Crawfish Balls Recipes

CRAWFISH BALLS

Steps:

• In a medium pot warm crawfish thoroughly on low heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon of Louisiana crawfish boil mix (I used 1 tablespoon because I like it spicy) use up to 1 tablespoon if you want it spicy. Remove crawfish from heat once warmed. Stir in lemon juice, mix well and set aside.
• Chop onion, garlic, and green onion in food processoror chopper
• Using a strainer to drain all the liquid from the crawfish, once drained then place crawfish in the food processor on top of the chopped vegetable
• Chop the crawfish up into pieces be careful not to make the crawfish mushy; they should be chunky.
• Pour the crawfish mixture into a large mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients. Chop the parsley with a knife.
• Mix ingredients well with clean hands or use gloves.
• Shape crawfish mixture into golf size balls. Place on a cookie sheet. Should make 20 balls.
• Roll balls in flour. I stirred in 1 teaspoon of garlic powder into the flour. Heat cooking oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees. Fry 3-4 balls at a time in deep fryer until brown. Please be careful when cooking with hot oil.
• Once crawfish balls are brown, carefully remove them with a slotted spoon and place onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Serve warm and enjoy!

CRAWFISH BALLS

Steps:

• Saute onions in butter until translucent & just beginning to brown. Add garlic and green onion and saute for a few more minutes, watching it carefully so the garlic doesn't burn.
• Add crawfish and stir. Remove from heat and add parsley and bread crumbs, mix to combine.
• Combine beaten egg and Worcestershire sauce in small bowl, then add to crawfish mixture. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more bread crumbs.
• Wetting your hands to keep the mixture from sticking to your hands too much, form golf ball sized balls.
• Roll balls in flour and then fry in hot oil until lightly browned.

FRIED CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE BALLS

Steps:

• In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, and cook about 10 minutes or until mixture is the color of peanut butter.
• Add onion, celery, and bell pepper; cook about 6 minutes or until softened. Stir in crawfish, salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 15 minutes. Let cool completely before making balls. Etouffee can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 6 months.
• In a large bowl, stir together Quick Crawfish Etouffee, ¼ cup bread crumbs, rice, green onion, hot sauce, salt, cayenne, and 2 beaten eggs. Chill for 30 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 2 eggs and milk. Place flour in a separate medium bowl. Place remaining 2 cups bread crumbs in a third medium bowl.
• Scoop étouffée mixture into golf-ball-size rounds. Roll each ball in flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumbs. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm or up to 24 hours (see note).
• In the work bowl of a food processor, combine ranch dressing, chipotles in adobo, garlic, seasoned salt, and pepper. Pulse until combined. Set aside.
• In a large pot or Dutch oven, pour oil to a depth of 4 inches. Heat over medium heat until a deep-fry or candy thermometer reads 350º. Fry balls in batches for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot with ranch dressing mixture.

CRAWFISH BISQUE BALLS

Steps:

• Bisque Balls: Using a meat grinder/food processor, grind, or chop, crawfish tails, onions, & celery.
• Mix in bread crumbs, eggs, salt, red pepper & parsley. Form into small balls (slightly smaller than a golf ball).
• Place on greased baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 350*.
• Gravy: Heat oil in large, heavy pot. Stir in flour. Continually stir until roux is a caramel color. Add onions & celery & saute' until veggies are tender.
• Add water, salt, red pepper, & tomato sauce. Let boil a few minutes.
• Add crawfish balls & remaining 1 lb crawfish tails. Simmer 20 minutes or more. Adjust seasoning if needed.
• If desired, add the chopped green onions & parsley just prior to serving.
• Serve over cooked rice.

FRIED CRAWFISH ETOUFFEE BALLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine Crawfish Etouffee, 1/4 cups bread crumbs, rice, green onion, hot sauce, salt, cayenne, and 2 beaten eggs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and milk. Place flour in a second bowl and remaining bread crumbs in a third bowl.
• Scoop etouffee mixture into balls the size of a golf ball. Roll each ball in flour, then egg mixture, and finally the bread crumbs. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, at least 2-3 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Pour oil to a depth of 4 inches in a Dutch oven. Heat oil over medium heat until oil temperature reaches 350 degrees. Fry balls in batches for about 3 minutes, until they are golden brown. (Note: I only had about 1 1/2 inches of peanut oil in my Dutch oven, so I cooked them for about 3 minutes, flipped them over and cooked an additional 2-3 minutes and they turned out fine.)
• To make Chipotle Ranch: In a medium bowl, combine ranch mix, buttermilk, and mayo and whisk until smooth. Stir in chipotle.

EASY CRAWFISH BALLS

Steps:

• After thawing, drain the fat off of the crawfish; reserve the fat.
• Roughly chop the crawfish; set aside.
• Melt butter in a pan.
• Add in the onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.
• Sauté for 2-3 minutes
• Add in the crawfish fat, liquid crab boil, 1 TBS Cajun/creole seasoning, and onion powder.
• Stir and simmer for 3 minutes.
• Add in the crawfish tails and stir until crawfish are warm; about 2 minutes. Do not overcook.
• Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove.
• Stir in 1 cup of the breadcrumbs and all of the green onions into the mixture.
• Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
• Create a breading station by whisking the egg and milk in a bowl.
• Next, pour the flour in one shallow dish and mix 1 TBS of Cajun seasoning into the flour.
• Add the remaining 1 cup of breadcrumbs into another shallow dish.
• When the crawfish mixture has cooled, form it into 1 inch balls.
• Heat oil to 350°F for frying.
• Dredge each ball into the flour, then the egg wash, and finally into the breadcrumbs.
• Fry the balls for 3 mins or until golden brown.
• Drain on a wired rack.
• Enjoy!

BOULETTES - FRIED CRAWFISH BALLS - FRIED SHRIMP BALLS - FRIED CRAB BALLS

Steps:

• Peel, boil and mash the potatoes. Clean and finely chop the shrimp or grind shrimp in meat grinder or food processor. Combine with potatoes. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery and spices. Add egg and mix well; form into balls, golf ball size or larger.
• As an option for a different flavor you could add bread crumbs or flour to the mixture. My Mom actually added 1/4 flour to the mixture and then rolled them in flour. You could also grate the potatoes and add them raw to the mixture.
• Roll the balls in bread crumbs, flour, or fish fry. The balls can be cooked right away but will cook better if chilled for at least an hour. Heat oil to 360 or 375 degrees or until a speck of flour dropped in the oil dances on the surface. Deep fry until golden brown.
• Serve alone or with your favorite dipping sauce goes really great with crab or shrimp stew.

CRAWFISH BOUDIN BALLS

Steps:

• For Aioli: In 8-inch skillet, heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil on medium-high. Add green onions. Cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add garlic. Cook 2 minutes or until garlic is deep golden brown, stirring. When mixture is no longer hot, add to food processor along with mayonnaise, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Purée until smooth; refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days.
• For Boudin Balls: In food processor, pulse red pepper, poblano, celery, onion, and garlic until very finely chopped, scraping down side of bowl occasionally. In 10-inch skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil on medium-high. Add vegetable mixture. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture is mostly dry, stirring frequently.
• Wrap sage, thyme, and bay leaves in cheesecloth and secure with butcher's twine; add to 6-quart saucepot, along with vegetable mixture, Cajun seasoning, stock, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Heat to boiling on high. Stir in rice. Reduce heat to low. Gently simmer, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Spread rice in rimmed baking sheet or 3-quart baking dish to cool, discarding herb sachet. Return rice to pot. Fold in crawfish, green onions, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• In medium bowl, lightly beat eggs. Place crumbs in shallow dish. Using golf ball-size scoop, form rice mixture into balls. Dip balls into egg, letting excess drip off, then roll in crumbs.
• In 5-quart saucepot, heat remaining quart oil on medium-high until it reaches 375 degrees F on deep-fry thermometer. In batches, fry balls 2 to 3 minutes or until deep golden brown, turning occasionally. With slotted spoon, transfer to paper-towel-lined platter. Makes about 4 dozen balls. Serve warm with green onion aioli.

CRAWFISH BOULETTES

Steps:

• Place the crawfish tails, chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, stale bread, and egg into the bowl of a food processor. Add the salt, black pepper, and 2 teaspoons of Cajun seasoning. Cover and pulse until the crayfish mixture is finely chopped. Scrape into a bowl and fold in the parsley and green onions. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Whisk the bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning together in a bowl; set aside.
• Form the crawfish mixture into 1 tablespoon-size balls and roll in the bread crumbs. Cook in batches in the hot oil until the balls turn golden brown and begin to float, about 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and serve hot.