Patout's Boiled Crawfish

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------------- Recipe Extracted from Meal-Master (tm) v6.30 ------------------

 

     Title: Patout's Boiled Crawfish

Categories: Cajun Main dish Fi   

  Servings:  8

--------------------------------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 ea 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