back to my year in Louisiana. Mmmm!