Crawfish Pirogue Recipes

EGGPLANT PIROGUE

Steps:

• 1. EGGPLANT: Salt the eggplant slices and let drain in a colander for about 10 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
• 2. In a medium bowl beat eggs and half & half together. In a separate bowl mix fish fry, breadcrumbs and Cajun seasonings together. Put the flour in another bowl or pie plate.
• 3. Take a slice of eggplant and dust it in the flour, shake off excess, then dip in the egg mixture, then in the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure the eggplant is covered with the coating.
• 4. Set them on a platter lined with waxed paper. Repeat for the remaining eggplant slices. Put a layer of waxed paper between layers of eggplants as they are dipped and coated. Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (At this point start the sauce.)
• 5. If you want to fry the eggplants make sure you have enough oil to cover the eggplant slices and fry at 350 for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove fried eggplant to a platter lined with paper towels to drain. If you prefer to bake the eggplant, place on baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray (I like olive oil spray) and bake at 450* for 10 minutes, flip slices over and bake for about 10 more minutes until golden brown.
• 6. SAUCE DIRECTIONS:
• 7. Make a light roux by mixing 1 cup butter and 1 1/2 cup flour together for at least 5 minutes.
• 8. In a large heavy skillet or saucepan bring stock, Cajun seasonings and onion to a boil; thicken by whisking roux into stock. Boil 3 minutes, whisk in half and half, wine, and 1 tablespoon butter, bring to just a boil then add cheese. Simmer on low heat.
• 9. In Separate pot sauté garlic in 1 tablespoon butter, add liquid crab boil and shrimp, cook for about 3 minutes until the shrimp just start to turn pink. Pour shrimp and garlic mixture into white sauce and simmer on very low heat for about 15-20 minutes. Sauce should be fairly thick but you can adjust it to your liking. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and Cajun seasoning as desired.
• 10. TO ASSEMBLE:
• 11. Put a serving of angel hair pasta on a plate then top the pasta with 2 slices of eggplant. Ladle enough sauce over eggplant to also blend with the pasta.
• 12. Garnish with sliced green onions, chopped fresh parsley and a lemon wedge. Serve with green salad and garlic bread. Enjoy!

CRAWFISH PIROGUE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Toss crawfish tails with Creole seasoning in a bowl.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and green bell pepper; cook and stir until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic. Thin mixture with 1 cup water. Stir in crawfish tails; season with black pepper.
• Whisk cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl until smooth. Pour into the saucepan, stirring constantly, until crawfish mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.
• Cut tops off bread loaves; hollow out center to create a "boat." Place bread loaves on a baking sheet; spoon crawfish mixture into the center.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bread is warm and lightly toasted, about 10 minutes.

CRAWFISH AU GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a heavy-bottomed 2-quart sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, red and yellow bell peppers and garlic.
• Sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.
• Be careful not to brown vegetables.
• Add 1/2 pound crawfish tails and saute 3 additional minutes. Sprinkle in flour, blending well into the mixture.
• Using a wire whip, whisk cream into sauce pan stirring constantly until thick cream sauce is achieved.
• Reduce heat to simmer, add white wine, lemon juice and hot sauce. Sprinkle in half of the cheddar cheese stirring the mixture constantly. Season to taste using salt and pepper.
• Add green onions and parsley for color. If mixture becomes too thick, add a small amount of hot water or whipping cream.
• Place equal parts of remaining crawfish tails in the bottom of six au gratin dishes, top with sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.